March 8^th 2009,

Decorating With Orange

DM 

Orange is definitely a color that is becoming increasingly popular in the world of interior design.  Although it’s definitely an acquired taste, it adds a warm cheerful feeling to a room.   The key is to be very careful where in your space you integrate orange.  Warm vibrant colors have a tendency to make a room feel smaller when used to paint walls or in larger area rugs.  However, if you decorating a large open space this may come in very handy when trying to create a cozier look. 

When applying orange to a wall or selecting a rug it is best to use a muted orange such as a peach or a dark orange.  Often times a regular bright orange is too strong when used excessively.  If you do pick a bright orange minimize it, and keep it to pieces such as lamp shades or smaller accent pieces.   Darker oranges go very well with furniture made from darker woods.  Another good approach is to use shades of blue in a room with orange.  Blue is on the other end of the color wheel and it will further soften the orange.  Lastly you want to avoid pairing to different shades of orange together …..the end result is almost always an unsuccessful one.