Haute Design With Warren Sheets: How To Incorporate Color Into Your Home

Is everyone afraid to use ‘Color’ in their home?  I am amazed at the number of homes where    color has been avoided, forgotten or misunderstood.  Yet nearly everyone says to me that they “love color.”  What’s up?

I’ve determined that because many people really do not know where or how to effectively use color in their homes   , rather than make a mistake by using it incorrectly, mismatching it or using too much of one color, they instead shy away from using any color at all.  Understood.

But using color in your home can be fairly simple.  Let me share some basics.

One easy way to pick your palette: find a fabric that you like that has at least three colors in it.  These should be colors that you feel comfortable with, so you can use this as your “focal” fabric.  (Focal does not mean that you must use an over-abundance of the fabric, but that it will be seen “throughout” the room, such as in the drapery, or the Coverlett, or maybe even the pillows on the bed, as is shown in the photo below).

Once you have selected a focal fabric, you may then decide to play it against whites or neutrals, which is perfectly fine.  A once colorless room is instantly been transformed into a room with vibrant accents.  Don’t forget to add colorful accessories that replicate the hues in your color palette, as this is another compelling way to bring color to your room.

If you want to bring in even more color, select one of the colors in the focal fabric, and paint the most dominant wall in the room – the “accent wall” – that color.  Remember to use supporting accessories in order to pull everything together, and to carry out the accent color’s hue and value.

Lastly, you may decide to do what we often do in many of our interiors and use the different colors from your “new-found” color scheme in various, creative ways.

For instance, if the color scheme is derived from a special painting, which perhaps has hues of Milanese Gold, Chinese Persimmon, Mascarpone White and Fiji Blue, we would design an area rug with Fiji Blue and shades of Mascarpone White and cover the sofa in the Milanese Gold – adding decorative pillows displaying the Persimmon and Fiji Blue found in the painting, as we did for The Eldorado Country Club’s reception lobby. We often refer to this as “Color Bounce” – essentially using varying colors from your color palette in different areas of the room – a very effective tool for utilizing color.

The  president of San Francisco-based Warren Sheets Design, Inc. (WSD), Warren Sheets is an artistic and visionary interior designer known for his hands-on approach and meticulous attention to detail. He has overseen WSD for nearly 30 years, accruing a diverse portfolio of high-end residential and commercial projects located across the country. To read more design articles from Warren, click here to visit his blog.

Like Haute Living San Francisco? Join our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter @HauteLivingSF. Want Haute Living San Francisco delivered to your inbox once a week? Sign up for our newsletter.