Living with color

Local design professionals explain how to make color work for you.

Written by Marion Butterworth

Photos by Gordon Beall, courtesy of The Washington Design Center

White walls subdue lip-puckering lemon, lime and tangerine, creating a sunny space that’s lively without being offensively loud.

Have you walked into a model home and wished you could move right in? Do you wonder why some rooms with the simplest of furnishings look pulled together and others just look lived in? It has a lot to do with color. Color can take a room from ho-hum to dazzling more effectively than any other decorating element. Colors affect us viscerally. They can calm or energize, embrace or turn off. To learn the nuances of color, you must first be familiar with its language and tools.

Color Basics

The color wheel, a circular arrangement of colors organized according to the light spectrum, is a valuable tool in understanding color. It is made up of primary, secondary and tertiary colors. Primary colors are yellow, red, and blue. They cannot be made from any other colors, yet in combination, make all other colors. Secondary colors, orange, green and purple, result from mixing equal amounts of two primary colors. Tertiary colors are those made from equal parts of primary and secondary colors.

Color Relationships

Complementary colors lie directly across from one another on the color wheel and are those that, when paired, contrast most boldly, such as red and green, blue and orange, and yellow and purple. Variations of complementary combinations, triad color schemes, involve three colors that are equidistant on the color wheel. Analogous colors lie next to one another on the color wheel. Analogous colors are different tints, shades and tones of the main color. Such combinations are soothing and quiet.

Designers from Studio Nuovo in Bethesda highlighted this fireplace
using a strong blue Farrow & Ball paint. Use a high gloss, the most
light-reflective finish, when you want to increase the attention-grabbing
quality of a bold color.

Color and Décor

Certain color combos evoke different interior styles. According to the experts at Benjamin Moore, generally speaking, traditional English country interiors use rich jewel tones of green, gold, burgundy and navy blue, along with heavily patterned papers and fabrics. French country interiors usually feature brighter versions of the same colors. American country style favors muted versions of English and French country colors.

Contemporary interiors are more neutral, employing combinations of beige, taupe, black or grey, accented with bursts of bright hues and metallics. Casual cottage style rooms tend toward pastels offset by lots of white.

Professional Advice

So you’re still asking, what’s a homeowner to do? The experts at Color Wheel in McLean-Will Knicely, supervisor of home décor, Glen Marsocci, interior designer, interior decorators Carole Frost and Renate Eschmann offer tips and trends.

Complementary color schemes are most dynamic. Says Color Wheel owner Eschmann, “Complementary colors add activity to a room. They are exciting combinations.” Knicely says, “Avoid a circus-y look by keeping [colors] in the same hue. Otherwise the room will look choppy.”

Ceilings don’t have to be white. Eschmann says, “The trend now is towards using color on the ceiling. We call it the ‘fifth wall.’” Eschmann suggests pulling a ceiling color from accessories in a room in which walls are neutral.

With Nicole Miller as muse, this Electrolux ICON�
Designer Series kitchen is a reminder that fashion is
the leading influence in interior design. Sleek
stainless style appliances meld comfortably with edgy
colors. A graphic Nicole Miller fabric is sandwiched
between two sheets of tempered glass to form a unique
island countertop.

Popular color combos come and go. The Color Wheel team reports that the biggest trend now is metallics. Asked to speculate why, they say it could be our quest for luxury and elegance. Popular pairings include green and gold, blue and gold, and taupes and gold. Monochromatic designs are still very popular, with green being considered the new neutral.

Dark colors impart drama. “The richer and darker the color, the more powerful the statement,” says Marsocci. The first thing visitors see is your foyer; the second is the powder room, so a bold color in one of those spaces makes a lasting impression. “Dark colors can change a room’s proportions,” explains Eschmann.

Create flow by carrying one color through adjoining rooms. As a rule, a room should have at least three colors: a dominant color, usually the background; a subordinate color, perhaps in the carpet or fabrics; and an accent color, often found in accessories or details such as banding on draperies or cording on upholstered pieces. To make rooms harmonize, Eschmann says that at least one color should be repeated in related spaces. It doesn’t have to be exactly the same shade or intensity.

It’s also effective to repeat colors in different proportions from room to room. The dominant color in one room can be the accent color in another, while the secondary color of the first room segues to become the adjoining room’s main color. Of course, rules beg to be broken�

Editor’s Note: Color Wheel carries Pratt and Lambert, Devine, Farrow & Ball and Benjamin Moore paints and offers complete home decorating services and products including window treatments, decorative painted finishes, fabrics, and custom picture framing. In-home color consultations are available.