Color matters: how to get it right in your home

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press/USA Today Network • Feb. 4, 2023

Creating a spectacular space in your home doesn’t just happen. It takes thought, effort, planning and careful implementation for a quality result. This is especially true when coming up with a color plan.

It’s far from easy. It’s complicated. It’s not necessarily about your favorite color. It’s why home interior professionals study it for years and most are like me and don’t leave the house without a fan deck in their hand. We are passionate about color. Color is everything.

As a Fort Myers interior decorator, my most requested service is selecting color and creating personalized color palettes for the home. It’s the most difficult part of decorating for many homeowners and there are good reasons. The number one reason being the approach. It’s usually all wrong and results in mistakes and frustration.

Creating a spectacular space in your home doesn’t just happen. It takes thought, effort, planning and careful implementation for a quality result. This is especially true when coming up with a color plan. Before you head out to pick up color swatches, come up with a plan that considers flooring, light, furnishings and upholstery throughout the home. Photo: Benjamin Moore

Most rush out to a big box store, grab a hundred color swatches (all in their favorite colors), take them home, hold the one-inch color swatch up to their existing paint color, make a decision, call the painter and it all begins. And then wonder why it doesn’t look just right.

Trends and changes

Although I always recommend following what you love and a more timeless approach to home decorating, color trends are always fun and there are lots of changes in color choices.

Timeless and classic. A white bathroom with walls in Benjamin Moore’s Ice Mist in matte and wainscoting in White Diamond matte. Aura Bath & Spa. Photo: Benjamin Moore.

• Overall we are seeing warmer colors. Cozy and comfort seem to be what we are craving right now.

• Lots of beautiful earth tones. Be careful of too much of a good thing. Remember how long it took to escape the Tuscan trend.

• Reds, oranges, yellows.

• Neutrals warmed up with yellows, blues and greens. This is a popular choice in Southwest Florida homes.

• Moody hues on walls in darker tones. And lots of navy for kitchen cabinets.

Moody colors are popular such as Benjamin Moore’s Charcoal Slate (walls in matte) and Atrium White (ceiling in matte), trim in semi-gloss. All are Aura Interior Paint. Photo: Benjamin Moore.

Timeless and classic

• White for kitchens and bathrooms.

• Moldings for the entire home. These classic touches give a room what it needs to carry off all-white or dark colors.

Rule #1

When we speak of color and color palettes, we are not suggesting that color only be considered for walls. Your color palette should incorporate the entire look of your home. If your primary color in your living spaces is neutral, the color palette should incorporate other colors throughout to keep it from being boring.

An example is yellow. We are seeing this color return and it is everywhere. But let’s face it: yellow is a tough wall color if you don’t want to tire of it soon. So, work yellow into your palette with towels, linens, fabric, wall treatments and accessories.

And this really goes for any color that you fall in love with. Just because you saw that dark blue in a magazine and you want to try it on your walls, think about it. Consider lighting, architectural features, furnishings, trims and how you use the room before you paint. Most of these rooms in magazines are decorated from top to bottom with custom trims and architectural features. It simply will not look the same in a plain room.

So, what do we do?

Incorporate these beautiful splashes of color throughout your home in other ways. Here are a few:

• Try the color on a ceiling. I have been doing this in homes for years and it gives a splash of color without committing it to the entire room.

• Paint shelves and bookcases in a color against a neutral background. Or go monochromatic with everything in the same color.

• Use colors from your palette in rugs, pillows, window treatments, headboards, upholstery for sofa, and chairs, artwork, mural or wallcovering.

Why is color so important?

• It updates your home without spending a fortune.

• Pulls the space together.

• Makes your home look clean and fresh.

• Color creates a personalized look for your home.

• It makes you happy!

A few more tips

ALL color has undertones. This is where the mistakes are made. If your sofa (or flooring or counter tops) has green/beige undertones and you pick a pinky beige paint color for walls, you will not be happy. This is where a professional can help.

• Think about the rest of your home. Color needs to coordinate throughout. A good rule that I follow: No more than three paint colors in the home.

• What works: I like to select more neutrals for the main areas and incorporate ceiling and trim colors. Bathrooms and bedrooms lend themselves to accent colors.

Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator, A.S.I.D. associate and gold member of the Interior Redecorators Network. She helps homeowners throughout Southwest Florida with timeless, affordable ways to create beautiful spaces and solve decorating problems. Her articles appear the first Saturday of each month. For more information, visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 239-850-5800 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips, articles and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog

Seeing green: color is optimistic, healing, calming

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press/USA Today Network • June 4, 2022

It’s more than a passing trend.

 We’re seeing lots of green. And it’s no wonder. Green is believed to leave us optimistic and refreshed. It’s thought to have calming properties and it can be healing. And it helps to diffuse anxiety. In today’s stressful world, my take on it is that we need everything that green can bring into our homes. Right?

 It’s no coincidence that Benjamin Moore’s Color of the Year for 2022 is October Mist, a silvery green neutral that anchors a space and allows for other colors such as violet, yellows, blues and corals. And Sherwin Williams went for Evergreen Fog, with a bit of grey and blue in its selection for 2022.

Feng Shui teaches that green encourages new beginnings and renewal. Yes, please.

 It’s an easy color with so many choices from cool sage to bright emeralds and it can be used as a neutral or an accent. It’s no wonder it’s a bit of an obsession right now.

 The good news is that you can incorporate a little green into your decorating scheme without doing a major upheaval in your home. As an Estero-based interior designer, I have seen a noticeable increase in requests from my Southwest Florida clients who want to bring more green into their homes. Especially where the main color is a neutral. And why not? It’s perfect for our lifestyle.

 But like everything to do with your home, before you call the painter, you need a plan. Whether you want a lot of green or a hint here and there in your home, I have a few tips for ways of doing a little green refresh and making it look like you hired a designer to help you!

 ·       Feeling a little tired of gray? Some of the cool sage tones are good alternatives as a neutral color. And if you have gray as a neutral in your home, green is a perfect accent in the right shade. For a nice, neutral green, Benjamin Moore’s Soft Fern and Silken Pine are good options. And if you want to go a little deeper, consider Hancock Green and Hollingsworth Green. Check the recommendations in the chart in this article and with any paint color, please test the color before you paint.

An array of palm fronds, feathery ferns and other tropical foliage enliven this exuberant green botanical wallpaper. Imagined and hand-painted in Schumacher’s New York design studio, this large-scale three-panel set is 12 feet high, allowing it to spread across and up the walls of a room for a tall dose of breezy tropics. Photo Schumacher. www.fschumacher.com

·       If you want to go bold and are ready for a major change, consider painting the kitchen cabinets. If your cabinets are white and you want to keep them that way, think about a green or blue-green glass backsplash. And a powder room is the perfect place for a beautiful emerald green or a dramatic wallcovering in the same shades.

·       For my tastes, green is best not used in a big way. Like for an entire large room.   Consider a green neutral for a bathroom or office but not necessarily for an entire Florida room.

Give the laundry room an unexpected green refresh with Benjamin Moore’s Cedar Green 2034-40, in eggshell. Cabinets: Super White OC-152, Advance, satin. Trim: Super White OC-152, Advance, semi-gloss. Photo Benjamin Moore. www.benjaminmoore.com

·       The color by no means has to be on the walls. There are ceilings. Especially if you have coffered ceilings. Painting them a bold green and adding a beautiful light fixture is just enough drama for a room.

·       Don’t forget the laundry room. It can be the most boring room in the house but try a gorgeous green on the walls and add a little fun art on the walls and everything changes.  A green sofa (I have one in my Florida room) or console or accent table add a lot of color happiness to a room. 

·       If you have white shutters or blinds, pick out a beautiful fabric with greens, blues and corals and have valances made for the windows. 

We love the green shade but this ivy bookshelf light from Ballard Designs is also a unique task light made from a piece of solid marble with a swan neck and brass candle arm. A great (and useful) addition to your bookshelf. Photo: Ballard Designs. www.ballarddesigns.com

·       Just want a little touch of green? Paint the wall behind shelves or bookcases. A rug with blue-greens, a mural on an accent wall, framed botanical prints. Paint your front door. Green lamp shades or glass lamps. And there are always plants which keep our homes healthy and bring nature indoors. You can’t have enough of them!

 Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator, A.S.I.D. associate and gold member of the Interior Redecorators Network. She helps homeowners throughout Southwest Florida with timeless, affordable ways to create beautiful spaces and solve decorating problems. Her articles appear the first Saturday of each month. For more information, visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 239-850-5800 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips, articles and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog

Beyond beige: color changes everything in a home

There is so much to consider when deciding on a color palette. When thinking about color in any given room, we have to consider the flooring, cabinets, countertops, fixtures, window treatments, walls. It’s no wonder it becomes a bit overwhelming for homeowners. Photo: Cambria

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press/USA Today Network • May 1, 2021

Color. It’s at the heart of good design. And understanding how to use color in our homes changes everything. Get the colors right and the decor flows. Make a mistake and well, we’ve all been there.

When thinking about color in any given room, we have to consider the flooring, cabinets, countertops, fixtures, window treatments, walls. It’s no wonder it becomes a bit overwhelming.

From the time I was given my first box of crayons, I’ve loved color. It’s my passion. A fan deck is always within arm’s reach because I never know when I’ll find a new palette and need to match the colors. It can happen anywhere. On a bike ride. At the farmer’s market. The beach. A park. Swimming in a pool. At the Kravet showroom in Naples. In my car. Daydreaming at my desk.

Photo: Thibaut Design

And like most passions, it’s as Claude Monet said, “color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.”

 Sometimes color cries out to you. It can stop you in your tracks. A sofa, a purse, a dress, a piece of fabric. A sunset. When you find your color, you know it. And you want to carry that feeling home. Because it gives you joy. And joy is what we want to feel in our homes.

 As a Fort Myers interior decorator, I spend a lot of time helping my clients discover their color and how to create the flow of color from room to room so it will make them happy when they walk in the door.

 Think beyond brown sofas and beige walls

Let’s be realistic: there is nothing wrong with a brown sofa, which I see in almost every home. Especially in the yummy cognac leather that is trending now. And there’s nothing wrong with beige as a neutral. But here is the truth: beige is easy and doesn’t require a lot of stress. But there are so many other colors to select from. Be fearless. You know there are colors that you want to try. Like a sofa in your favorite color.

Coming out of a year at home, there are lots of color trends. Mustard yellow, orange brown tones, corals and cognac. This beautiful cognac leather sofa warms up a white room with artwork. From Pottery Barn’s Chesterfield Collection. Photo: Pottery Barn

Trends

Coming out of a year at home, there are lots of color trends. Mustard yellow, orange brown tones, corals and cognac which is especial nice to warm up white walls. Plenty of earth tones with forest greens and blues. Floral wall coverings and painted ceilings. Green kitchen cabinets are a big trend now.

 Color palette categories

·       Exotics that say “take me away.” Inspired by someplace you have visited or want to visit.

·       Fearless colors that you have always wanted to try.

·       Nostalgic colors that evoke emotions.

·       Classic colors that are still current.

·       Timeless colors that never get old.

·       Water hues for baths and powder rooms.

·       Neutrals that are versatile when layered with texture and patterns.

·       Earth and nature tones. You can never go wrong with these.

·       Dazzling colors that say “wow” when you walk in the door.

 Color is not just for the walls

Paint color is important but remember that a color you love can also be used in other places throughout your home. If it’s a little overwhelming, try it on the ceiling. I did this recently for a client who loves purple. Instead of an entire room, we did the coffered ceiling in the master bedroom and carried the color into the master bath with towels, rugs and accessories.

 Other ways to put color into your home:

Flooring/rugs

Artwork

Wallcoverings

Sofa, dining chairs, barstools

Bedding/linens

Lamps/pendants/Chandeliers

Fabric/window treatments/pillows

Accessories

Plants/flowers

 My best color advice:

Make a plan for the room (or house) before you look at color. You have to start somewhere when designing an empty room and that should not be with the paint color. Select furnishings, fabric, counter tops and other finishes and even a few accessories and THEN look at color. I have clients who call and ask me to have an entire new home painted by next week before they select furniture. You may love that pretty coral paint but what happens when you fall in love with a sofa that doesn't relate to the color? Answer: you have to repaint. We want to avoid that costly mistake! 

  

Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator, A.S.I.D. associate and gold member of the Interior Redecorators Network. She helps homeowners throughout Southwest Florida with timeless, affordable ways to create beautiful spaces and solves decorating problems. Her articles appear the first Saturday of each month. For more information visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 239-850-5800 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips, articles and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog