3 Tips To Using Bright Colors In Your Home

I love color! Lots of it. In my personal spaces, I decorate with lots of bright colors. Originally being from Jamaica may have a lot to do with it, but I think it is mainly because color makes people happy. This is why bright colors are often used in Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms. They certainly make me happy

Maybe you are like me; you love bright colors too. You may have tried to decorate with bright colors but have never quite achieved the results you were hoping for. Maybe you are Pinterest pinning maven, and you are now on inspiration overload.

Well, I won’t add anymore overwhelm when all I want to do is help. So I will keep it simple. Here are 3 tips to using bright colors in your home without looking like a pre-k classroom

Casa Vilora Interiors | Katy Interior Designer

The above image is a kids’ hangout/media room I recently completed for a beautiful Katy family. My client wanted lots of color to make the room fun and vibrant. This is what I did to accommodate my client’s request

1- Start With A Neutral Foundation

The biggest mistake I see is that when people want to use bright colors, or any color in general in their home, they think they have to paint the walls in the brightest color they can find. While the results of that can be awesome, your best bet is to start with a neutral foundation. By keeping the walls neutral, you are able to change your mind later without a major room overhaul. But more than that, color on the walls becomes more tiring to the eye over time. It is a major commitment to paint your walls in bright colors

Same applies to the larger pieces in the room – such as the upholstery and larger case goods. I recommend keeping them neutral and then adding color in accents such as pillows, art, accessories. You can bring color in with smaller accents like a chair or ottoman or even the end tables. But the pieces that have a large visual role in the room should remain neutral

2- Pull Color From An Inspiration Piece

The next thing to do is to find a colorful piece for your color inspiration in the room. This could be a rug, art, the fabric for draperies or pillows. The inspiration piece should be the piece that “rounds up” all the color in the room. Basically, all the colors are pulled from this piece and is evenly distributed around the room for repetition and balance.

In this case, I used the art as my inspiration. You will notice that they pretty much contain all the bright highlighter shades we used throughout the room. The colors were pretty much dispersed around the room as pillows, draperies and baskets

3- Incorporate Some Classic Colors To Keep It Sophisticated

When using bright colors, it is important to incorporate a couple of the more classic colors to keep things from being too kindergarten-like. In this case, I used navy blue in the chairs and matching ottoman and the draperies, and the green in the plant and some of the accents in the room. Navy blue and kelly green are pretty much neutrals and will help to tone things down and keep the room grounded and sophisticated

One more tip is that you should always include your favorite colors. This will give your design more longevity because you are using colors you love. That’s what design is all about – using what you love and what has meaning to you