Color Inspiration From Your Closet

A pop of color adds instant life to a small, featureless room. I think I’m more adventurous with color in my home décor choices than I am with my wardrobe. But when I was asked to create a color palette for an upcoming Better Homes and Garden issue, I got inspiration from an outfit I wore for a media appearance: a citron yellow sweater with a mauve pink dress. The contrast between an acid, yellow-green with a softer pastel is unexpected and felt modern.

Finding the Right Shade

Finding the right shade of yellow and mauve took a lot of homework before I even ventured to the paint store. I didn’t want a mauve that was too red or a citron shade that was too green. I looked at different palettes online and read what other bloggers and designers were recommending. I always buy paint samples and bring them home to test in sunlight and in artificial light before committing. It  is bewildering when I see so many people at the paint store buying gallons of paint based on a paint chip they just examined in a poorly lit paint store.

Mad About This Mauve

For the perfect mauve-gray color I finally decided on Martha Stewart’s paint line at Home Depot. The color is Gloaming-MSL#170, a nice balance between pink and gray;  pale enough not to overwhelm a space but intense enough not to look too pastel-sweet.

My New Favorite Yellow

Finding the right shade of yellow was more baffling.  Under different light, the paint samples were skewing too much on the neon, green acid side. Finally, I hit the jackpot with none other than Benjamin Moore’s Citron #2024-30. I know I should have guessed by the paint name that it was the one. This is my new favorite yellow.  It looks the same during the day and night.

The upcoming Better Homes and Gardens issue will feature a wide range of accessories and furniture that play off of the citron-mauve color duo, but one thing I can share now is this modern peacock wall stencil that I adore. I would use it with the mauve paint on a bedroom wall with a silver or bronze accent color. It’s a way to use the mauve without being overtaken by it in a shrunken room.

Enjoy and give it a whirl!