REPOST: Color Combinations: 5 Bold Ideas You Haven't Tried Yet

Color is a very powerful design element that can really change the entire look and feel of a room. This Apartment Therapy article below enumerates some bold ideas you should try on your own space.

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Color is a powerful tool for interior spaces. Masterfully wielded, it can shock, excite, pull a room together and more. The challenge? Finding different, fresh ways to use color in your interior spaces so you're never bored! We've got five ideas to consider today.

Color + sliding doors

(Pictured above) You've seen interior doors painted before, and while sliding doors aren't exactly new, they are becoming more and more popular indoors. So combine those two ideas into very exciting bold colored sliding doors to wow in your rooms! Idea spotted on Femina.

Image Source: apartmenttherapy.com

Color + two surfaces

Have some thrift store art you'd love to improve, and add some excitement to a room? Get inspired by the photo above and add some color halfway up the walland cover part of the thrift store art. This idea won't work in every home, but it's certainly bold! Seen on Domaine.

Image Source: apartmenttherapy.com

 Color + a similar color

It's bold to use contrasting colors in the same room and definitely makes a statement. But you can be just as bold by stacking two similar colors together to create a more subtle but still really exciting combination of hues. This idea works best with two walls in the same room, or like above, a large furniture piece stacked in front of a boldly colored wall. Spotted on Sfgirlbybay.

Image Source: apartmenttherapy.com

Color + architecture

This isn't a new idea, but it's so bold it isn't tried by many people. But look how awesome it looks! Painting your interior window trim a bright color not only highlights the architecture of a space, it really makes an entire room stand out. Seen on Country Living.

Image Source: apartmenttherapy.com

Color + a casual, unfinished look

If you haven't tried a partial paint job yet — splashing color on one part of a wall and not using harsh, stark edges or lines — you could be missing out on a really fresh and bold way to add color to a space. Too much for a wall? Why not try this idea on a furniture piece? Spotted on Elle Decoration France via The Style Files.

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REPOST: Designer Erin Gates on how to find your style

Many people judge others by how they set up their homes; their taste in furniture and overall interior design is a reflection of their personalities. This article featured in the Columbia Daily Tribune shares some tips about finding your own interior design style from designer and writer Erin Gates.

Image Source: columbiatribune.com

Designer and writer Erin Gates, 35, lives in a white clapboard Colonial in Newton, Mass., with her husband, two dogs and a leopard-print stair runner.

Gates pens the popular blog Elements of Style, where her advice is glamorous yet practical and often served up with humor. In her just-published book “Elements of Style: Designing a Home and a Life,” Gates shares secrets including dressing up a closet to finding a kitchen counter material that will fit your lifestyle.

The book has lots of lists and charts and advice. She has got a great list of housewarming gift ideas — terrariums instead of flowers, for example, or a return-address rubber stamp — and assorted tips for renters — if you’re not allowed to use huge nails to hang a weighty mirror in an entry hall, try leaning a tall wall mirror behind a console table. Her primers on the 12 best sofa styles and 45 favorite paint colors are keepers.

I spoke to Gates recently about her book and her insights into helping people discover their personal style.

Q: How do you find your own style if you haven’t a clue?

A: Go through your closet. Your wardrobe says a lot about the colors and patterns and textures you are comfortable with. If you see a lot of bright colors and patterns, this is what you are drawn to and should do in your rooms. If you have a more muted wardrobe, more businesslike, then I advise people to decorate with neutrals and clean lines.

Q: What other tools can you use?

A: Pinterest has been the most helpful tool for people to really explain and figure out their style. You can look back at your pins and say, “Oh, I have 57 linen couches pinned here. I must love them.” We always ask clients to make a board of anything they are attracted to, whether a wall color or type of chair or a fabric. When you gather these things and look at them as a cohesive unit, trends will pop out.

Q: What else do you have to consider?

A: Be honest about your lifestyle. If you are somebody who doesn’t throw things away or has lots of stuff or kids who have a lot of hobbies and toys, a streamlined space that is super modern with little storage will not function for you. Do you have dogs? Kids? That should play into the fabrics and rugs you choose, and the style of furniture and materials. You don’t want glass coffee tables or white silk fabrics if you have kids.

Q: How do you add personality to a room?

A: Add antique or vintage goods or hand-me-downs. If you see a room with brand-new, high-end and fancy things, it looks unlived-in, like a hotel room. I always try to bring something vintage or antique with a little patina. Look for things a bit quirky. If it’s too perfect, there is no warmth to it. Add a funky upholstered chair or cool piece of art. Make sure that there is something unique that is not in everyone’s Pottery Barn catalogue and seven people in your neighborhood have as well.

Q: What is one of your favorite neutral paint colors?

A: My favorite is Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist.

Q: What are five home accessories no home should be without?

A: A beautiful collection of books; greenery (either a fresh flower arrangement, plant or tree); an amazing-smelling candle; a work of art you absolutely love; and beautiful trays for coffee tables or as a catchall atop a bar or in the bedroom to corral jewelry.

Q: How can you make a personal statement in a tiny apartment?

A: Use wall color. Dramatic wall color changes everything, especially in a small room. The adage that small spaces can’t be dark colors is wrong; it actually makes them feel bigger. Another way is to incorporate a large-scale work of art; the dramatic size will be especially impactful in a smaller-scale space.

Q: Would you share a couple of budget decorating tips?

A: Etsy is the best source to find pillows made from trade-only, designer fabric for much less than even we designers can make them. It allows you to decorate with pillows that not everyone else has bought from the same company. Don’t overlook hand-me-down furniture: A fresh coat of glossy white, black or bold-color paint and a change of hardware can take Grandma’s dresser from blah to beautiful.

Learn more about choosing the right style for your home by subscribing to this Circus Furniture blog.