Pink. We don’t often think to decorate our home with the color pink unless you have a young girl in the house, she’ll want everything in her room to be pink, it’s an almost a rite of passage for some to do just that. However as adults it is usually the last color on the wheel we would choose to say paint our living room with. We’ve been trained to believe in the neutrals, that doing something “crazy” like painting a living room pink would draw negative attention to our home. I believe it can do just the opposite. With some proper planning ahead of time and a few inspirational pieces to kick start this idea, it can look particularly fabulous.
Many times we’ll see pictures in magazines or watch a design show where they tend to use bold color choices and I always think, sure easy for them to do that, they are not actually living there. In fact, I too would pick bold and adventurous colors for someone else. But pink doesn’t have to play that role; it can be a room changer with just a few touches here and there.
For example the dark pink accents in this room. The darker pink gives the room dimension and takes away from the room feeling too feminine. Despite the feeling most people associate with pink, such as love, peace, and a sense of calmness, it can in fact have a bit of a masculine quality to it when you add the deeper shades of pink as seen here. Add deep chocolate or steel blue accents and you can play up the masculine side even more. It’s a win-win for everyone in the family.
Pink is a great color if you love a more country look but feel stuck using the same old sages, yellows and blues. Pink is a great option to experiment with to replace theses colors.
This is a perfect example of a pink living area with a country feel to it. Even better they opted to paint their floors a lighter pink. A suggestion to get the pinks within the same family is to save some of your wall paint and add it to a can of white floor paint. Just make sure you stir it well. A little paint added will go a long way to give you a subtle dash of color to your floor. The subtle brown accents ground the room preventing it from being too washed out.
And lastly to the room that says, “I like this color pink and you will too!”
I can only imagine my surprise if a friend of mine showed me the paint swatch for the color on this wall. I try very hard not to give a direct opinion when it comes to color and style because as we all know, it is strictly in the eye of the beholder, but with this color I may not have been able to hold back. But now that I see it on an accent wall, I am a changed person. I love this room and I would applaud anyone who was bold enough to paint a wall in their living room this color. Granted the room itself is grand on many levels, but there is nothing in here one of us could not duplicate with a few months of hard planning.
I personally would start with the furniture, much more difficult to find the right shades and patterns, but once you got a few pieces it would be easy to adjust the hue of pink on the wall accordingly. Everything else is relatively easy, the books, the white lamp, the pillows, and flowers, these are all things we have passed by a thousand times but didn’t need to complete a room like this.
Just to prove it to myself as I was writing this I searched the web for a pink chair, a yellow patterned chair and a light blue couch or chaise lounge. Within 25 minutes I was able to find all three. Although they are not exact replicas, I did come pretty close.
I was unable to find a chaise lounge with a blue and white pattern so instead I would add a blue and white patterned pillow which was much easier to find.
So although we often won’t let pink past our bedroom doors, maybe it’s time that we bring some pink into our living rooms. I’m sure you’ll be applauded by your friends if you do. So next time you’re walking down the aisle of your favorite make-up counter looking for that prefect pink pout, buy it then go straight to you paint store and get inspired. And maybe just maybe if you’re lucky enough you’ll have a Pink Moment, like the beautiful creamy color from Sherwin Williams with the same name!
Until Next Time, Happy Designing!
