Gray and white striped stair way and wall {stripe tutorial}
COLOR INSPIRATION
For most of the homes I’ve owned, I’ve favored neutral wall colors—usually white or off-white. I’ve often felt that the architecture in older houses speaks for itself, so bold color isn’t necessary to highlight the details.
My current home is a craftsman-style house with some charming character, but it lacks the heavy texture of truly old homes and has smooth drywall instead. Still, I want our rooms to feel cozy, neutral and dignified, with bits of quirky fun here and there so things don’t become too formal.
Rather than crisp white throughout this time, I chose a muted gray with brown undertones for most walls. A neutral like this will flow through many rooms. I plan to compile a post listing the specific paint colors I’m using, so I’ll share details soon.
Pure white would have felt too bright and modern in rooms with large windows, so the warmer gray helps create a softer, cozier feel. Interestingly, white felt perfectly aged and charming in my previous house — a reminder that the same color can read differently depending on the home.
I still use white on select walls, on board-and-batten, and for trim to provide contrast and brightness against the gray.
I’m also planning a couple of rooms with true color to keep things unexpected. For example, we’ll have a bright turquoise bathroom — I’ve already photographed it and will share it soon.
Color inspiration can come from anywhere: a fabric, a rug, a painting, or even a view outside your window. I keep a collection of inspirational colors and schemes to refer to when I need ideas.
Many of us avoid color and pattern out of caution, and we end up with predictable, overly matched rooms.
Look at nature — it uses countless color combinations and they naturally work together.
Personally, I gravitate toward color schemes that:
1) capture the mood I want for the home
2) reflect both the interior and exterior surroundings — the region, the home’s architectural style, and permanent features like wood floors and trim. I prefer neutral backdrops with pops of color that can be changed with accessories.
For readers in the Pacific Northwest, a few bloggers there use lovely neutral schemes worth checking out. Janelle from Isabella & Max and Emily from Jones Design Studio both use darker gray walls effectively and offer great examples of how neutrals can be layered.
“First, I just love neutrals. They are calming, easy on the eyes and neutral — which means you can be fickle about changing accessories and still have them look good. Our walls and major furnishings are all shades of white, gray or black and I like being able to add red at Christmastime, green in the spring or yellow in the summer in the form of pillows, books and flowers and still have everything look cohesive. Because it can get gray and dreary in the NW, we have lots of white to keep things bright.”
I agree — a neutral foundation lets you introduce bold colors whenever you want without disrupting the overall harmony.
There are fun tools that help identify palettes you might like. A color quiz I’ve used suggests personalized palettes based on your preferences. Answering a few questions can reveal a palette and accent colors you might not have considered and can help narrow down choices for a room or an entire home.
PAINT PALETTE QUIZ
How about you? Did the quiz suggest a color scheme you like?
Are you fearless or cautious when choosing colors for your home?
I partnered with Glidden/Akzo Nobel Paints on this post and the My Colortopia program; the opinions and observations here are my own.