Fresh Color Combos for 2010: White and Turquoise

From Lynn on March 29th, 2010 in Home Decor

Want your decor to pop? I’m not just talking about adding a little pizzazz. Oh no, today’s discussion on CalFinder is whether there are any downsides to turquoise and white, or whether, as I suspected, it’s a flawless design choice for any spring makeover.

Let’s take a walk through this interior design project by Julie Thigpen, founder of Modern Chic Home, and see why it works.

In the living room, crisp white is made crisper by the selection of a very linear, sharp-edged sofa. In fact, the whole room is straight lines. It’s a great trick to use fun colors in sophisticated, traditional shapes to make them feel more grown-up.

Like any color scheme, it needs something to tie it all together. In this case, it’s the black ribbons running through the pillows and draperies, plus a great black coffee table that grounds the entire room. The design works particularly well in a room with enough natural light to warrant the fun, beachy colors.

The same color palette is used throughout the home. In the dining room, the furniture is all neutral, leaving the option for a quick change if it’s ever desired. The turquoise here comes in the form of Asian-inspired chargers and bowls, and pebble-filled vases.

Tablescapes are often ignored in the average person’s decorating repertoire, but Thigpen shows what a difference simple, beautiful accessories can make. Again, the white upholstery maintains clean lines and the dark table is grounding.

In this bedroom, the subtle beach theme gets blown wide open! The black disappears, even the walls get splashed with turquoise, and the scheme is amplified with “Sail Away” pillows and a lighthearted print. The sand-colored floor and bottom half of the wall make it even more cohesive.

Lastly, this bedroom gets a more trendy touch, with dark chocolate walls and contrasting white shadow boxes in a great circle shape. The geometric theme is echoed in the night tables’ square cut-outs. To counter the dark, dark walls, almost everything else is white with just ribbons of turquoise to accent. The colored-glass lamps and greenery also add freshness.

What I think is particularly neat about this project is that it shows how the simplest of compatible color schemes can go a ton of different ways. Here, we’ve seen it go Asian, summer home, contemporary, and traditional. Nice job!