Guest Groups: Modern Pastels for Spring

The spring 2012 runways were chock-full of light colours. It is no surprise that ice cream colours are making their way into house design too. But, pastels can be complicated to work with. Unless you’re decorating a nursery or a silk-swathed formal dining room, these colours may not be the clear choice. But think again — this year’s pastels are new, modern and quite mouthwatering.
— Lucy from Four Walls and a Roof

Design Within Reach

Spark Lounge Chair with Seat Pad – $348

One of my favorite looks in light is a piece of furniture that’s the exact same shade from top to toe. This citron chair has a zing that is anything but drab.

Room & Board

Lean Round Cocktail Table, Ocean – $229

You are able to see the black effect too. It is like an ordinary table was dipped in turquoise paint. I’m seriously contemplating this coffee table for my house.

LUCY TURNER

Sea Jade Oak Cabinet – GBP 895

If you feel like mixing trends, you can not beat this cabinet by Lucy Turner. An upcycled, combined substances piece featuring this year’s pastels look, it certainly checks all the ideal boxes!

Stouby

Stouby Chairs, Frost

This chair could possibly be inspired by winter (the form is reminiscent of snowdrifts which were molded by the wind), but within this pale rose color it looks perfectly suited to spring.

Schoolhouse Electric

Utility Stool – $165

Another great look is mixing pastel colors with industrial types and substances, such like these powder-coated metal stools. They’d be so good against a dark gray kitchen pub.

YLiving.com

Kartell | Victoria Ghost Chair, Set of 4 – $1,400

This chair takes a conventional form and colour and contrasts it with a contemporary material: rose-colored polycarbonate.

YLiving.com

Kartell | Jolly Side Table – $179

These little side tables are great for small spaces. Alternately, a trio of them in Easter egg colors are a new addition to a white living room.

Williams-Sonoma

Melamine 3-Piece Mixing Bowl Set, Tonal Blue – $29.95

Fashion’s colour blocking trend also works in the house. This set of mixing bowls in three pleasing colors of blue, from skies to cornflower, is really cute even I could be inspired to do some baking!

Heath Ceramics

Bud Vase Set – $70

I adore that this trio of ceramic bud vases in colors that disappear out of pumpkin to blush to orange blossom.

Design Within Reach

DWR Percale Sheet Set – $225

Pastels can also be used to reinvent classic white bits. Crisp sheets in pale aqua are a great deal more interesting than white and equally as inviting.

elevenfiftyfour

C 070

A classic, simple tufted sofa, takes a fresh lease on life in this gorgeous lilac. This particular light is often earmarked for teenaged girls’ bedrooms, however, I think that it would look amazing in a loft space with industrial finishes.

Room & Board

Wegner Wishbone Colors Chair – $855

Midcentury classics are also being released in fresh colours. This celery-colored variant of this Wegner chair is a personal favorite.

Etsy

Paymaster Check Writer From Joe Vintage – $60

Pastels were utilized in several’50s appliances and, with the current midcentury trend, we are seeing countless yellowish toasters, pink typewriters and even blue stoves. How about a pistachio check writer for a dash of classic allure?

Zinc Door

Candice Olsen Market Place Geometric Parchment Hand Woven Wool Rug – $73

I’ve always liked ethnic textiles in pastel shades. This Moroccan-inspired flat-weave carpet is a good example. It would work in a conventional interior in addition to a contemporary one.

Zinc Door

Botany Sorbet Petal Pillow – $77

Mixing pastels with darker colors, like this chocolate brown, can provide a pale scheme more punch. This pillow will look great in my mocha-colored sofa.

Ferm Living Shop

Stackable Jars – $90

Ferm Living has a superb collection of pastel accessories which incorporate darker and more offbeat colors, like these stacking jars in pink, blue and grayish teal.

Ferm Living Shop

Spear Bowl – $80

Add some mustard and caramel and you have a unique color palette that Missoni will be pleased with.

Jill Rosenwald

Plimpton Skinny Vase – $124

Applying soft pastels to angular geometric patterns is one other means to update this palette. I can not get enough of these vases and bowls. Just imagine them filled with spring flowers.

Middle Kingdom Detergent Bottle Collection – $18

Inject a little humor in your house with these pastel vases in the form of detergent bottles. Now that is a unique spin on a humdrum item.

Dimmalimm

Hibiscus In Pink And Green – $24

I couldn’t resist these adorable movable coasters. Made of felt in a range of colors from rose to coral, they look like slippers to your wine glasses. They will certainly bring a smile to the faces of your guests.

Next: In the Runways Home: Pastels Spring Back

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10 Ways to Love Neon

I recently begun to appreciate neon hues for the very first time in my life. While I dodged the nausea-inducing neon fashion in the ’80s, I caught myself admiring the new electric-blue Nikes using the hot-orange shoelaces my athletic friends were wearing. The colors electrified their feet, which appeared to leave a trail of colorful streaks as they trained for their 10Ks or whatever it’s athletic people perform on the weekends while I am still in bed.

Since I acclimated to my new mindset toward neon, I believed, would these colors provide a home’s energy a similar shock? My mind was open. Here are 10 strategies to try them.

JONATHAN CALVERT | Interiors Photographer

1. Use neon. The unexpected bright green chandelier in this elegantly subdued dining room electrifies the space in more ways than one. Note how the painted ceiling enriches its existence.

2. Pop bits of neon against tranquil neutrals. The neon stool and glass electrify this tub without overpowering it.

Watch more neon-neutral combo thoughts

LLC, Soledad Builders

3. Use neon to punctuate an entry. This front door is a standout that welcomes visitors and provides unique curb appeal.

Neon can also operate on a more conventional building. Just make sure you won’t be violating historical preservation codes or homeowner’s association colour guidelines before you hit the paint store.

Color palettes for bright front doors

OKB Architecture

4. Use neon out in the lawn. This bold outbuilding is magnificent. Its easy, modern lines retain the glowing green sunglasses from vibrating.

Corynne Pless

When this family moved into an eclectic farmhouse in Athens, Georgia, they chose to maintain the glowing green trim and accentuated it using a hot-pink café collection. It is very fitting in town that spawned the B-52s.

Watch the rest of this house

Diligence International

5. Use neon on trim. As somebody who will never spend a Saturday running a 10K, I would feel silly in Nike’s electric-blue running shoes with the neon orange laces and matching garb. However, I will pull off grey shoes with fuzzy laces with my white T-shirts. Likewise this minimalist room brings off some luminous green baseboard trim.

chadbourne + doss architects

6. Use just 1 blue accent. In the instance of this distance, the neon stool is all about good picture styling and makeup (as is the cat). The green bit draws the eye to the place between the kitchen and the rest of the open floor plan — look it how it relates to that corner onto the wall, the corner of this island and the center of this photo. Bravo.

Your Favorite Room From Cathy Zaeske

7. Use neon in the exercise room. If neon sneakers can energize your feet, it follows that neon paint can energize your attitude toward your workout.

Dana Nichols

8. Bring in neon via artwork. Neon pieces enliven this glowing white gallery-like space.

Bertram Architects

9. Use neon in the loo. Baths, laundry rooms and other smaller rooms that normally have the door closed are fantastic areas for colour experiments.

Ana Donohue Interiors

10. Try out a neon pink accent wall in a girl’s room. For some little girls, there’s absolutely no such thing as “too pink” Turn up the volume a couple of notches; after all, it is only paint, and you could always update it in case it gives you a headache.

So, what’s the verdict? Can you neon haters feel yourselves coming about, or is it a resounding no? Tell us in the Remarks section.

More: Color Guide: How to Use Neon Brights

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