12 Bold Color Tricks to Try in Every Room

There’s no color fear here: This North Carolina home bursts with (almost) every shade on the spectrum. HGTV Magazine peeks inside and pulls a must-try color tip from every space.

From: HGTV Magazine

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Photo By: David A. Land (styled by Elizabeth Demos)

Photo By: David A. Land (styled by Elizabeth Demos)

Photo By: Courtesy of the manufacturer

Photo By: Courtesy of the manufacturer

Photo By: Emily Kate Roemer/Studio D

Photo By: Courtesy of the manufacturer

Photo By: Emily Kate Roemer/Studio D

Photo By: Emily Kate Roemer/Studio D

Photo By: Courtesy of the manufacturer

Photo By: David A. Land (styled by Elizabeth Demos)

Photo By: Courtesy of the manufacturer

Photo By: Courtesy of the manufacturer

Photo By: Courtesy of the manufacturer

Photo By: David A. Land (styled by Elizabeth Demos)

Photo By: Courtesy of the manufacturer

Photo By: David A. Land (styled by Elizabeth Demos)

Photo By: Courtesy of the manufacturer

Photo By: David A. Land (styled by Elizabeth Demos)

Photo By: David A. Land (styled by Elizabeth Demos)

Photo By: David A. Land (styled by Elizabeth Demos)

Photo By: Emily Kate Roemer/Studio D

Photo By: Courtesy of the manufacturer

Photo By: David A. Land (styled by Elizabeth Demos)

Photo By: David A. Land (styled by Elizabeth Demos)

Photo By: David A. Land (styled by Elizabeth Demos)

Photo By: Courtesy of the manufacturer

Photo By: David A. Land (styled by Elizabeth Demos)

Photo By: David A. Land (styled by Elizabeth Demos)

Photo By: David A. Land (styled by Elizabeth Demos)

Daring Design

A lifelong fan of gutsy color, Shelly Wilkinson wasn’t about to do play-it-safe hues in the Charlotte, NC, home she and her husband, Adam, purchased in 2012. Unafraid to wear turquoise corduroy pants with a neon yellow sweatshirt as a tween or to paint her living room purple when she was a newlywed, Shelly (pictured here with daughters Sydney, 14, and Fleming, 16) had zero anxiety about featuring high-octane colors in every room. To make sure the competing colors wouldn’t clash, she worked with interior designer Lance Jackson of Parker Kennedy Living to map out a harmonious palette. The result is part preppy, part Palm Beach, with plenty of bold patterns, including florals, geometrics and chinoiserie. Even though the home is cohesive instead of chaotic, the kaleidoscopic interiors can shock first-time visitors — “Their jaws hit the floor,” says Shelly — but she’s thrilled with the results. “Color makes it a fun, happy home. What could be better?”

From: HGTV Magazine

Family Room

The room’s Asian influences began with the flower-and-dragon curtains and the vintage bamboo chair. The sofa and the wingback chairs from CR Laine have nailhead trim that complements the coffee table’s brass finish. Color Trick: Matching the sofa’s blue upholstery to the wall color (Palladian Blue by Benjamin Moore) created a quiet backdrop for all of the room’s bold prints.

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Sofa

Safavieh Marlowe 89"-wide linen-blend sofa in blue, $1,350, allmodern.com

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Coffee Table

Trumma 12"H x 45"-diameter wood and metal coffee table, $898, anthropologie.com

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Tray

12" x 12" white rim lacquered wood tray in orange, $34, westelm.com

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Rug

Dash & Albert leopard print 5' x 8' wool rug, $589, furbishstudio.com

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Chevron Pillow

Adras Ikat Chevron 18" x 18" cotton pillow cover, $85, popocolor.etsy.com; insert, from $10, pillowflex.com

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Dragon Pillow

Schumacher Chiang Mai Dragon 18" x 18" linen pillow cover, $100, stuckonhue.etsy.com; insert, from $10, pillowflex.com

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Paint Color

Palladian Blue by Benjamin Moore

From: HGTV Magazine

Dining Room

The walls (painted Poolside Blue by Benjamin Moore) take their color cue from the oil painting above the buffet. The antique chairs were updated with wipe-clean Sunbrella fabric in a graphic print. Color Trick: A pair of vintage plaster pagoda lamps painted high-gloss fuchsia (Peony by Benjamin Moore) ties the pink in the leopard-print Stark rug to the rest of the room.

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Lamp

Anya 32 ¼"-tall metal and glass lamp in beetroot purple with double sheer silver shade, $180, lampsplus.com

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Fabric

El Greco acrylic fabric by Sunbrella in avocado, $39 per yard, outdoorfabriccentral.com

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Paint Color

Poolside Blue by Benjamin Moore

From: HGTV Magazine

Foyer

Walking into the house is a wow moment, thanks to the bird-motif wallpaper by Nina Campbell and a velvet-upholstered antique chair with a peacock-feather print. Color Trick: Shades of chartreuse, aqua, lilac and raspberry — all pulled from the wallpaper — repeat from room to room and give the house continuity. “I needed a starting point, and the wallpaper kicked everything off,” says Shelly.

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Wallpaper

Nina Campbell Paradiso wallpaper by Osborne & Little in 03, $210 for a single roll, decorativebuyingservice.com for buying info

From: HGTV Magazine

Office

Pre-reno, dark walnut paneling on the walls made this space feel cave-like. Apple green paint (Huntington Green by Benjamin Moore), plus the lively pistachio-and-cream Quadrille wallpaper behind the shelves, brightened everything up. Color Trick: It might horrify some homeowners, but painting woodwork — including the trim, the bookcase and the door — can transform a gloomy room.

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Paint Color

Huntington Green by Benjamin Moore

From: HGTV Magazine

Kitchen

The reno’ed kitchen includes a curved Carrara marble island top, matching counters and Crate & Barrel stools in oyster leather. Color Trick: An all-white palette offers a breather from the rest of the home.

From: HGTV Magazine

Pantry

A nothing-special wet bar became a luxe cocktail station when Shelly added a Carrara marble countertop and painted the existing cabinets dazzling cobalt (Evening Blue by Benjamin Moore). Color Trick: Painting the inside of the top cabinets and replacing the solid door panels with intricate wire mesh ones show off the stemware.

From: HGTV Magazine

Breakfast Room

White faux-bamboo chairs from CR Laine tone down the formality of the oval mahogany table. The curtains are made from Schumacher fabric, and the tomato red chandelier is by Worlds Away. Color Trick: The royal blue Lulu DK fabric on the chair cushions is a callout to the color on the nearby pantry cabinets.

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Chair

Macau rattan, mahogany and cotton chair in white, $279, ballarddesigns.com

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Chandelier

Bamboo Tower 31"H x 24"-diameter metal and iron 6-light chandelier in red, $495, and 5"-diameter grass cloth chandelier shades, $29 each, both shadesoflight.com

From: HGTV Magazine

Fleming's Bedroom

Fleming’s bed stretches 72 inches high and is upholstered and skirted in a dotty fabric from Lewis & Sheron Textiles. Translucent silver shades top the Barbara Cosgrove chandelier and bedside lamps. Color Trick: Solid Duralee cotton drapes and Euro shams pick up just one color (deep pink) from the headboard and the bed skirt.

From: HGTV Magazine

Sydney's Bedroom

In Sydney’s glam-girl bedroom, a traditional tufted headboard gets posh with amethyst linen. The Lucite-and-sheepskin stools are from Jonathan Adler. Color Trick: Even lighting can add color. The Stray Dog Designs chandelier introduces chartreuse into the room. The hue also appears in the bed skirt and the curtains.

From: HGTV Magazine

Homework Station

This studying spot includes a vintage campaign desk, a chair redone in a sassy blue leopard print and a pinboard covered in chartreuse polyester. Color Trick: The desk and the small cabinet were bought separately, but painted ice blue (Tropicana Cabana by Benjamin Moore), they look like a set.

From: HGTV Magazine

Get the Look: Desk

Campaign 40 ¼"W x 22 ¼"D x 30 ¼"H wood desk in cobalt, $399, landofnod.com

From: HGTV Magazine

Guest Bedroom

At the ready for sleepovers, the teen-friendly third floor has a Younger Furniture sectional that’s easy to reconfigure, plus tons of patterned pillows and throws. Color Trick: To balance the intense tangerine of the modular sofa, Shelly painted the twin beds an equally daring shade (Vine Green by Benjamin Moore).

From: HGTV Magazine

Bathroom

A white vanity topped with snowy Carrara marble lets the supersized poppies on the Osborne & Little wallpaper take center stage. Color Trick: A big pattern can be surprisingly easy to live with, especially when one of the colors in the design is a neutral, like slate gray.

From: HGTV Magazine

Exterior

Built in 1967, the three-story Georgian-style home is modeled after a historic Delaware residence that dates back to 1774. Shelly kept the brick and black-and-white facade as is, so there’s no tip-off to the vibrant color scheme inside.

From: HGTV Magazine

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