Introducing Colour and Pattern
If you were to visit my house today you would see clean lines, traditional elements and simple profiles all in neutral shades. You would see that… but first you would see colourful plastic toys, stacks of papers covered in crayons and markers and glitter, inventions made of amazon prime boxes covered in stickers and pipe cleaners and tiny pairs of shoes, sandals and bright rain jackets. With three young kids I have found our home to incidentally be filled with a cacophony of colour and mixed patterns, it is just not my preferred design-forward application of colour and pattern I have in my design vision for my home.
When we first moved into our home my goal was to simplify the design of the house. I knew for budget and timing reasons we would need to update in stages, and I opted to start with a neutral slate (white walls, neutral flooring) and simple trim. Here is a board showing the colours, materials and finishes we chose to start with in our home. From here I would work to build the design based on how we ended up using the space while living in the house.
For the last year I have been focusing on the kitchen renovation (see materials and finishes and more on that renovation on this blog post). For the kitchen I opted for neutral and traditional choices when choosing the finishes and by doing so I am confident they will stand the test of time without another large-scale makeover and likely not to scare any buyers off when it is time to sell. Now that the kitchen renovation is complete I am ready to start on the details and inject some colour and personality into our home.
Colour
SW- Shermin Williams, BM- Benjamin Moore
I love neutrals, gravitate towards them in most every personal design decisions, but after a couple years of choosing neutral colours and finishes in our home I am ready to have some fun with colour. After many many colour swatches I think I’ve decided on Benjamin Moore Boothbay Gray HC-165 for my next project (the entryway). I am excited to see how this changes the feel of our very neutral esthetic of the house. Boothbay Gray is a blue-green shade and depending on the light will appear either gray, blue or green. in my soft, non-direct light it takes on a nice blue-gray with slight green undertones and I think it will be the perfect colour to sprinkle through the house.
Take a look at the colours we have to date and future colours that are being considered in my home at this time.
Pattern
Pattern Planning Board- Julia DeDecker Interiors
I am drawn to a designs which balance the rich saturated colours and neutrals, cool colours and warm colours, the traditionally ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ prints and traditional and modern esthetics. I’ve collected the existing, planned and some experimental patterns in a collage to envision how these patterns will balance eachother in the same, or adjacent rooms. Keeping the colours mostly neutral and within my colour scheme assists in these patterns working together. Also in each room I look to mix geometric patterns with more floral, curved designs and considered scale, balancing larger scale patterns with smaller scale patterns. I personally am drawn towards the simple traditional patterns like plaid, check, stripe and knowing that I am also making an effort here to introduce florals. Since I personally am not looking for a busy chintz or toile pattern I have opted for block print and water colour-esque floral designs which provides some softer balance to the straight-edged plaids/stripes while staying clean and simple. It is also important to remember that pattern comes in solid colours and other materials as well; beadboard, marble, wood grain, wicker, jute rugs and wall paneling are examples of subtle patterns that add texture and dimension to your design and should be considered in pattern planning. Which pattern combo is your favourite?
