Does your home have a color palette? Remember when people used to have their colors done? Well your home has a vibe and certain colors may suit it more than others. Some colors also may be more pleasing to you personally. These are all things to consider when choosing the palette for your home.
If your home stays in four to five colors or tones, you can make easier choices when shopping and decorating. I have a binder for my house with all the items from the renovation, and inspiration photos. The picture on the cover was my color inspiration/style for the house!
My house is variations of white, grey, light wood tones and some black accents, grey blues. With spring coming I’ve been wanting a change and a bit more color with my current favorite -soft blues. I added this striped blue and another blue pillow on top photo and a few other accessories to give it a coastal and springy vibe.
It all started when I bought this jacket from Anthropologie in the prettiest blue. I had it hanging on my coat tree and noticed it nicely picked up the blues about the house. The house is neutral, but there are pops of blue and a tiny bit of orange in a picture and my rug too..
Then I was at Pottery Barn and I noticed the same soft blue of these Modern Glass Candle Holders. I bought a blue one and gathered a few other blues like my Glassy Baby. So now with the blue pillows and a couple of things I already own, made the house feel fresh to me.
If you know your home’s and your own color story, you can keep it in mind when shopping and making design decisions for the house. You can create a binder as I have, with colors and pictures that reflect your taste and style. Referring back to that will confirm what you love and help you make smart choices. I know what colors I like and don’t so I can usually blow through a store or online shop pretty fast knowing what I am looking for and what will work in my house.
It doesn’t mean you can’t change things up and are stuck with the same colors. In fact, you might add in or subtract or focus on some colors more depending on the seasons. In fall and winter, I love adding more black accents -frames, and woods. In spring and summer I bring out more whites, my coral collection, and striped pillows and linen throws. The color scheme stays the same overall, just the tone feels darker and cozier or lighter and brighter, depending on the time of year!
If you’re unsure of your home palette, or don’t think you have one, start looking around and see what colors you use most predominantly. Also consider your personal wardrobe. What is in your closet? Do you gravitate towards white jeans and navy? How about denim shirts? If there are repeating themes in your closet than they are sure to be things you’ll love in your home and may already have.
Sometimes your kitchen or your fireplace material may move you toward a cool or warm look. You may have many colors in your house, but most people gravitate towards favorite tones. Walk through the house and see if there are threads of the same colors that connect your spaces, especially the main rooms. You may want to choose to use some during some parts of the year, and change out the the others. The most traditional way is adding warm tones at fall and cooler at summer. These colors actually have a psychological effect of making us feel warm or cooler, hence the seasonal use!
Sometimes you just need to find a look. This photo was an inspiration last fall. I used the warm cinnamon colors in this photo to add dried flowers, wood bowls and some candles in these tones and still kept my same neutral feel overall.
You don’t have to be limited to a small color family, but know what your look and tones are. Some people have a lot of color and live with it all. My friend Heidi, whose home and style I profiled for my Californian’s at Home is an artist and her home palette is many, many colors and it works beautifully for her eclectic and creative home and her art. Same with my friend Elizabeth, the Vintage Contessa, who lives with a lot of daring tones like chartreuse and bright yellow and luxe items. Cindy Hattersley is someone with many gorgeous neutrals and some beautiful blues in her amazing California home.
Cindy’s dreamy bedroom!
Some beautiful blues : Zinnia Pillow cover, Thibaut Serengheti Pillow, Coastal Blue Solid Velvet Cover, Serena & Lily Cuesta Pillow Cover , Perennials Rosemount Pillow Cover, Swansea Cotton Throw,
If you know what your colors are that’s a huge help in creating a beautiful home. You may have spring and fall, summer and winter looks, but know the main colors and what works with them. Have some fun thinking about setting your home’s style and colorways… maybe even make a binder as I have, or an inspiration board!
Kim
P.S. By the way, I am honored to be featured on Cindy’s beautiful blog, Cindy Hattersley Design today. She is showing more of our renovation. So pop on over if you have time. Her blog is a great inspiration to me personally. She’s amazingly talented.
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How is your summer going? We were away on vacation and last week, two days after we got home, we moved into a rental house while we renovate for the next 6 months. It had been ten years since we have moved and I had forgotten how much work there is. GAH! I’m still recovering. My son Jackson and I were saying that moving should be required for everyone every decade as it really makes you evaluate what the heck you own and are living with, you know? Moving requires you to acknowledge and touch just about every darn item you possess and even those squirreled away in a closet or garage. It’s a big wake-up call. I thought I had been good about purging in the past few years, but clearly not at all. My family especially got on me about the amount of pillows and books I own. I love my books, but yes we will be cleaning out more before moving back. The days before the move we took 3 huge loads to donation. It made me really feel guilty about how much ‘stuff’ we acquired. We all vowed to have less.
