Blog Series: Designing with Shades of Blue - Finding Balance
Hey there friends,
I love blue. I can’t help it. Let’s start this series about blue by examining this formal living room from a model home I designed in Houston, Texas.
I have found blue is the simplest color to use in conjunction with several shades of itself: indigo, navy, teal, aqua, true blue, slate blue, etc. Most other colors are less forgiving, for example orange. A red orange can seem mismatched and unintentional when paired with a more coral orange (although never say never - I am quite sure we could pull that scheme off and I kind of take it as a challenge...).
However, because blue is naturally a cooler color, ensuring the room is balanced and feels warm is important. Hopefully this blog series will help you make decisions in a more knowledgeable way.
I like pairing blue with white and a nice dark neutral (deep gray, dark brown, or black). For this model home, you can see I used teal velvet on the sofa with an over-dyed creamy rug. It is important to note however, that to ground this scheme and keep it from becoming too ‘cold’ or uninviting, the room has deep chocolate wood flooring, adding texture and warmth. (DESIGN TIP: If your room has lighter flooring, like beige tile, underfoot, then you’ll want to warm it up in some way - perhaps with a darker dyed rug or even a sisal or jute rug for texture.)
Then, in order to dance the color around the room, so no areas feel too ‘heavy’, I painted the walls in two tones - white paneling on the sofa wall and the window wall has a deep teal hue. The visual weight of the dark sofa is carried by the darker wall and floor. The lightness of the white paneled wall is balanced by the light chairs, rug, and ottomans. *Heads up*- Here is an important note! To make the change in wall color appear less stark of a contrast, I used extra wide, nubby linen drapery panels in a natural color to soften the contrast b/w the dark and light. You definitely don’t want the room to look overly color blocked or odd.
Repeating the warmth of the the linen drapery is in the use of natural wood in the occasional tables. The end and cocktail tables are all in a natural, beachy wood finish. The natural wood warms and softens the scheme/room. If I had used a glass topped table on a chrome base, the space would have taken on a completely different feel - more modern and contemporary. That wasn’t the balance I was looking for in this design.
All of the elements I have listed can be interchanged to create a cohesive design. The important take-away here is balance. So to sum up, here are the pieces of the puzzle in this room that are used in harmonious amounts to equal a balanced overall feel.
Shades of Blue throughout - and repeated thoughtfully to keep the eye moving around the room
A grounding color: dark wood flooring
A natural wood tone: to keep the warmth in the room (because dark brown can feel as cold as blue without a natural element)
White wall - to keep the room from feeling muddy - nice and bright
A darker wall - to add depth to the space
Mix of fabrics and textures: leather, velvet, nubby linen, etc.
I am so excited to continue this series on Shades of Blue and have so much to say that I am having to restrain myself from overwhelming you with all of it in one article!
Please hit the heart button if you’ve enjoyed this content (so I can gauge what you all are enjoying). Comment below or on Instagram with any comments/questions you may have! I cannot wait to hear from you. All sources are listed on my Source the Room page.
Cheers!
Shana
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PPS- I will absolutely tell you how to complete the awesome trim detail on the sofa wall in this image in a future post. It is pretty simple, but a lot of thought went into it, so you’ll want to definitely stay tuned!
