Name: Blake
Location: Seattle
Type: 2-bedroom condo in a Tudor-styled building constructed in the 1930s
Why I use color:
Color gives life and modern vitality, especially when the sky turns gray, which is important since the unit faces north in a 1930s brick building. By using saturated colors that also compliment one another, each room gains its own distinct character, with those personalities changing as the day evolves. The green in the living room takes on a warm yellowish feel in the morning when natural light is at its strongest, but changes to take on an almost sensual yet warm feel when the walls are lit with the halogen and regular lights on dimmers at night or cloudy days. . .
. . .The three shades of blue paint used in the bedroom give the room contrast with the blond wood furniture to simultaneously create a “wow” effect yet calming feel once ready for sleep. All walls within individual rooms employ the same color.
2 good color tips:
1. Be brave with saturated colors. I saw the green used in a very modern loft setting, but suspected it would work in my very different setting. It did, bringing out warmth that was missing when walls were basic white.
2. Be OK with white. While strong colors were used in various rooms, the hallway and entryway remain white to provide a neutral space between the heavily saturated colors.
2 good color resources:
1. Anything printed. Catalogues, magazine layouts, junk mail all provided inspiration for colors and color combinations. I then use those torn-out images as I select paint chips at Lowes, Home Depot, etc. Starting with the inspiration of the printed examples helps keep focus when at the paint store. And I paint a small part of the room before committing to a color.
2. Be super-attentive to the world around you to see how colors interact with one another and how colors change in different lighting environments and against different textures.
The living room is very nice. Going with a light color was smart with such dark, dark wood trim.
Though I really like the walls in your bedroom, I think the colors are a few shades too dark. Even though the walls do "give the room contrast with the blond wood furniture" they also work with the dark trim to make the room even darker and the blond furniture then looks out of place. I know that the pictures were taken at night so it might not have this feeling in the daytime when you would want your bedroom to have light, so it didn't effect my vote at all. Good job and good luck.
Wow. Love the bedroom and disagree with the comment above since the blue stripes are very vivid and contrast nicely with the dark trim.
Living room is also nice with the green walls, yellow furniture and orange/reddish rug. Nice posters with colors working in synch too.
Want to see more of the apartment to see how colors move from room to room.
Where did you get the big Rothko poster? Everything in the room has a different color but each works together somehow since they are all warm colors.
The bedroom is very different but good different. I like the darker stripes since it probably gives it a nice feeling for sleeping, which lighter colors would not.