12 Bold Color Tricks to Try in Every Room

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?” 

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.

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

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