Design Challenge - Dead White - Ugh!

You've signed a lease for a wonderful spaciousfor the sofa, you can use lighter shades of blue or the
apartment in just the right location and suddenly realizegold or straw or a combination. Repeat the same
it forbids painting the walls anything but white.colors in your artwork including the frames.
Well, it's a challenge. Let's make it work.If it is the geometric quilt with anchor color of green,
First, if you don't already have a floor plan withplus yellow and white, you can do the sofa and chairs
measurements, start by measuring the walls in everyin shades of green. Use toss pillows in yellow shades.
room, including halls and bathrooms.If has orange shades, with blues, and ivory, choose a
You are going to create major drama and major colormuted copper for the sofa and matching chairs. Toss
in the form of artistically arrangedpillows can be dark blue and ivory.
- wall decorationsWith either the tapestry or the quilt you can used
- paintingswood furniture in mahogany or cherry or oak. Frames
- posterscan always be wood tones or painted.
- photographsWith the green/yellow/white quilt, if you are buying
- bannersinexpensive end tables, a book case, a coffee table,
- tapestriespaint them all a medium shade of green. If it is the
- quiltsorange/blue/ivory quilt, paint the furniture ivory.
Tapestries, banners, and quilts have their own built inWith either tapestry or quilt, put a bunch of silk flowers
colors. If they cover most of a 12 - 16 foot wall theyand a vase the same color as the painted tables.
will demolish "antiseptic". Paintings, posters, banners,Flowers should be in a second color picked out of the
photographs, curtains, swags, curtain poles, all presentquilt or tapestry.
additional opportunities for doing the same thing.Use brass curtain rods or if you prefer wood, paint
Paintings, posters and photographs can have paintedthem to match the curtains, or swags in the same
frames, aluminum or brass frames, or natural woodcolor as the paint you chose for the tables, but a
frames.different shade, preferably lighter. Repeat this same
First, you must choose the living room "anchor" colorshade as much as you can in wall decorations such as
and theme, either traditional or contemporary. Measureartwork and posters.
the largest wall opposite the entry and buy a tapestryWith the tapestry, picture frames should be oak,
or a quilt to cover most of it. Make sure you selectmahogany, or gold.
colors you can live with.Remember you will take the tapestry with you, so
If you like a traditional feel with muted colors, choose amake sure you like the colors. As for the quilt, you can
tapestry. These customarily use deep muted blues,find them in all price ranges. After you move, if they
dark gold, sand or straw shades and brown withare no longer needed for decoration, you can use
accents of pastels. Themes can be anything fromthem on beds.
garden scenes, biblical themes, historical events,Now consider the floor color. If it's stained wood, you
nautical and jungle scenes.might be buying rugs. For the "tapestry theme" choose
For a contemporary feel, choose a quilt in primaryan oriental design using small motifs, rather than big
colors, in a geometric pattern or freeform. We'll workbold patterns. Make sure it has blue predominating. If it's
with both traditional and contemporary, one at a time.to be carpeted, use the anchor color of muted blue.
With either a tapestry or a quilt, decide after you haveIt it's the quilt, the carpet should be a shade of the
looked at them, which color is dominant, your anchoranchor color, muted green or muted copper.
color.Now we are ready to go to the entrance hall. Buy
Now you can choose your upholstered furniture .three pieces of wall decoration. Let's say they are
Let's say the anchor color in the tapestry is mutedposters, photographs, or paintings. Frame them in the
blue. Clearly, you choose a muted deep blue sofa.same color as the frames in the living room. If there's
Two side chairs would be in a similar shade of mutedspace for a small table and a lamp, do the table
solid blue or choose a pattern, a stripe or a diamondexactly as in the living room. Choose brass or silver
using anchor color blue and a second color from thecolor for the lamp base and an off white lamp shade.
tapestry such as straw or gold. For the curtains, pick aDon't be tempted to introduce other colors.
lighter shade of either straw or gold. For toss pillows