How to create your new colour paletteby Erin McLaughlin |
It always seems that creating a colour palette is one of the most daunting decisions when decorating. There are lots of ideas out there on how to create a look for your home that you love, but the idea that always works for me is to focus on things that I love and use them for inspiration. In the case of the update of my living room decor, I started to look at what I loved in the room and what I was tired of. LOVE: my antique black satin glass, my floating dark walnut shelves, my high-backed settee. TIRED OF: the warm colours of the walls, the warm wheat fabric of the settee, the gloomy feeling of too much dark colour in the small space. So off I went to Robert Allen fabrics
, where I started to go through their fabulous fabrics. I was looking for the “one statement” fabric that would work. I didn’t want a complete overhaul of my room - just an update. I found a fabulous fabric, Beacon Hill Luxury Velvet in Moss, that was just right. Still a neutral colour, but more greige then beige. I worked it in with a Beacon Hill class oatmeal linen fabric that I have always loved: Linen Weave in Linen and then found a great pattern in Beacon Hill’s new upholstery fabric: Bouncing Ball in Pewter. The tones are all soft and would be considered a warm grey. But not too warm! It’s interesting, because often people will start with a paint colour and then find fabrics that work with them. I always do it in reverse. I want the fabrics and textures in a room to be the focal point, the paint should just work as a backdrop. The accent colour that I used is a bold French blue linen. I love it! I have my stack of fabrics sitting on my desk while the pieces have gone out for reupholstery. I can’t wait to update you with photos of the pieces when they’re ready!
