color palette Archives

Interior Decorating: 5 Tips for Dressing a Sofa with…

August 25, 2022August 17, 2023

How to Decorate Your Sofa with Pillows

photo of sofa with pillows — Interior design by Karen Mills

Start by pulling your pillow colors from your room’s color palette. In this room the colors are black, white, shades of blue, and a warm red.
Using your sofa fabric as a reference point, look for pillow fabrics that contrast against your sofa color for a dramatic look like shown here.
When coordinating pillow fabrics ensure you mix in different textures as shown on the solid turquoise pillow.

example of contrasting pillow colors — Interior design by Karen MIlls

4. Layer larger pillows (usually 22″ or larger minimum) in back and smaller pillows in front (usually around 20″) as shown on this sofa. In this more calming color scheme, the blue pillows on top create a texture variance from the base pillow by introducing a layer of sparkle texture over the base fabric. 3 Tips for Creating a Finished Look

5. When selecting a mix of pillow fabrics ensure you mix smaller and larger patterns and/or a mix of pattern styles like shown here with the large stripe base pillows and blue pillows in a stylized floral pattern that’s small in size or scale.

Designer Tip: Always use down inserts for your pillow covers so you can punch down the top middle of each pillow to give it a finished look and help it stay in place.

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Interior Design/Interior Decorating

Interior Design: 5 Dining Room Paint Color Palettes

January 19, 2018

Since we don’t spend much time in dining rooms it’s a great opportunity to show off our personality and design something dramatic or even quirky. Here are 5 fun color palettes to inspire you to refresh your dining space.

Karen Mills' blog — Photo courtesy of Schumacher

1. Black and White – This classic color combination always looks great not only because o the the stark contrast between dark and light, but also because you can pair almost any color with it like the yellow flowers here.

The wallpaper by Schumacher creates a wow factor in this space and draws your eye up to the ceiling to show off the height of the room.

Photo courtesy of Lillian August furniture

2. Blue

Blue, one of my favorite colors for dining room, especially navy, pair nicely with several colors including the fuchsia shown in this dining room. By repeating different shades of blue on both the wrap around settee and wall, you can create a more interesting color scheme. The fuchsia hue of the chair and pillow repeat again on the rug to create a cohesive feel.

3. Green

Even though you don’t often seen green used in the dining room, I love how the green takes a back seat to the furnishings in creamy white and blue to help soften this bold shade of green. Here in this photo artwork provides the inspiration for the color scheme of blue and green.

Photo courtesy of Hickory White furniture

Here’s another example of how to incorporate green into your dining room. In this photo the yellow green in the art is repeated again on the chairs and reinforced by the green decor on the table.

4. White/Neutral

If you love white like I do, why not paint your walls an interesting shade of white or light neutral along with white furnishings to create a fresh feel. Then you can either leave the room white or layer in an accent color or two to change the look as the mood hits you.

5. Color Explosion

If you can’t decide on one accent color you like because you love so many why not keep a neutral wall color and introduce two or three accent colors that you love to create a space that reflects your artistic side like this photo by Spectrum Limited chairs. To create this same look, keep the furnishings simpler also like these clear Lucite chairs to create your dramatic dining room.

Of course orange and purple can also be colorful options for dining rooms along with more neutrals colors as shown here.

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