Friday, March 14, 2008

Intense colors WHOA!


Stairwell of an Israeli house profiled in the New York Times this week.

Having lived in a multi-colored, high-intensity house for almost a year now, I have to say that it's a mixed bag.

On the pro side, photographs taken in our house are always lively and engaging (I'm biased, of course) and first-time visitors to the house usually offer positive feedback. One otherwise laconic friend recently stated, "These are the colors I'd paint my house if I had the balls." Awesome, thanks!

On the con, it's a little dizzying to go from intense red to intense surfer blue in just two steps. And there's something about the bright colors that makes the space feel cluttered to me, even if it's really not. To the contrary, the two most muted (and cluttered) rooms--my bedroom and my office--are often my refuge from the intensity. They both seem to me clean, and airy.

Since Steve and Sara moved downstairs--we need an entry about that, I know--I've been contemplating future changes to the space. I'm drawn to all-white walls or at the very least some more neutral palettes. Thoughts?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I once saw a pre-war apartment with brightly colored walls in the same color family but with a wide white border around all. It looked super clean and sharp and there was plenty of color but also brightness. It was a nice compromise and a good way to camoflauge uneven trim or crooked seams.

Anonymous said...

Our kitchen has been brightly coloured (from primaries, to turquoise walls, to orange walls) and now we're redoing it to neautrals (an off-white). There are pros and cons... I like neutral because you can always rely on accents to make the room pop and they're less involving to change when you get tired of them.

Rebecca said...

I love your wall colors. We're getting close and closer to the point where we'll paint our walls and I was hoping you could help me pick something fabulous! Now you want to tone it down...

I think with the white grandma couch, which was really cool, you should keep a bright wall and the "Pollination" wasn't that bright.

I loved Maria's electric green kitchen on Lafayette.

Do whatever will make you happy. It's just paint, you can always change it.