apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I just painted my place a light yellow and lilac ( toned down my first choices a LOT) then added teal as an accent.

So I have a similar lilac, a calmer yellow and a bright jade.

Dutchboy - Cheerful morn, Kim's Lilac and Jaded Janet.

The lilac looks amazing with my yellow. The yellow is the usual nice happy yellow, my bedroom is lilac and it just look so calm and cool in comparison. The jade is my bright point.
I also have turquoise accents.

Happy LR and calm bedroom

To me, lavender seems a natural color as a background for viewing movies on a wide screen monitor. And gray is a color that matches a lot of electronic paraphenalia. I haven't quite figured out how one could make a room this color suitable for other kinds of living -- not weird or morbid in other words -- or Easter eggy. Graying the lavender makes sense. A friend of mine has a lavender room with rust colored silk curtains, daybed, and a golden colored persian-type rug. I guess the secret is having the courage of your convictions (and some money).

Wow, I must be color or design-impaired, because I looked at that picture and thought it was awful! Perhaps it's a lesson in the personal nature of color? I'm not really one to talk...facing a new house with white walls, I'm completely stuck as to what to do with them!

I love lavender - but yellow is my least favorite color (I won't even wear it) so for me, not so much.

I've obviously been watching too many Friends reruns, but Monica's kitchen had yellow and purple cabinets (and teal, actually).

But I'm facing a new apartment, and a completely blank canvas, too - so I'm desperate for some new, funky, livable color combos!

I'd want the yellow a bit softer. Like this:
http://www.artselect.com/John-Charbonneau-Sunlight-Collage/Art/artID~3D62953~26t~3Ds~26ropenc12335~3D1~26openct10171~3D5009.html

The yellow and the lavender work and don't look pastel, because of the rest of the image.

But if I was going to go for poke-you-in-the-eye yellow, I'd do it with equally strong colors:
http://www.artselect.com/Roberto-Azank-Black-Eyed-Susan/Art/artID~3D48662~26t~3DF.html

Or (same artist):
http://www.artselect.com/Roberto-Azank-Yellow-Sunflower/Art/artID~3D48664~26t~3Db-svase~5Fwindowsill.html

Or do the yellow with the soft blue (not including the lavender):
http://www.artselect.com/Martha-Negley-Fresh-Lemons/Art/artID~3D253614~26t~3Dc221~26openct11074~3D11079,221.html

Blue and yellow are often found together in art. It's much harder to find images with yellow and lavender, but here's one:
http://www.artselect.com/Yellow-Tulips/Art/artID~3D142572~26t~3Dc221~26openct11074~3D11079,221.html

I like finding art with the colors, I like seeing how they work together, and it becomes much easier (for me) to imagine a room built around those colors.

And it's a good idea for the other people who mentioned taht they have new apartments or can't picture those colors together. If you have favorite art, you can build around it.

And if you have some colors already in your home, locate art that has those colors. The art itself can help guide you to items that will work with those colors.

actually, Monica's cupboards were turquoise, not teal

(love turquoise, but usually dislike teal, so I notice these things...)

lavender and yellow -- just like the bedroom in the Julianne Moore spread in Domino

lavender makes a nice accent color -I would feature like the spring green accessories in this vignette...

http://www.blinkdecor.com/decoratorsdish/?p=258

Mmmm, Easter Peeps. On the walls.