Color Palettes

Color Style Guide: Red Basement Design Ideas

There are 3 things you need to think about when creating a red basement design. They are, 1) what shade of red to go with, 2) how much red to use, and 3) how do you create a balance of red pieces in the basement space.

What Shade of Red?

Do you want a more relaxing, cozy, and almost romantic feeling basement? Then go with a dark shade of red. Or do you want a bight, spacious feeling basement? Then go with a light red color.

The shade of red you use to decorate your basement space will really play a big part in how the space feels. Just take a look at the difference in the basements in pictures (1) and (4).

A Palette Guide to Basement Paint Colors

How Much Red?

The second questions you’ll need to ask yourself when designing your basement is “how much red”. Do you want to have all of your walls painted in red. Or how about painting the walls white (or grey like the basements in pictures (2 and 3)) and decorating the space with red accent pieces.

Another option is to have red basement walls, but then find ways to break up the red surfaces. Adding wainscoting is one way of doing this (The Finishing Touch: Wainscoting Ideas and Designs). Hanging a different colored curtain, or hanging up a gallery wall are some other ways to liven up red walls.

Creating Balance: Red Decor Pieces

So not everything in the basement needs to be red. You could create a red and grey basement combination. Red and white, or red and black are some other good combinations. Here are some ideas on how to add a pop of red into a basement design:

Through area rugs
Maybe the couch doesn’t need to be red, but the pillows and a throw blanket can be
The coffee table can be decorated with a red tray to group together clutter items
Hang up a red piece of artwork in a black frame. Or hang up black and white artwork but in a red frame
If you go with white/grey/black walls, then red curtains would work
Any light fixtures you have could be red
Repaint any cabinet doors, or the media console red

Here are some other basement posts for more ideas:

image credits 1/2/3/4

April 22, 2016 in Basement, Color Palettes

Color Style Guide: All White Bathroom Ideas

So you want to go with a white bathroom design? This means having all of your walls in white. This post is going to be about creating a balance in your white bathroom by infusing subtle shades of light grey or another color. For ideas on how to create a black and white bathroom design, check out my post here: The Classic Look: Black and White Bathroom Decor Ideas [coming soon].

If you want to go with a completely all white bathroom, like the ones in pictures (5) and (6), then you are set to go. Have a look at my bathroom page for a collection of posts to get ideas for the different areas of your bathroom (lighting, decor, vanitieis, etc.).

Here are some ideas on how to break up all of that white in an all white bathroom.

Your Walls

White walls are the way to go. But if you want to add some style to these flat surfaces, here are some ways to do it:

Add decorative crown molding
Wainscoting is another idea. Have the wainscoting go up high, and paint the walls a light grey or off white color. Or you could just leave both the wainscoting and the walls white (The Finishing Touch: Wainscoting Ideas and Designs)
Use white Anaglypta wallpaper – just like in picture (4) that you can get here. This is a 3D patterned wallpaper that you can paint over, or leave white.

Flooring

Try to stick to a light colored bathroom floor to keep the bright and spacious feeling of a white bathroom. Have a look at the bathroom in picture (2) that uses the light grey tiles, and a white border. Or how about the bathroom in picture (1) that uses marble white bathroom tiles for the floor which adds in a little bit of grey into the overall color scheme.

Bathroom Flooring Ideas Guide: Designs and Material Options

Pops of Color

Here are some ideas on how to add some color or other tones into a white bathroom:

Take a page out of Scandinavian design, which uses a white base. They add neutral colors to the design – such as grey or black. And they add warmth through the use of natural materials, which brings in other tones to the space.
Add in some wooden features to the bathroom to bring in some earthly brown tones – use a teak shower mat, a wooden counter, or a wooden vanity mirror frame.
Bring in some greenery into the bathroom with some plants
If you want to add a pop of color (red, blue, orange), then how about hanging up some colorful towels or curtains. How about using a colorful vanity backsplash, or painting the bathroom door a pop of color. An area rug, shower curtain, and mirror frame are other ways to add in some color to a white bathroom.

Here are some other bathroom posts to get ideas from:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6

April 18, 2016 in Bathroom, Color Palettes

Color Style Guide: Purple Home Office Ideas

This post goes over the different areas to consider when styling a home office in purple – from what shade of purple to go with to how much purple to use.

What Shade of Purple?

Do you want a cozy and luxury feeling space? Then go with a dark shade of purple. Or if you want to create a bright and spacious feeling home office, then go with a light purple paint color for the walls.

How Much Purple?

If you want a bold home office, then paint all of your walls purple, and even the ceiling. A step down from this is to paint only one wall purple (say the one behind or in front of the desk) and then paint all of the other walls a neutral color such as white, black or grey. This one purple wall will really stand out.

Another idea is to paint all of the walls white, light grey, or black, and then decorate the space with pops of purple. You only need a few pieces to really decorate the room purple (an area rug, purple cabinet doors, etc.)

Taking Out Other Colors

If you want to create a well designed home office space, then you’ll want to be pretty strict about your color palette. If you have colored pieces, such as a green trash can, a yellow storage container, or a red lamp, then you’ll want to take these pieces out.

This doesn’t mean you can’t add other colors to your purple home office. But you do need to choose carefully what pieces and what colors to add. I say stick to only adding 1-2 other colors otherwise you start taking away from the overall purple color scheme.

A good way to spice up a purple home office is to infuse it with natural materials. Like a wooden desk, wooden shelves, or a wooden chair. Or how about adding some plants to bring in some shades of green – or bring in some purple plants.

What Purple Pieces to Add

Above I mentioned that it doesn’t take much to style a home office purple. You’ll only need a few accent pieces to create a purple color scheme. Other pieces in the room can be a neutral color (white, grey, or black). Here are some ideas on what pieces in the home office can be used to create pops of purple in the space:

See if you can get a purple area rug
Hanging up a mirror will make the home office space feel larger, and this can be inside a purple frame
Or hang up inspirational pictures and photographs in purple frames. Or hang up a purple art piece in a black frame
The desk itself could have a purple top
The curtains can be purple
The cabinets or closet doors, could be given a makeover and painted purple (DIY Challenge: Give Your Closet Doors a Makeover)
The door to your home office could be painted purple
If you have a desk lamp, this could have a purple lampshade
The chair you use could also be purple

Here are some other home office posts to get more ideas from:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6

April 18, 2016 in Color Palettes, Home Office

Color Style Guide: Red Bathroom Ideas and Decor Accessories

The red bathroom ideas in this post are grouped into 4 main areas: 1) How the shade of red you use will impact the feeling and style of the bathroom, 2) what colors can you combine with red, 3) how to style your bathroom walls, and 4) what are some of the accent pieces in a bathroom that you can include.

What Shade of Red?

The shade of red paint for your bathroom walls will come down to how you want your bathroom to feel. A dark red will make the bathroom feel secluded and cozy, and luxurious. While a light red bathroom will feel spacious and brighter.

Another option is to paint all of the walls white, and then decorate the space with red accent pieces (a red backsplash, red shower curtain, etc.).

And if you take a look at the pictures of the red bathrooms in the mood board above, you can see that the ceilings are usually white (though having it red creates a cozier space). And the floors are usually a neutral color such as white, black or grey.

Color Combinations

Here are some good looking color combinations that would work well for a red bathroom design:

Red and white
Red and black (a popular choice)
Red and grey (light or dark)
Red and brown

Design and Decor Tips For Your Walls

Here are some ways to add design elements to your bathroom walls:

Wainscoting – these can be a white, brown, or black to contrast the red walls. Or they can be painted red to match your walls, adding some depth and layers.
Crown Molding – again these can be painted over, left white, or red to match the walls
Add a Texture – This can be done by using wallpaper, using a textured red tile, or by different painting techniques (Textured Wall Painting Ideas).

Red Bathroom Decor and Accent Pieces

Take a look around your bathroom. Which items are the main focal pieces in the space? These items can be red to help create the overall red color palette in the room. Here are some ideas:

The shower curtain, or window curtains
Bathroom rugs
What are some ways you can make a red bathroom vanity area? You could paint the frame of the mirror red, use red containers for soaps and lotions, or use red tiles for the backsplash.
Hang up some red towels
How about painting the bathroom door red (or black)

Here are some other bathroom posts to get more ideas from:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6