apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

My condo now is all about bright and bold colours - when I first moved in it was a very cool white which the builder had slapped on. Now the living/dining/den/kitchen are a cheery apple green, my bedroom a deep red-purple and my bathroom a calm sky blue. The accessories, one would argue, are just as bold since I've got a purple rug similar in tone to my bedroom walls in my living area. This is probably the boldest I'll ever go...I suspect the next time around I'll probably have to compromise assuming the space will be shared with someone else.

I had a kitchen I painted a glowing bright orange-yellow color once - it was sort of Mexican decor and also very small and it looked great. I'm not sure I would do it in a really huge space, but if it's a color you love, why not - it's just paint. Cover it over if it's awful.

I love color, but not bright color (for decorating, at least). My living room walls are coral/terra cotta, much like your illustration. With it are a white couch, Roman shades and woodwork, deep red-purple loveseat and throw pillows, more throw pillows in aqua and still more in a heavy silk tweed which combines aqua and red-purple. There's a black bergere and end table/cabinet. Lots and lots of books and warm wood from family and other antiques. Oh, and a Parsons table for which I made a heavy, natural-color linen skirt topped with a lighter color natural linen topper edged with black tape. I love it all, especially since I refinished or sewed everything in it. I think the colors sing together.

I am ALL about the bright colors! My walls are sea-green, the doors/trim are a buttery yellow, my rug is magenta, and the throw pillows (on my white couch) are shades of orange, magenta and yellow. Bring on the color!!!

I had that almost same color in my collage apartment with two grey Butterfly chairs, one Negal print and my homemade AV cabnet..

Colours are awesome if they are used in a way that works well. All too often I see bright paint on walls with little thought to the way it works with the room.

My bedroom is a deep aquamarine, with my inherited furniture from my grandparents painted a creamy white (it used to be Pepto-pink, my grandmother told me to paint it and it's by no means antique, but it is well made and I love it). Accessories are black and white, and for the splash of colour it needed, I have a red rug, and red throw pillows.

My powder room was recently painted a gorgeous sea green, and I chose contrasting orange towels for a splash of colour.

If you really know nothing about colour, google some colour theory, and pick up a colour wheel. It really helps when picking things that "go" together. Neutrals are timeless for walls, but I'd rather have a bit of colour.

The table in the above photo is stunning! Would love to know who makes it.

Our home is bright and colorful enough without the use of paint. I like keeping the walls white; they give the eyes a break.

I love bright colors, but had to teach myself (after many decorating failures) that a color you love on your clothes or in lampshade does not necessarily look good covering an entire room's worth of walls. The pic above makes me really happy because there's a crisp white above and below it which breaks up the color and would allow me to breathe in that space. If the white wasn't there it might be too overwhelming, and I would want a large white canvas of some sort and lots of white or black furniture to break it up.

I've become a big fan lately of accent walls as well, which take care of my need for color, but keep the room feeling spacious and comfortable.

I think there is a difference between bold color and bright color. The picture above to me is bold, but not bright. Bright gives off a light of its own and can be very jarring in a room (think canary yellow, electric lime, hot fuchsia). Bold color has a lot of life, but doesn't burn your retinas to look at it. Go bold I say, but avoid bright unless you wear your sunglasses inside most of the time.

Having a bright color on the wall really brings my place together. I just moved into a new apartment and painted the walls sort of an aqua color, it's more green than blue. My main accent is sky blue and I have a little orange as well.

I rent and this is the first time I've ever been allowed to paint. I've never been quite satisfied with white walls and only colored accents. Although, I've seen rooms that I love done that way. I think it takes a certain kind of talent to be able to do that and make it look cohesive. For me, it's easier to do a wall color.

I agree with five monkeys about using white. I'm just learning that a ton of white paint can keep a room from looking like a clown threw up. Also, keeping most of the furniture one color helps. If you have multiple shades of wood in a colorful room it can look too chaotic.

I LOVE bold colors on walls! In fact, I am beginning to realize that most of my favorite spaces consist of brightly-colored walls, and furniture in neutral colors.

Actually, I really like the room in this post, and I would love to see pictures of your bright purple living room.

that coffee table would be perfect for my courtyard. can anyone id it, please?

Ditto: coffee table ID, please! Please??

I agree with fivemonkeys's post about the white breaking up the room and keeping it from being overwhelming.

Right I have a velvet lilac throw on the sofa in my sitting room (pale yellow walls with white trim) and in the winter it makes the room dramatic and cozy. Come the spring, I'll take the throw off and let the colour aspect be taken up by a bunch of colourful pillows.

Oh - and I'd love to see the purple sitting room, too!

i wanted that coral shade for my living room, but got a mistint that ended up being more brick red than anything else. after a couple of weeks, it grew on me and i decided to keep it.

at a fabric sale a few weeks ago, i got the perfect cream/white upholstery fabric for the loveseat in that space - since the blinds, walls and trim are white, it will work well together. i jokingly call it the "patriotic room" (i'm Canadian).

the only thing i can't decide yet is if i should use the art with the black frames in this room, or the art with the gold frames.

this room is also in the middle of two others that still need paint - the living room space that faces the front and is accessible by a large archway from the red room and the dining room, which is down 2 steps and currently a toast shade.

my dressing room is ruby red and bedroom painted a shade called "Sundown" from Para Paints.

i LOVE colour!

I prefer neutral on the walls and colors brought in through accessories. I get tired of the look constantly and I can remove stuff like throw pillows much easier than repainting.

That Mirror!!! Does anyone know where I can find it? It's the missing piece to my bedroom!!!

What a gorgeous room... I used peaches and corals in my daughter's nursery, and I love how the space has so much energy and is still incredibly soothing...

I've recently made the move to bold colors. My living room is chartreuse and my dining room is similar to the image up above. At first I thought I had made a big mistake, but now I'm really happy I went with my gut!

Colors used in our house include deep red, bright orange, apple green, medium blue, light aqua, coca brown... Each space has a color appropriate (in our minds) to it's use. Wall paint is easier and cheaper to change than flooring or upholstery, so for those we tend to go more neutral. All bets are off with accessories, though.

Bright colors can work wonders if they are used properly. However, the fuscia bathroom in my old apartment (not my idea) was obnoxious.

People should always remember that brighter colors work well when paired with colors of the same intensity. So - if your walls are bright purple, find throw-pillows that are the same level of intensity in a different color.

We saw this in the colors contest with the little cottage that was insanely painted a multitude of vibrant colors - they all worked together.

Altho- you do have to be careful with bright colors, because they can make other colors look drab (think Michelle Obama's yellow gown next to Laura Bush's sage green - Laura's was probably a beautiful color, but it looked like mud next to Michelle's crisp bright yellow)

I'm up for either bright or non bright color schemes.
It all depends on the room, not everything works on all rooms. Bold and bright might work for sure in living rooms cause they gotta be cheerful rooms!

In our Atlanta house, we painted the dining portion of our great room below the chair rail terra cotta. It looked very similar to the color in the image above. We loved it, as did everyone who saw it.

In our Richmond house, our dining room is a beautiful red below the chair rail. It's one layer of tinted base with 6 layers of red on top. When the sunlight hits it, you can really see the depth of the color.

In the Atlanta house, our bedroom was Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage. We liked it so much, we painted the master in our Richmond home the same color.

Please help me identify the curtains in this post. Love them!

i did teal green in a bedroom once, color matching a favorite arts and crafts vase, and i'm certainly not color phobic, but i prefer white walls and blue/gray ceilings, no window treatments, and lots of natural light.

if i ever go bold or dark again it will be in the bedroom, home office, or a guest bath. i've been coveting orange offices for too long.

mirror & table are from UK chain stores.
mirror: john Lewis
table: Habitat

Does anyone know who makes that wall clock? I feel it would be a fun replacement for an average old clock.

Before I could do extensive remodeling of my dreary fixer home, I painted all of the contractor greige walls in very saturated colors (which changed several times over several years... it was all I could afford to do). The kitchen/great room was a cheery, rich, egg yolk yellow that I found on a color chip for exterior paints. A guest room was Tiffany Blue (I loved that). I experimented with numerous greens elsewhere and found than too many of them went cheap and chalky on the wall -- greens are difficult -- so I segued into historical colors for my green phase (the greens are more organic yet not chalky). Ultimately, post-remodeling, I have settled into ochres, pale yellows and slight greens, and a wonderful white called Seashell -- all of which sound boring when I write it down. But I have plans to do a dining room in Cinnabar Red-based wallpaper. I like big color on the walls of small rooms -- the jewell box effect. I got very tired of it in larger applications.

I love the room featured. I would never have thought to put a red lamp with the coral walls, but it works. And the curtains would be too twee in another room. With the modern decor and dark gray sofa and chair, they work.

When I google "Modern Cuckoo Clock", quite a few come up including this one at Kaboodle that looks very similar:

http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/modern-cuckoo-clock

I like the way the picture from Ideal Home has with handling such a bold color.

I don't see any reason not to try bold colors. It's just paint, you can always paint over it. My kitchen was a darkish shade of red (I think it was "Mandarin Red") when I moved in. It was like being in a huge can of Campbell's Tomato Soup. I painted over it. Some primer, some paint, no problem.

thanks modernguy, I found so many great and even better options!

thank you nkr707