Name: Martina
Location: San Francisco
Type: Condo. 2 bedrooms. 2.5 bathrooms. 3 floors. Owned.
Why I use color:
Two driving forces here: a. growing up I was an artist, and b. mother did a great deal of remodeling in our family home, and much of the effort tended to center around color. Hues/tints that are woven through a room are very important. I can remember growing up, my room was a sunny yellow with lots of cheerful accent colors, while my parents' bedroom was a forest green (very cool/calming), and even as young as 5 the change in color just moving room to room had an impact. . .
. . .It is no different today. Home is our sanctuary, and so it has to serve a number of functions: as inspiration, as refuge, as hearth/gathering place to share stories/ideas/food. Although architecture/shape and available light are important ingredients, I would rank color as part of the recipe as well. One could have the most beautiful space that had all of the right ingredients, but with the wrong or improper use of color, the potential exists to negate the positive of the others.
2 good color tips:
1. Know what your colors are (i.e. what works for you).
You may see a layout in a magazine or a window presentation and think it's lovely, but fundamentally, do you love the color? Sure purple and yellow are a very energizing mix, but if fundamentally you don't like yellow or any of its neighbors in the color spectrum, then painting a wall or room yellow in your house is probably not the best idea (especially if it's a space you tend to spend a great deal of time in). Color fads come and go, but knowing what colors you like, and how to mix them to create energy/harmony or evoke a mood never goes out of style.
2. Don't be afraid to use color. Especially on walls.
So many folks drive by the rule that leaving everything white allows for flexibility/change, etc., but with paints today, it's easier than ever to put on a coat or two, change your mind, put another coat on until you get to the color you like. And sometimes, as strange/crazy as something sounds, you give it a try and it ends up working so much better than you could have imagined (it's just hard to visualize at that time). Our orange walls in the living area/front of kitchen are an example. We love the color orange, and really wanted to do 'something' with it apart from pillows/furniture. A friend suggested painting just an 'accent' wall, (not everything). Not so sure at the time, but we went through lots of orange paint chips, and finally decided on a color and on the two walls. And we absolutely love how it has turned out.
2 good color resources:
1. Pantone. As an artist, I haven't lived without Pantone color chips for the past 15 years. The website has a nice 'color of the day' chip always displayed (nice for ideas).
2. Your local art store. We consider ourselves lucky having Flax and Utrecht and all manner of other art suppliers available. And just walking in to browse its amazing the inspiration you can find on the color front by just perusing the paints/pencils, even exotic paper selections. Typically the inspiration goes way beyond color, but it's a great starting point.
Lovely and sophisticated. I especially like the lilac wall with dark brown furniture.
LOVE the pillows, but do you really need so many?
And, if not, care to send a couple my way?
;-)
Seriously: Anyone have any thoughts as to how many throw pillows on a sofa is "enough"?
Ditto on the purple wall. It really draws the eye with the soothing hue. That entrance is very dense with furnishings and stuff.
Good work with your space. Are the two spaces pictured visually connected? I especially like the lavender wall in the dining area. Great to see the two SHAG prints, I'm a big fan of his work. The pilliows remind me a bit of Emilio Pucci...
The second view is really pretty and sophisticated, but the first space is not at all cohesive. There's the orangey-yellow wall with a vivid green painting, then red-pink toned throw pillows and a grey sofa. The sofa just seems to clash with those bright, warm tones. Also how do these two areas relate? They look like totally different personalities and I cannot seem them meshing well in the same space.
"Anyone have any thoughts as to how many throw pillows on a sofa is "enough"?"
Seriously. What is with some of the submissions where people seem to pile every pillow they own into one photo?
So a couple of things.
1. Mama Chilanga, sure thing, Id be happy to send a few pillows your way! ;)
Normally, we usually dont have so many pillows all clumped on the sofa (we cap it at 4, with the rest being strewn on the orange and grey seating). As for the right number to have.. thats a good question. Ive seen anything from design shows to layouts in print with anywhere from 1 pillow to 10+! I think it all depends on how it 'feels' for the individual. If more pillows is your thing, then who is to dictate that more is too many? :)
2. Allison, completely understand, and in this perhaps I could have done a better job with a wide angle lens. The two spaces actually are part of 1 floor and do meet. What you dont see in the picture is that the orange wall extends along the kitchen bar, and makes a nice continuum with the grey/orange seating (that was also somewhat clipped in the shot). The idea was the gray/orange seating serves to pull in the couch and then anchor the wall as well. The green bar painting seems less 'incongrous' when looked at from that perspective. And as for the pillows, see above. :) Also the two spaces do meet. I have a nice shot of where the orange meets the purple.
your use of color is cool, but your space looks way cluttered! get rid of some of your STUFF, or at least hide it away, and your home will be much more visually pleasing.
I love the colors on the walls, and the dining-chair upholstery. I love the pillows, in all their superfluity.
The only thing I don't like, however, is the gray couch. I can understand wanting a neutral color, given all the bright colors in the room, but it's too cool a gray and too flat a texture, and in front of that cheery orange wall it makes me think of a dead elephant.
Otherwise, I really like this space; it looks very comfortable and inviting, and playful in a grown-up way.
that's funny, to me that gray couch has a lovely french-blueishness to it, and it looks gorgeous with the orange - normally i hate blue and orange together, but here it's divine. maybe it's my monitor!
Hey, that is a seriously impressive bar (and good idea!). Was wondering, can I come over for a drink?;-)
i'm not usually one to complain about people not commenting when they vote no; i feel like it's obvious a lot of times. but with this one, i don't understand. what're your gripes, people? why are you voting no on such a lovely space?
If you still have some of that orange, I think it would look great to paint the door and doorframe, since the white really makes the eye focus on it more than some of the other, nicer elements in that photo. Of course, in the actual space it might be less of an issue.
I love love love your place.... The first view is very cozy and inviting, absolutely loves the second view. The dark brown furniture with lavender wall is stunning! It looks hip and yet sophisticates at the same time. Can I come hang out and get drunk at your bar???
Great job!
beautiful, but too many pillows
is that a painting on your orange wall or an lcd screen?
Martina absloutely gorgeous color!! Thanks for sharing your home. I love the pillows on the couch!! This home is lived in (not for show) and that's what made me like it. Good luck!
Thanks for all the nice comments folks!
Maryam and Soo, you are welcome to come visit our bar (er, watering hole) anytime. ;)
Clumsy.