We’re thinking of moving away from the soft, subtle, and beachy whole-house color scheme that we have going on here and towards something more moody, risky, and sophisticated at the new house. Here’s hoping it works for us (you never know… and we’re the first to admit that sometimes we end up repainting). We’re definitely no strangers to covering our mistakes with another coat or two of something new if we don’t like how things look when we step back and check things out (after sharing the “outtake” pics with you guys of course). So it might take us a few tries to settle on a scheme we love, but right now we’re considering something along these lines:
We haven’t pulled any swatches yet (but we’ll be sure to share actual paint colors when we get there), but right now we’re loving eggplant, soft lavender-pink, slate blue, light gray, avocado green, saturated teal, muddy blue-gray, navy, emerald, artichoke green, chocolate brown, and light khaki. Not all on the walls of course, but also in the curtains, rugs, painted and upholstered furnishings, art, and accessories. Although we’re definitely planning to add pops of different accent colors in a much wider range of tones- these are just the bigger hues that we plan to use more liberally throughout the house for something that’s hopefully cohesive but not too repetitive.
We’re thinking that the overall effect of the colors/decor in our new house will still be semi airy & natural (it’s what we love, what can we say?), but we hope that adding more contrast, more saturated hues, and even more layers of texture (by working in some new furnishings, a few new rugs, more colorful art, and new fabrics galore) will give it a bit more zing than our current soft and subtle vibe. We’re also envisioning a switch from our beloved breezy white curtain panels to printed and saturated floor length drapes in every room of the new house along with a plush upholstered headboard in the master and even some wallpaper going on in a few places. And we’re thinking that a darker sectional would be a fun departure from the light slipcovered sofas you’re used to seeing in our spaces (we’ll craigslist them to get some moolah to put towards the new sectional, since it has pretty much been my life goal to have a big enough living room for a sectional where all of our family can gather).
We’re even thinking about repainting some of our white pedestal tables and our double desk with something smokier and more dramatic. To see a few mood boards we’ve envisioned for the new house, click here and here. Although we’re already thinking about a different bed possibility (we’d like to build one along with a DIY headboard). Who knows where we’ll end up.
What color schemes are floating around your heads these days? Anyone else feeling a shift from light tans and mochas to soft grays and even artichoke, slate blue, and deeper gray-green tones? Anyone going the opposite way and segueing into more breezy and light hues as opposed to the smokier and more high contrast ones that we’ve mentioned? Let’s talk about color. Is there really anything else in the world that’s more fun to discuss? Not to me. Except for my baby girl. I can bore you to tears with stories about her but I’ll save that for my weekly phone call with my mom…
Chris says
I rarely reply to your posts but this one is my life right now! We just moved and I’m so over khaki tones! Just picked SW eternity (light gray) for my family/kitchen area. Love the paint pics and keep us posted on the names…I’ll be watching. :)
Rosemary says
I LOVE those colors. I actually have about half of them in the house I bought last December. The living room has a lilac carpet so I went for deep purple walls. I get so many compliments. Definitely go bold!!!
Esther says
Like the rest of your readers, I am really looking forward to knowing what you are going to do and what the house looks like! :-)
But I don’t write only for that: I found this article on the web, and since when you posted the article on Nancy Meyer’s movies you said you didn’t have any good quality pictures of her set designs , I thought of you!
http://www.traditionalhome.com/design_decorating/showhouses/set-design_ss1.html
YoungHouseLove says
Love it! Thanks for sharing the link Esther!
xo,
s
Rachel says
I *love* your color scheme, but do keep in mind that it’s late fall. Deep saturated colors than feel right now may not feel so right next June. You might find yourself wanting something beachier and airier then.
amylinn says
You mentioned rugs. What are you favorite go-to rug sources?
I am currently on the hunt for a new rug in these general color tones and I am striking out. I am looking for something geometric in an 8×10 for about $500. I have stalked Overstock, RugsUsa, Pottery Barn, West Elm, Ikea etc and am having no luck. Am I missing anyone?
I look forward to your new color direction! I am obsessed with these colors now myself!
YoungHouseLove says
Sometimes CB2 and Pottery Barn have sales- oh and you might want to check out Urban Outfitters too. Good luck!
xo,
s
Brigette says
we are actually in the process of going the opposite direction! our ENTIRE house was painted a pinkish taupe color when we bought it, with beige carpets. the entire house was beige/taupe/brown, so we painted a huge RED wall to bring in some color in the main living area. with our dark wood furniture and brown sectional everything was really dark and closed in, so we just repainted to brighten it up and after the holidays i plan on bringing in a lot of accessories/pillows/etc. to really brighten it up some more. i cant believe the difference just some paint can make, i feel calmer already :)
Momlady says
Congrats on your new old home. We purchased a circa 1960 ranch this past April.
Check out the Benjamin Moore Aura colors. Seriously. I can’t believe the depth of colors and the amazing coverage. The sample jars and some poster board really helped me make what would have been some scary color decisions a lot of fun. What a difference a large color sample can make!
I also felt drawn to some deeper shades in the blue/grey/green range. I was surprised to find some stone/grey/brown shades with amazing undertones and depth, as well. And they have a deep grey that appears blue or purple depending on the lighting that I’m going to have to find a place for somewhere.(it’s called Montpelier I think) We used Azores in the guest room and I’ve done the guest bath in a slightly lighter shade(mixed in a little grey and white). I’m going to “neutralize” the paneling in the family room before I settle on the palette for the more public rooms since I have a stone fireplace in there that really needs to be taken into consideration..don’t want to chop up the flow.
Tana says
I love love love the new color scheme. My hubby and I just moved into a two bedroom apartment. Unfortunately, we are on the first floor and our windows are all covered by surrounding trees, so our apartment can seem pretty dark. We just picked our living room wall color:Velvety Sky (Behr). Do you have any ideas for what other colors will go with this soft blue/grey/purple-ish color? ( i would love to pop the room with lots of color) Thanks so much!
YoungHouseLove says
So many colors would work! You could try turquoise, tangerine, daffodil yellow, teal, emerald green, etc. Have fun!
xo,
s
Olives and Daisies says
Im not so into the eggplant purple but I am loving dark blue lately! My favorite is dark blue and orange (like show in this blog post http://olivesanddaisies.blogspot.com/2010/11/color-combo-dark-blue-and-orange.html) or dark blue and lime green!
I like brighter colors – can you tell :)
jbhat says
When o when is mid-December coming?? Let’s get in there already!!
jbhat
Mallory says
So excited to watch you guys take it to the next level!!! You are my home inspiration so I can’t wait to see what you come up. It will surely be fabulous! xo
Katie says
Just wondering if you guys were planning to paint the ceilings in your new house. I really liked how they looked in your current sunroom and Clara’s room.
Thanks for sharing all your ideas–love them!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Katie,
Definitely! We’ve learned firsthand how much dimension and polish they can add to a room, so we’re already scheming about how we can paint some of the ceilings in the new house too.
xo,
s
amanda fruits says
I’ve just recently discovered YHL..how refreshing! I love the grays you’ve chosen for your new house. I can’t wait to see how you incorporate those colors into your kitchen design. We want to change our builder grade cabinets and just can’t decide on dark stain or creamy white paint?
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh that’s a hard one- especially since dark stain can look really high end while white paint can really lighten things up. You probably can’t go wrong with either one, so just collect inspiration images of kitchens that you love and see if the cabinets are white or dark wood. Also you can always do dark stained ones on the bottom and white painted upper cabinets. It’s a cool yet classic mixed look!
xo,
s
Melissa says
Love this color scheme! To me it screams cozy and edgy. Can’t wait to see it come to life in your new home.
Jay at www.down-sizingboomers.blogspot.com says
We are the empty-nester version of you two, and I have started a blog about it. http://www.down-sizingboomer.blogspot.com/, my new blog, tells about our move from the family home to a townhouse.
Monica says
I think those are some great choices without being too much and too over-the-top. Can’t wait to see what it all looks like once you finally find your dream house!
Julie says
I am really looking forward to seeing what you all do in the new house. Your new color scheme reminds me a little of the current trend in fashion. The plums and deep blues are really popular this fall. Maybe you can find some inspiration from InStyle!
Bego says
Weekly?? I thought you were italian!! hehehe I speak to my mum everyday, somedays, several times!
PS. Love the colours…can wait to see the live show
YoungHouseLove says
Ok, probably more like tri-weekly. We always talk on Sundays, but I did just get off the phone with her and it’s only Monday…
xo,
s
Mikki says
I am a Craftsman/Arts & Crafts freak for decorating, so all those deep rich earthy colors are right up my alley. Every room in our home can support anything that we have in the Olive tones. Although our home is a mixture of other A&C colors, olive is the color that “runs” through the entire scheme. I think it’s important in design to have one color that can work in each room. It unifies the rooms, and works great when you want to move any piece of furniture or object to and from different areas of your house. It is also very soothing to the eye when you move from room to room. The ONLY exception in the house is our 14 yr old’s room. She got to design it herself and went for what she calls the New York City Loft look…very Ikea, urban grays with touches of yellow and black and white…she definately has her own ideas…wait till Clara turns 14! I always say that’s why rooms have doors on them! :)
Relevant Notes says
I love all of the blues and greys… I can’t wait to see how everything turns out!
Ashli M says
We just moved into our new house, and I’ve been on a grey, Green kick, mixed with a little light turq. and cream! SO much fun!
Congrats on the new diggs!
~Ashli
http://www.maillardvillemanor.com
Sadie says
Love the new color scheme! It’s nice to switch it up every now and then and I agree that your accessories will work well with the darker, more saturated colors. You should check out this house. It’s provided me with tons of inspiration. I can’t pick out my favorite part because it’s all so amazing. The little boys bedroom is absolute perfection and I love the built ins in the girls bedroom.
http://www.casasugar.com/Anna-Mason-Morfits-San-Francisco-Home-8199148
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh I love the white and navy stripes. So much fun. Thanks for sharing the link!
xo,
s
Anna says
I’ve just got my first home, and while it’s still a work in progress I love rich colours mixed with white so it will have deep charcoal grey, black, cream, navy, mustard yellow, smoky grey and a touch of orange. I had been considering doing some eggplant in there too. I love rich colours – they make the home feel more cosy!
Laura C. says
Love the blues, greens, greys, and neutrals, but personally don’t care much for the eggplant color.
I’d vote for knowing what you like and having definite ideas, but wait to get INTO the house and see how it speaks to you. Our house originally felt like we should go with some great greens (a break from our traditional neutrals and red), but it just didn’t feel right in the house. :)
BTW – our color scheme now is as follows: a slightly yellowish travertine tile, dark wood flooring, slate blues, light greens, and neutrals, with dark woods. Lots of white crown molding and cabinets. Aside from neutral pain colors, we also used Comfort Grey, Silver Marlin, and Moody Blue (these last 2 colors look VERY different depending on lighting, and we lucked out with the rooms we painted).
Anxious to see what all you do to the new house!!! And how long it takes you to pull everything together!
D says
I tend to gravitate towards saturated rich colors, so I’m excited to see the new plans!
Ami @ beyondpeasandcarrots says
love love love the new colors!!! Soooo excited to see what you guys do :)
sonya says
I’m re-doing my bedroom and keeping the walls and window treatments neutral (we’re a military family so I know we’ll be moving in a few years and want to be able to sell the house easily) but putting some pops of color in the accessories. So my color scheme is: grey-beige on the wall (BM Bleeker Beige), a linen upholstered headboard in a similar grey-beige tone, crisp white linens and drapes, espresso furniture, and then throw pillows, art and accessories in shades of kelly green and pale ice blue. I admit that I stole the idea from Nate Berkus’ book and it’s going to look FABULOUS!!
Can’t wait to see what you guys cook up! I can’t get enough of color schemes either!
Laura says
Sherry, this color scheme is very similar to our house.. if you would replace the eggplant with merlot & add a buttercream yellow tone. We went bold with our first house. Dark green on our living room & foyer walls on the first try! But we love it.
Downstairs is richer; dark fern green, sage green, ivory, tan, chocolate brown & merlot with a touch of buttercream… while upstairs we have more blue, brown, mocha, ivory & yellow working together.
I am also in LOVE with a deep turquoise/aqua color & when we redo our “closet” into a future childs room we will be going with that on the walls. Very dramatic :)
I’ve been totally inspired by your blog & have decided to start one of my own about our home. I need an outlet for creativity, and I think that blogging is an amazing way to do it. Once I have something more substantial, I’ll send a link along!
Sara V says
Something really neat is that my new home is almost an exact (but smaller) replica of your current home. The main difference other than size and general cohesiveness is that my color palette for my whole home is the one you’ve chosen for yours. All my walls are painted a light tan/grey color, and I’ve got at least one accent wall in each room (two in the living room/dining room to separate the space). I love coincidences!
Gail says
I’m never content with my colors for too long, so this switch-it-up design is right up my alley. My problem is that I like many color palettes. I like the advice that you’re constantly giving, “do what you like.”
Interesting though is that I’ve decided my choice of paint colors is very related to the season in which I’m painting. I live in the Midwest, where we definitely have the 4 seasons, but I really can’t afford the time or money to repaint everything four times a year! (We just did several rooms using Olympic’s Audubon “splendor” collection: Amaretto, earthy cane and chocolate turtle. Beautiful, but definitely an autumn feeling!)
Kathy says
Sorry if you’ve already gotten this question above, but in the changes you’re anticipating/planning, do you think you might go with darker kitchen cabinets, or maybe two colors between upper and lower cabinets?
I also like it when there are just shelves or no cabinets above the counters. Can’t wait to see what you do with your new home!
YoungHouseLove says
We’re considering a number of options, some of them being stain or painting the bottom cabinets a different color than the uppers among other things- but we’ll just have to see what we end up with when we get in there. Lately I’ve been undeniably attracted to white cabinets (no surprise there) but considering a dark inky blue paint color for the island that we’ll add (to complement the white cabinets and keep things interesting and two-toned).
xo,
s
AlissaH says
Our house incorporates most of your colors, even the deep green of our shutters outside! Since we just did all of our painting about 6 months ago, here’s a rundown of the colors we used (and love)-
All Benjamin Moore–
Deep eggplant: Kalamata
Off-white (not too yellow or grey): Linen White
Blue/gray (darker, then lighter on same swatch): Beach Glass & Quiet Moments
Green/gray: Silver Sage
Medium beige: Frappe
Light purplish/gray: Hampshire Rocks
I found that having specific paint colors to reference (like the ones on your favorite colors page) was REALLY helpful, so hopefully this can guide other readers (or you– go for Kalamata, it’s gorgeous). Enjoy!
Erin says
We are going with bright bold colors upstairs and neutral downstairs. The whole house was peach tones in April and so far we have painted the living/ dining Behr Bicycle Yellow, the hallway the Behr Moon Mist, and the office just got painted Behr Artesian Water which is almost the color of painters tape. Downstairs we went with Antique white which was the perfect neutral to transform the space. I love your color schemes and have gotten the courage to paint whatever color I want because it is the cheapest way to totally makeover a room. Thanks so much YHL!!!
Erica says
I never really liked the mochas and beiges in the first place, so the smokey colors are right up my alley. I chose grey for the floor and countertops in my kitchen, and there’s a distinct possibility that I’ll paint another room in my house grey at some point in the future. I also chose more muted greens and blues for my living room, bedroom and bathroom. I really like the greens and blues you chose for your new home, and can’t wait to see what you do with the place!
Sara says
Love the new colors you are thinking of! We use several of them in our house and they are our “go to” colors so I would love to see what you do with them! Would love to see a darker colored couch as I have been thinking about this too.
The colors we LOVE are Ralph Lauren but I use them with Olympic no VOC paint –
green/tan – Homespun
Blue/grey – Oasis
We feel the above colors go really well together too
blue – Rowboat blue
coffee color – Jodhpur Tan
Also like Crab apple but it is a little too pinky of an undertone sometimes.
So excited! Have to say we are putting the house on the market in the spring in hopes of selling and moving to a nearby town. I swore I would NEVER live in a brick ranch since that is what I grew up in and hated. But we are all about some brick ranch now – in part b/c of you guys and in part b/c we realize “custom” and “new” doesn’t mean well built or character :)
Carrie says
LOVE IT! Can’t wait to see how it turns out!
Elizabeth Nixon says
Ditto the reader who said the tones are reminiscent of Arts & Crafts/Craftsman style homes. Love, love, LOVE that style and love your colors!
Christie DeSilva says
Yellow and gray. Yellow and gray. Yellow and gray.
That is the color scheme floating around in my head that I desperately want to use.
I want all of my brown and taupe neutrals to turn light gray and deeper smoky gray. I want soft yellow and a deep yellow. I want to keep my pops or turquoise that would still work so well with that color scheme. I want to do a room lavender and gray so badly that a paint can might just burst open if I think about it too long.
I want to trade my espresso colored wood for a super light gray weathered rustic wood, like the color of driftwood. I want to take a can of paint and stain remover and dump it on my beautiful dark dining room table, scrape away at the finish, and then sand and have it be gray and rustic. Then, I want clean white modern molded plastic chairs around it. I do I do I do! Give me some high back woven reed or wicker chairs on the ends for more texture, and I might just do a happy dance.
Emily @ NewlyWife says
I am excited to see how these colors turn out. I went a bit bolder in our living room and did Overcast by Glidden. I highly recommend it. It is a nice light blue/gray in some light and a darker blue/gray in others. It’s a good choice for someone who wants color that’s not too dark, but still makes an impact.
Alise says
perfect!
Lynn says
In our last house, we were all about coastal colours – sand, off-white, navy, pale blue, with tiny bits of pale dunegrass green and red (all tied together in the LR by the windowsill, which I “mozaiced” with squares of paper in all the colours, and coated with lots of matt varnish). But this house? We have lived here for nigh onto five years, and it’s needed more non-cosmetic work than we’d ever imagined, so we’re just getting around to the decorating part. I’m happy it took so long, actually, as my tastes have changed drastically, and this time I’m going for light green-grey walls, white trim, an oak floor, horizontal white wooden blinds with black cords, and slightly mid-century furniture. I might throw in a bit of red, though, a wee bit, as it will need some pop and I am definitely not a yellow or orange person…
I’m so excited to see you two work your magic on yours!
Vanessa L says
Last year I lived in a 500 sq ft apartment with my fiance that had brown wood paneled walls and brown and orange shag carpet in all the rooms (even the bathroom). Needless to say, I have since gotten rid of every decor item that is brown.
I like black, white, green, and eggplant. I call my style “nature-inspired contemporary” – I love paintings of plants and leaves. I like neutral furniture and green decor with pops of eggplant.
coley says
Hello Again,
Congrats on the house!
I would call the purple you picked more mulberry than aubergine, either way its lovely. My room used to be white beachy style furniture but i wanted to update it and for it to be more sophisticated so i added a mulberry photo wall, slate grey and mulberry fittings/accessories. I have had many compliments (from firends) on the decor.
Good luck x
Jamie B says
Great scheme! We went with a really light gray when we did our kitchen. White cabinets, white shelves, dark gray floors and granite and light gray walls allowed me to have plenty of my favorite colorful accessories :)
And we were actually thinking of going with a slate blue for our dining room (currently cranberry red…sooooo dark!)
I’m excited to see when you actually start putting this colors into effect!
Meagan says
Could this dramatic, earthy, deep color scheme be due to the wonderful fall colors here in VA? Sitting here in my boyfriend’s barracks I see deep browns on the bark of trees, auburns and reds and yellows in the leaves floating to the ground, and mossy/sagey greens in the grass. *Sigh* I love this time of year.
diane says
Love those colors, they will look just as beautiful in the summer as they do in the fall and winter. Check out our blog for ideas on upholstered headboards.
Christiana says
I’ve been putting in a few more pops of crisp, glossy white. Totally tore that page out of the YHL handbook. My walls are predominantly grey with some MAJOR pops of turquoise, green, and yellow throughout our home. Glad you’re trying out a new direction- it will be fun to watch!
Melissa says
Hello Sherry and John! I have been wondering/marveling at how “in sync” you two seem to be with your design vision. Could you tell us more about how you two process and come to new decisions, especially something huge like new bolder colors? Do you ever disagree?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah, we totally disagree all the time! But our rule is that if we’re both not 100% on board, we don’t do/buy something. So for every project or purchase that you see here, there are probably a handful that we don’t do because one of us isn’t as excited by the idea as the other. Here’s a post about how we couldn’t agree on art (with details about how we came to agreement after some pretty rigorous brainstorming) and here’s a post about how we do our best to stay in sync when it comes to our house. So when it came to paint palette ideas, we considered a ton of other options, but these were the colors we liked the best when it came to collective agreement. It’s all about the compromise.
xo,
s
Holly says
LOVE your new color scheme! We just repainted our Master bedroom in gray and used mustard yellow as accents in the room. I am so stoked about the way it turned out! I am having a problem trying to figure out what color to paint our living room. I want the house to coordinate without being matchy-matchy. I have a brown couch and am trying to steer away from tan walls. Any suggestions?
YoungHouseLove says
Light artichoke or celery green looks pretty cool with gray, brown, yellow, etc. Good luck!
xo,
s
Holly says
Thanks so much:)