When Should You Compromise With Your Front Door Color?

Just the other day I responded to a blog post. The blog post was about having a pink door for your home and if it was a good idea or not. I mentioned that although pretty, it was not really a good idea for several reasons.

Door colors that are pretty but may be a problem

First of all, I had asked if there was a man in the house. You always have to consider BOTH sexes when choosing color for a home whether it's a bedroom color or something as small as a front door color. Some people responded with “why should it matter if there is a man in the house?” Which was a bit obvious to me but apparently not so to the person who questioned it.

I replied by saying that most men do not like pink and would not appreciate having to look at a color they didn't like every time they entered their own home. 

“Is there Mr in the household? Would he mind having a pink door? I know you love pink (directed to the Mrs.) but how would Mr. feel about a pink door?”

These are quesitons I ask every single time I choose color for a home.

• Is there a Mr. in the home?
• Does he have a favorite color?
• Would he mind a pink for this room?
• What color would he like for the bedroom?
• What colors do you both like/dislike?

Most of the time I work with the woman in the home and she replies with a “oh he doesn't care” or a “whatever I like is fine with him” and in that case I just carry on but really will not choose a very feminine color if I know there is a couple in the home especially for the bedroom. There HAS to be a color compromise.

You can still choose a fun color for your door just tone it down.
My front door is very close to the first color.

Going back to the front door, the other reason you may not want an “unusual” color (pink, orange, bright green, purple) is because of HOA'a (Home Owners Associations). There are limits to your color options so check with them first before you commit. 

Keep in mind that painting your front door requires just one quart of a semi gloss color. Its' not a big financial commitment so if you did choose a color that didn't work out for some reason. It'll take minutes to change it.

Living Room Makeover Part I. Choosing a Color

It's been six years since I moved into my home and it's time for a major update. I recently repainted the kitchen (color not listed yet) and having done that, the rest of my home now doesn't match. One room at a time for this busy Color Specialist!

So, this week I will be painting my living room area which opens up to the kitchen. Open floor plans are really tricky so the colors have to be right on. 

Like I mentioned in the video, the eating area and living room (gold areas) don't relate to the kitchen color since I recently repainted it. I'm going to be painting this week to start my living room makeover so keep posted here or on YouTube for the changes.

PAINT COLOR: I'm starting with EPIC which is a fairly popular color by Valspar. Come take a look at the video and see why I chose that color.

Here is another video I recently made that talks about the lovely pinky beige in my dining room which is a very difficult hue to work with when the rest of your home has warm undertones.

Unbeknownst to me at the time of this video, I didn't have any plans to repaint my living room but the more I looked at the gold, the more it got on my nerves. Does it look pretty in my home? Yes but for me to keep any one color on my walls for 6 years is a HUGE feat! So new color it is!

So I hope you continue you join me on the revamping of my home because it's going to get fun! The videos are casual, informative and hopefully you'll pick up a thing or two about color and design.

Please let me know if you have any questions about color or anything that I'm talking about in the videos. Enjoy!

Paint Your Dining Room to Match Your Wedgwood China

You've just inherited your Grandmother's beautiful wedgwood china. Now you want your dining room to be the perfect showcase for it but you're not sure what color to paint your room. 

Say good-bye to your red dining room and start looking at some soft delicate hues to match your collectible china. 

Think muted hues that are light and soft. You can pick a paint color right from the china pattern like I did here but lighten it up just a bit. You also can bring in the darker colors for accents in your table linens or drapery. 

Try Silken Blue, Grandma's China or Skipping Stone from Color Stories 

Finish the look with coordinating fabric from CRLaine 

Who Says You Can't Love Fall Color in The Summer?

Memorial Day weekend is just about here and I'm talking about Fall colors. Crazy but I just love this color!! I know it's way too early to talk about Fall but look at Buttered Yam! I always loved this color - year round. 

Buttered Yam is a great alternative to the ever so popular orange that you see out now. For those of us who are not big fans of orange but still like it's warmth, go with Buttered Yam. It's spicy,warm and will go with just about any furniture color your have in your home.

I believe the trim in this Benjamin Moore room is White Dove which we all know is one of the best Whites ever. It's not too white and has just the right balance of creamyness.

Try this hue in your home my friends, it's a winner!

How To Choose Wall Color When you Have Pink in Your Fireplace Stone

I literally cringe every time I see this stone by the fireplace. I'd rather see a house painted all white rather than trying to make this stone work with the rest of the color scheme for a home.

It's not that it can't be worked in but the pink stone that you see really, really stands out depending on which color you choose for your home and a lot of people don't have or like pink in the home.

There of course are tons of color options to make this stone work but you have to be careful. Do you want to choose a wall color to make that pink stone blend or stand out? Here are some options.

 

If you paint your wall green, the pink will really stand out and perhaps have what many people refer to as the “Christmas syndrome” and all they see is red and green. Especially this green and the sage greens are a bit dated.

You can choose a beige wall color which will be fine but very safe and maybe a little hum drum? You'll still have to choose a “color” for the room unless you want your room to be all beige.

You can add the oh so popular gray as a wall color and this would be really nice. The pink in the stone will be your feature in the room. See how it stands out? You'll have to bring pink out in to the room to tie it in a bit better - if you want. Pretty though.

So what else can you do? Well let's take a look at some colors that will give your room a really different look.

You can use a dark blue, dark teal or navy as an accent color by the fireplace. No too bad right? Navy is pretty popular now and there are tons of decor options for the rest of your room to tie it in - as long as it goes with pink.

Now red or burgundy is another option - not so original but still an option.This black cherry red is strong enough where it distracts your eye from the pink yet it's in the same family. It's a good option and I love black cherry red. Don't you? This red really goes with so many decors too.

One other option is to go matchy-matchy which personally, I don't care to do. It's super safe and really looks picture perfect. I'd rather have interesting or unique as an option.You can pull the pink right out of the stone and use that as a wall color but I think that will be a hard sell - at least I've never chosen a color like that for a living room.

The middle color is ok, it's like a slate blue and would probably be the best choice. I've seen and used similar colors in a home with fantastic results. So let's go get a paint sample and try that one out.

The last color is a light blue which is also found in the color of the stones. Now you also have to be careful with light blue because it's really, really close to being a nursery hue - which is it. It can work but just keep other colors in mind to stay away from the nursery look when choosing furniture. Try using black or brown furniture instead of light woods.

So, what would I choose? Actually, this is a file from one of my virtual clients. What I'm going to do it this.

The client wants something fun and happy so fun and happy it is! I chose Persimmon by Benjamin Moore to go with this stone. It doesn't match, which I like, but it coordinates. There is enough pink/red in this color to be next to the pink and the colors that I chose underneath also coordinate with the colors that are in the stone. 

So here you have a choice to choose color that will coordinate with your pink stone and you can still develop a color palette around it without being matchy matchy. The Persimmon is so prominent that you don't really notice the pink in the stone anymore or it just not the feature as it was before.

What Colors Go With Purple?

Have you noticed all the commotion about purple lately? If you haven't you will. It's the hue to have in the home now and it's gorgeous!

I was recently at High Point Market and purple showed to be a favorite there. Look how nice it is in these pictures? This was a client of mine in Waxhaw, NC about two years ago so I guess I was ahead of my time and lucky, the client was on board with this sexy hue.

Designed by Donna Frasca 2010

So you want to know what other colors can go with purple if you decide to use it as a wall color. First of all, when you decide on a purple choose the ones that are soft and muted like I have here. Don't get too bright or vibrant otherwise you'll daughter will be jealous of your room :-)

You can choose light colors such as these.

Or you can go with very dark colors for a dramatic look.

There really is a lot you can do with purple but the idea is just to try it. Now is the time to experiment with the hue for your home because you'll find quite of bit of home decor to coordinate with it.

Designed by Donna Frasca 2010

Color Inspiration From Thermal Graphics

It's also fun to play with color in graphics!

Even the colors in this thermal image would make a great color combination for a kids room. 

It just goes to show you that you can color inspiration - anywhere!