LIVING IN BEAUTY

fear no color

Take the mystery out of using color in your home with this advice for creating a palette you love.

By Linda Applewhite
Photograph by Claudio Santini

This article first appeared in Winter 09 Su Casa

During my time in New Mexico, I have noticed many homes with white or brown kitchens and baths, white walls, dark wooden floors, chocolate stained vigas, and earth-tone tiles. Homeowners across the country and even professionals in the design industry can be reluctant to use color, but I was surprised that houses surrounded by such exquisite color and light from their high desert backdrop often contain so little color inside. When I asked locals what prompts this brown and white color scheme, I was told repeatedly: tradition—a reflection of New Mexico’s history and geographic presence as part of the West.

In remodeling my 1930s adobe on Santa Fe’s historic eastside, I decided to break from tradition and celebrate color. I often take my cues from nature, and it doesn’t get any better than New Mexico’s abundant colors. The stunning sunsets inspired me to bring the outside in, reflect the beauty of the high desert vistas, and make my home truly feel good.

colors with feeling
First let me come clean about color. Wherever I am, I use a lot of color because I believe in its nurturing and life-enhancing qualities. Besides reflecting the colors of the site or the adjacent landscape, homes should be filled with the colors that resonate with the people who live in them. People are often attracted to the colors in their own eyes, hair, or skin tone, and it makes sense for the colors present in human beings’ physical nature to be reflected in their homes. Living with these familiar personal colors makes people feel good.

Something else I’ve learned working with space and color for much of my life is that, with very few exceptions, people like living with warm colors—at least in climates that aren’t hot year-round. I live part time in the San Francisco Bay Area, where my clients often request a cool blue and green color scheme to reflect the water. This is certainly a viable request, as I believe colors from the home’s site or views should be incorporated to connect inside and out. But after a period of time, homeowners frequently call and say they are freezing and need to paint their walls with warm colors. I think the same might apply when using color in New Mexico.

developing your personal color palette
To determine the colors that really resonate with you, start with nature. Stand at your windows and look at the colors in your landscape, or drive to a vista you are attracted to and soak in the colors. Then look at the colors in your eyes, hair, and palm of your hand. Notice the colors of the clothing, dishes, artwork, or fabrics you have chosen. Ask yourself what colors you truly love in your home and what colors have been influenced by tradition or trends. Most likely, you will start to see your authentic colors coming through and repeating themselves. Combine the colors that you like outside your home with the colors you like inside, and you will have the basis for your palette—the three to five colors with which you want to fill your home and garden.

You can combine any colors you like, but when selecting them for your palette, use colors with the same feeling. You might choose toned colors with burnt sienna or raw umber added; pastel colors with white added; jewel-tone colors with blue added; or primary colors, which are pure pigment with nothing added. I find that it’s easier to use a lot of color if you use toned colors that are next to each other on the color wheel, such as red, orange, and gold, for instance. Then, to add some pop, you could accent your room with blue and green, for example, which are complementary, or opposite these colors on the color wheel. You will want to always include neutrals such as brown and/or gray to ground your palette, colors that can be added with wooden furniture or metal light fixtures. I always put some black in a room or both black and white to further ground a colorful palette. By doing this you’re adding the presence of all color and the absence of all color, which I believe enhances any palette.

Your color palette should repeat throughout your property in different ways. If painting your walls seems too daunting at first, paint a bookcase or a few interior doors. Paint the inside of your nichos, if you have any, or your bathroom vanities. Try painting a few of your dining room chairs, or take a risk and paint one accent wall in your living room to give it some pizzazz. In the spring, plant flowers in colors that you love, or buy pots for your patio that reflect the colors in your home’s interior. When deciding on colors and locations for outdoor plantings, stand inside as well as outside, and connect the spaces with color.

methods for selecting color
I always start with the floor covering when selecting colors for each room. If you don’t have carpeting or an area rug and you are considering buying either, do so before you pick any colors for your room. The floor covering is your foundation, so you’ll want to refer to the colors in your flooring, tile, carpet, or area rug when selecting wall, cabinet, furniture, or fabric colors. They don’t have to match, but they should harmonize.

When selecting colors for walls, cabinets, or furniture, place your color chip on the same vertical or horizontal plane where the color will be. Some paint and home supply stores provide 8-by-11-inch samples of many of their paint colors. Use blue painter’s tape to attach samples to the surface you want to paint, and stand across the room to view the color. Color should always be looked at from a distance and in a variety of light, from natural to artificial, at varying times of the day—morning, afternoon, and night. Start with several samples and eliminate them one at a time until you make your decision. Take your time, and once you make your selection, paint one wall to see the effect and go from there. Painting your walls is truly the least expensive way to dramatically give your home a fresh look, and you can do it yourself.

You can use the same selection process for fabrics, but remember that reupholstering furniture and making window treatments are often more expensive than painting a room, so make your decisions carefully.

Why not take a chance with color? Buy a can of paint, trade your white lamp shades in for ones that glow in a warm tone, and toss a couple of vibrant pillows on your living room sofa. Or bring color into your home with beautiful flowers, plants, fruits, or vegetables from your local grower’s market. Nature is truly the master of color and always nurtures you to your core.

Transform your home with colors you love rather than the latest trendy shades you see in design magazines or catalogs—those will be “in” only until the next season rolls around. Instead, select colors that authentically reflect you and your natural surroundings. Rather than fearing color, celebrate and personalize it! This adventure just might change your life.

Linda Applewhite is an architectural designer, artist, and writer who divides her time between northern New Mexico and northern California. She recently published her first design book and teaches seminars in Santa Fe and in Sonoma, California, on the topic of living in beauty.