6 Modern Paint Colors That Make a Bold Statement
Paint is one of the easiest, least expensive, and most powerful decorating tools around. Yet, deciding on a color is oftentimes not so simple. If you're seeking to veer away from the common neutral tones and infuse a bolder, more dramatic look into your space, take a walk on the wild side with these colorful shades ahead.
1. Lime Green
Green in general is known for being refreshing and balancing, especially because of its connection to nature and plants. However, painting walls—and even ceilings—with a shade of lime green will help to create a youthful and vibrant space, and one that will energize you as you enter it.
Shibata wanted more shelf space in her home office, so she added a plywood door with built-in bookshelves that opens into her bedroom to form a reading nook. Glimpsed from the adjacent room, the space looks larger than it actually is, thanks to the bright green walls.
(Featured in This Shape-Shifting Apartment Lets an Architect Work from Home)
2. Fire-Engine Red
Red is often associated with strong emotions—from love to anger—but a deep, bold fire-engine red has a simplicity to it that can inspire feelings of enthusiasm and energy. Its intensity can be balanced with deeper reds and crimsons, or even a calmer palette of pale yellow and cream.
In Situ Design and Lilian B Interiors adapted a six-story brownstone in midtown Manhattan into a boutique hotel with 33 guest suites. Each floor received what the designers call a "visceral" color treatment using Benjamin Moore paints, including Outrageous Orange.
(Featured in The William - Bright Manhattan Hotel)
The stairwell is the bright core of the house. To keep an open feeling, and costs down, it zigzags its way up. Inexpensive metal railings are set inside and painted the same red to disappear into the stairwell.
(Featured in Magic Mountain)
3. Canary Yellow
Canary yellow retains the positivity and sunniness of a bright yellow, but has a touch of orange for a deeper, less primary-color feel. Both sophisticated and bold, it pairs well with greens, whites, and blues.
Furnished with vintage Eames chairs, a second-hand sofa, and pendants and tables designed by Nathalie, the space is kept purposefully casual. She painstakingly mixed and tested the paint for the mustard-yellow walls herself—15 times—to match the hue of a Kvadrat textile.
How a highly productive collaboration among a trio of creative Angelenas—and a good dose of Barragán—turned a dark and beleaguered midcentury house into a family home for the ages.
(Featured in A Fresh Dose of Color Livens Up This Midcentury Los Angeles Home)
4. Matte Black
Black may be a neutral, but its use on walls is a bold choice, and is often the opposite of what most first reach for—a clean, crisp white.
Because black absorbs light instead of reflecting it like lighter colors, it creates a sense of subtle drama that goes with everything. When paired with texture, the right lighting, and even a bit of white for contrast, it can make a beautiful, effective statement.
The bathroom includes a stainless steel-and-aluminum Vipp bath module with integrated sink, faucet, and Corian countertop; Vipp spot lamp; glass-walled shower with a complete set of Vipp bathroom accessories; towels; and a Duravit toilet.
(Featured in Prefab Gets a Makeover With Danish Industrial Design)
When creative director Martin Ringqvist and his wife, My, moved back to Sweden after a year in Los Angeles, they wanted an authentic, warm space to live in with their two children. After much deliberation and house hunting, they found what they needed in a four-bedroom flat in Gothenburg’s downtown neighborhood of Vasastan, where many of the buildings date from the 18th and 19th centuries.
(Featured in A Careful Renovation of a 19th-Century Flat in Gothenburg Brings it Back to Life)
5. Teal
Blue is associated with calmness and dependability, suggesting the sky or the ocean. Yet, with a healthy dose of green, the traditional blue can transform into a deep, soulful shade of teal.
A Danish sofa, designer unknown, is set against an accent wall painted in Stone Blue by Farrow & Ball. As the local dealer for Anastassiades, the Apartment contains various pieces of his work, including the Mobile Chandelier 5 (2011), the Ball vase in cast brass (2006), and the wall-mounted Beauty Mirror (2010). The vintage Boucherouite rug is from Morocco. Photos courtesy the Apartment.
(Featured in A Curated Apartment Turned Showroom in Copenhagen)
Home to stylish entrepreneurs, their young daughter, and Moka, the frisbee crazed dog, this house is meant for living. Plush Moroccan carpets and sinuous seating demand lounging, while glass walls beckon outward and up into the sky. A teal wall with unique artwork and a curved white sofa create a visually colorful, laid-back space.
(Featured in The Power of Color and What Each Shade Is Best For)
6. Tangerine Orange
Tangerine orange isn't your usual out-of-the-box orange; it's a vigorous, energizing shade that is bright without being overbearing or overcharged. Its tones are reminiscent of a sunset, and this association helps keep it warm and even a bit exotic.
The dining room features an asymmetrical table as well as brilliant orange color on the walls. The previous interior colors made the home feel like a gallery space for the furniture. "Before it was all white," the owner says. "But we wanted to add more atmosphere and mood. We worked on the colors really hard, making boards for all of our finishings."
(Featured in City Modern Home Tours: Brooklyn)
(Featured in Cliff May Homes RM 3212)
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