The latest design trend making headlines in magazines and on websites is bold. Not bold-faced headlines, but bold colors anywhere and everywhere. Neutrals have taken a back seat to bright hues and eye-catching tones in everything from modern area rugs to bed linens. Homeowners and designers are showing they’re not afraid to use a rainbow of strong colors in every room of them home. Old rules about how much color to use and where are now out the window.
We’ve compiled a list of our favorite bold shades in (almost) every color of the rainbow. We’ve also done a little digging to find out what each of these colors mean and how they can be used to help you feel your best in every room of your home.
Red – Red is known for being an energetic color. Spice up your kitchen with a red accent wall, red area rugs, or a red backsplash. Focusing on it will inspire needed energy on groggy mornings when you’re stumbling to the coffee pot and just maybe inspire your cooking too. Whether you choose to paint on a true fire-engine red or invest in gorgeous maroon glass tiles for your backsplash, it’s a great way to embrace the bold trend. Don’t want to commit to a project? Look for red appliances instead. You can order everything from stand mixers to coffee grinders in this hot shade.
Orange – Forget the bright, glaring Tide bottle shade you’re thinking about. Orange can mean so many things: picture leaves changing in the fall or a crackling fire. Orange makes us feel warm and welcome, so there’s no better color for your family room. We love Momeni’s Metro rug in Paprika. This wool rug is the perfect pop of color for a room with khaki or chocolate brown furnishings. Snuggle up with a few coordinating throw pillows.
Yellow – Yellow is said activate memory, encourage communication, and stimulate the creative mind. We couldn’t think of a more perfect color for an office. Use it as a focal point in your home office or den by taking a seat on a stylish chair the color of daffodils. Place a panel of patterned yellow wallpaper on the wall just behind your desk. It will center the rest of the room around your desk and get perfect placement for that mental jolt you might need after long hours of emailing.
Green – Reminding us of the natural world around us, green is said to bring about a sense of peace and renewal. If you live in a cool climate, you know how precious seeing something green can be in the harsh winter months. From the color of a fir tree to a bright shamrock shade, green is perfect for a small sitting room or anywhere you go to read and relax. Pop in some plant-inspired color with a green accent wall, a soft throw on your favorite chair, or an olive-colored, seagrass area rug.
Blue – So many shades, so little space! Reminding us of the ocean, blue gives us an undeniable sense of calm. That said, blue seems like an easy color to embrace, but take it into the bold category and you start hearing beautiful words like “cobalt”, “indigo” and “cerulean”. If your soul longs for sapphire, just make sure you have plenty of space. Dark blues contain a lot of black and that means they’ll soak up any light in your room. So, in small spaces, use just a touch of blue – picture a glass vase used as a focal point on a blue area rug– but in a large room with plenty of natural light, don’t be afraid to paint the town, er, blue! Given its previously mentioned calming nature and association with depth and stability, why not use it to spruce up your bedroom?
Purple – When it comes to bold shades, violet is one color you shouldn’t shrink away from. Balancing the energy of red and the calm of blue, violet (or purple) is said to be uplifting yet calming. That might make it pitch perfect for a bathroom. Purple can be very dramatic, especially when paired with grey. Imagine iridescent violet glass tiles paired with slate grey flooring. You have to be careful with this shade as it can go either too intense and dark or too bright and dated, but if purple pleases you, play on!