No one does color better than interior designer
Tricia Guild. Every season I pester my friends at
ID Collection to send over images from the latest fabrics and wallpapers from her line,
Designers Guild, because I know they'll be sumptuous and dreamy. I think most of us stick with bland palettes at home because we're afraid of using color. Tricia has a new book,
Paint Box, that makes it so much easier to pull a color scheme together yourself, with 45 different palettes that include color, texture, and pattern. Every room in her book is accompanied by design tips and a directory of Designers Guild paint colors, fabrics, and wallpapers. I pulled some of Tricia's highly useful tips from the book, below...
Tip #1 Mixing a color with a neutral such as black, white, or gray, reduces the colorfulness. A neutral is the color that underpins your scheme. White is often the default option, but why not consider gray, ecru, chocolate, or a shade of blue or green, or even pale plaster pink. Tricia often uses a shade of slate blue or olive green as a neutral, especially with bright colors.
Tricia Guild
Tip #2 Tricia Guild's Faded Frescoes palette is inspired by Italy's ancient frescoed walls and looks great against a natural linen shade. She suggests keeping your neutral soft to echo fresh paint or wet plaster.
Tip #3 Olive and emerald colors liven up a mid-century palette, with charcoal acting as the perfect neutral. For this look, you'll want to keep the walls white, and mix wood furniture with upholstered pieces in wool and tweeds.
Tip #4 The glamour of 18th-century French royalty is evoked here with fresh blooms in plum and eggplant and bottle greens. Balance the look with a neutral wall, or you could paint the walls in plum or eggplant. This look is magical in rooms with little natural light.
Tip #5 If you love the look of vintage roses, make it more approachable with casual linens. Think about toughening up the look a bit with an off-beat colors such as warm denim blue.
Tip #6 The many shades of white can clash. Decorating an all-white room is one of the most difficult schemes to pull off. First, determine which white are you? Blue-toned white works well in sunny, light-filled rooms. Creamy, yellow-toned white feels more classical and is suited for north-facing spaces. A gray-toned white gives you a clear, crisp architectural finish. Whichever white you pick, make sure they all work together -- drapes, shades, furniture, accessories — and are united in their tones of white.
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