Technicolor Dreams: 7 Ways to Add Color to Your Decor
Will Taylor has an addiction -- an addiction to color. As the market editor for Sweet Paul and The Simple Things magazines and the voice behind his award-winning blog, Bright Bazaar, Will has been documenting his passion for pinks, purples, puce, and more since 2009 and looks forward to publishing his first interior design book in 2014. Now he's bringing his hooked-on-hue attitude here with his top 20 tips for adding color to your home this summer.
Customize Your Furniture
An otherwise ordinary piece of furniture can be given a new lease on life with a quick lick of paint. You don't have to go all out -- dipped legs and painted drawer fronts are all that's needed to make an impact with this entryway console.
Color-match Your Style
If you find it hard to know how to mix different colors together, then try sticking to a simple palette of two hues. Here a simple blue and yellow scheme creates a fresh and modern look that allows you to add or subtract pieces as you discover new finds.
Layer In Color
If you're fickle when it comes to favorite hues, you'd best layer in color as the mood takes you. Keep the base of your room neutral, and then introduce bold accent colors across accessories and textiles. This approach makes it easy to swap out pieces to quickly refresh the scheme.
Related: 10 Clever Ways to Save Space in Your Kitchen
Group Together Ceramics
Sift through your kitchen cupboards, and you'll probably see a pattern emerge in the color and textures of your ceramics. Try grouping similar styles together to make pretty and colorful vignettes from pieces you already have.
Add Quirky Touches
Using everyday objects, like a teapot, in an unusual setting is a great way to make a color statement. Try potting a houseplant in a patterned teapot or old jam jar for instant green-fingered style.
Show Off Your Wares
Don't let all your kitchenware sit behind closed doors; instead, let it become the star of the show. Why not line up colored tumblers on an open shelf, or stack multicolored plates and bowls to make a pretty feature out of your kitchen storage?
Accentuate Existing Features
You can use color to highlight an everyday aspect of your home and have it make a statement in the process. Why not paint the individual spindles on your staircase in graduating shades? This is a weekend project that will give your entryway the color wow factor!
Style a Color-Coordinated Dresser
An eclectic approach can result in a stylish look, but it's easier to make things look sharp when you create a coordinated color scheme. Here, a country dresser has been given an injection of color with pretty pastel plates in soft pink and blue. Introduce delicate patterns to add interest to the look.
Related: Martha Stewart's Ultimate Organizing Solutions
Invest in Bright Stationery
Color is known for its mood-enhancing and energizing qualities, so you'd be wise to consider introducing uplifting shades of yellow and blue to your stationery arsenal. It will make your work days brighter.
Make a Statement Sideboard
A brightly painted sideboard is a great way to bring a color statement into a room. Style it with a mix of interesting vintage pieces, colored glassware, and foliage to create an effortlessly chic look.
Mix and Match Textiles
Fabrics are one of the quickest ways to bring color into a space. Swap out the pillows on your couch, throw a new coverlet over the bed, or roll out a bright rug along your hallway to inject color with minimum effort.
Start a Collection
It's fun to let your home evolve over time, so why not start a collection? Taking colored glassware as an example, you could set aside the top of your wardrobe to arrange interesting bottles, vases, and vessels. Leave space to add to the vignette over time, and stick to different shades of the same color family for a coordinated look.
Color Blocking
The shower curtain is the ideal element of a bathroom to introduce color because you can change it quickly when you grow tired of it. Here, a color-block design gives an all-white bathroom a much-needed hit of graphic tones. Replay the colors in the shower curtain across the rest of the space to complete the scheme.
Refresh Your Bedding
The bed is almost always the main focus of the bedroom, so use it to make a color statement with a set of vibrant sheets. Using a double-sided duvet gives you the opportunity to display a pattern that will bring visual interest to a color-blocked design.
Get more insights into Will's color theory on his guest pinning board.
More from Martha Stewart Living:
15 Kitchen Shortcuts That Will Change the Way You Cook
19 Tips for Perfect Laundry Every Time
30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do
12 Secrets for a Cleaner Bathroom Without Spending More Time Cleaning It
