Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The Bold and the Beautiful




If the dark colors of yesterday's post were too dramatic for you, then perhaps you may like these bright, vivid colors more. Why not drench the walls of your dining room with some bold, bright color? It will certainly make an impact in a room that is not often used. My current favorites are bright blue (teal might even look rather daring), lavender, and that old stand-by red. One of my all-time favorite dining rooms, however, is the one above in the Paris home of Mathilde Agostinelli. I know I've shown this image numerous times, but doesn't this photograph make you want to paint any room this glorious shade of pink (or at least find some shocking pink table linen)?

Perhaps with colors like these, you may just start dining in the dining room on a regular basis.


Suggested shades:
"Blue Ground" by Farrow & Ball- a great light blue
"Chinese Blue" by Farrow & Ball- a deeper blue which looks fantastic when paired with red accent pieces
"Scarlet O'Hara" by Pratt & Lambert- a true red

"Peace and Happiness" by Benjamin Moore- a beautiful shade of lavender
"Coral Reef" by Sherwin Williams- a coral shade of pink




I've always been taken with this dining room designed by legend Frances Elkins. Yes, a red dining room may be a bit predictable, but who can deny the timeless allure of it?


I think that this shade of purple, chosen by designer Steven Gambrel, would look great in a dining room as well. A little unusual but very striking!


I love vivid blue dining rooms- think about how great some red accents would look against this shade of blue. Designer- Jan Showers


A "wow" shade of pink chosen by Mary McDonald. I could definitely see this used in a feminine dining room such as Agostinelli's dining room above.

28 comments:

  1. the Jan Showers and Mary M rooms are some of my all-time favorites!

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  2. Great colors--though I loved the dark dining rooms too.

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  3. I usually don't like pink. I think it has to do with growing up in a pink bedroom ;-) But I love Mathilde Agostinelli's dining room. It seems very grown up and sophisticated, unlike most pink rooms. Thanks for posting it!

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  4. What fantastic wall colors! Steven Gambrel's room is just so amazing, it takes so much guts to use purple colored paint like that he did an amazing job! But, I esp. love the last image with the pink wall by Mary McDonald :)

    Great post Jennifer!

    ~Kate

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  5. That shade of purple used by Steven Gambrel is delicious, and he's paired with some other great colours too.

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  6. Brilliant- I do love dark dining rooms too!

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  7. Hab. Chic- Her apartment turned me on to pink again! So chic! And the fact that Jacques Grange had a hand in it doesn't hurt :)

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  9. Kate and Suzy- Glad you like that purple. It's such an unusual shade but it really works in that room.

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  10. These are all great - I agree that red would be so perfect in the blue room.

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  11. Mary's is my favorite use of bright colors.

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  12. Anonymous12:14 PM

    Truly the colors for eye candy! Interesting to see that each room uses a lot of crisp white or glossy black to balance that intense color. I still prefer the deeper darker and more mysterious colors -- like the deep eggplant purple -- so that the room does resemble a jewel-box and any lovely object (or person!) becomes its sparkling jewel. Thanks for the lesson!

    Jan x at Rosemary Cottage

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  13. Beautiful post! But, Mary's is my favorite. I just love the blue and white accents against the pink, it's tooooo gorgeous. She always uses those huge blue and white jars which she buys at Ceylon et Cie, Michelle Nussbaumer's shop in Dallas.

    Joni

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  14. Thanks Jordan and KC!
    Jan- Good point about the contrast of the white and black against these colors.

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  15. Joni- I'm just dying to go to Ceylon et Cie!

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  16. Great post! I love a richly colored dining room. I did my dining room a very rich pompeii red/orange because I was inspired by a picture of a dining room in a Henrietta Spencer-Churchill book. I thought it would look great contrasted with my collection of flow blue china.

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  17. Sarah- Your dining room sounds beautiful!

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  18. I think purple is becoming my new favourite color!!

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  19. Anonymous11:07 PM

    I have a mahogany paneled dining room which is dark and "difficult." Instead of a red ceiling (have that in the library), we painted the ceiling a beautiful dark green with a blue cast, Willow Grove by Benjamin Moore. Very successful!

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  20. I LOVE the Agostinelli dining room, but, then, I've always been a sucker for pink. My problem is that I like SO many different colors - hard to decide!

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  21. Love this post! Hard to pick a favorite, but I love the blue room by Jan Showers. I will be going through your recent posts more thoroughly when I have some more free time. Looks like I have missed alot! :)

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  22. Love the Mary McDonald room.
    X
    Anna

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  23. Patricia- I'm beginning to like purple more and more :)

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  24. Priscilla- Your dining room sounds magnificent- what a great choice of colors for the ceiling!

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  25. Thanks Katie, Anne, and Anna!

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  26. I love the whole red family, from pink to orange. Did you know that orange is supposed to invoke hunger?

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  27. J's Crew- I did not know that, but I need to remember that. It might make my cooking taste better :)

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