Behind the Design: Bright and Bold Great Room
Pattern and color are two of my favorite things, and recently I got to play with both designing a feminine-forward great room and dining space.
The color palette is bright, heavily featuring green, pink and blue with accents in white, black and gold. The overall design is modern, yet soft. Overall design concepts for any project starts with the homeowner. I use both written questionnaires and inspiration images to better understand what my clients like and why. This tells me so much! In this case, the homeowner didn’t state that she liked such modern lines and bright colors in her questionnaire, but the inspirational photos she selected showed me that she loved this idea.
A significant part of embracing vivid colors is balancing them out with neutrals. I used white and black as neutrals in this design. The bookcase is a good example of balance — the black wood serves as the perfect backdrop for books and accents that reflect the main color scheme. I also selected some accents in other colors, like red, to add dimension. These bookcases were existing in the living room and are great for anchoring this large wall, so we were excited to stretch our budget and keep them in the new space. Our goal was to help our client get maximum impact on each element of the room.
The bold colors and patterns are also articulated on the walls through the art. We loved the idea of using very bright art with a large scale on the creamy, tall wall, imitating an art gallery. It’s a bit unexpected and brings a happy feeling to the space.
Some might think a lively color palette isn’t timeless, but I wholeheartedly disagree. Though bright, this design is still timeless because it’s not based on trends, but on personality. The bright color palette simply elevates the classic design elements, like the upholstered armchairs with clean lines and art deco area rug, to reflect the homeowner’s modern and fun taste.
In the end, we were so happy with how each little detail came together in this room to create drama in a very practical and livable space. Our client loves it too!
