I love bright, bold colour in a client's home. We are in the Caribbean after all. If there was ever a place to play with vivid shades, it is an island house.
Over the years a formula emerged that lets us have fun with colour and still keep the look pulled together. It is simple, and it works in any home where bold colour is wanted.
1. Start with a neutral background
A light neutral wall colour and flooring with a light tone and an organic feel creates a base that is easy to work with. For an island elegant feel, bring in organic elements, a root coffee table, a natural fibre rug.
These laid-back neutral pieces are the perfect foil for the bright colour you are about to sprinkle through the space.
2. Identify your bold colour
This may be the hardest part. You are choosing a palette, not a single shade.
In one house we worked on, the request was coral and turquoise, which is a wonderful combination. The two together create a sense of energy. Worth noticing: there was never just one coral. The shade shifted here and there through the house, but every version was clearly related.
3. Dot the bold hues around the room
Choose items in your bold colours and place them around the room. Picture frames, throw pillows, blankets, even slipcovers on an accent chair.
We like to go big on colour for the things a client would naturally replace every few years anyway. Against a classic neutral background, the look can change later without a large expense.
To pull a whole house together, carry those accents through every space, used differently each time. A fabric that was a slipcover in the living room can turn up as a border on drapery panels upstairs. Those repeats become a visual thread through the house.