Eight Unexpected Places Where You Can Add a Pop of Color to Your Home
Anyone who has ever tried to design their home knows all too well that neutrality always works. Beige, white and various subtle shades of gray are safe choices for any room. They may not wow, but they also won’t irritate you over time or cause guests to whisper about your choice behind your back. This safety, coupled with the long-standing trend toward minimalist and uncluttered spaces, has led to the emergence of color pop— a pop of color as an accent that adds drama to your bland spaces.
But as concepts like ” unexpected red ” show, you’re not limited to painting an accent wall or buying a big red sofa when you want that pop of color . While choosing one wall to paint a bold color is an easy way to bring energy to your room, this bold color can work in a variety of ways and often in unexpected places. If you’re looking to enhance the color drama in your home, consider adding color to some of these less predictable areas.
Behind the toilet
If your bathroom is a bit monochromatic, you may be looking for a way to bring color into the space. Of course, you have plenty of options, from brightly colored towels to an accent wall for the shower, but if you want something unexpected that concentrates the impact of a pop of color, place it behind the toilet. It’s a bold choice that will help define the space in an open-plan bathroom, with (most likely) a white toilet providing a touch of contrast that will make the bright color even more striking, or opt for a non- white toilet for a more sophisticated interaction.
Inside cabinets and shelving
Painting the inside of cabinets in the kitchen or bookshelves in other rooms of the house creates a pop of color and a bit of surprise, which also adds dimension to your storage, creating the impression of hidden depth. To give your interior a little more interest, consider using graphic wallpaper inside cabinets and shelves. Every time you open the cabinet to grab a coffee mug, you’ll be rewarded with a burst of vibrant colors.
Interior doors
If your interior doors are white or neutral in color, an easy way to bring a pop of color into the room is to paint the door. It’s big enough to make an impact, but not so big that it overwhelms the space. Keeping the trim and surrounding wall a neutral color will highlight the color scheme and really make it stand out.
Window sills and finishing
The downside of painting an interior wall while leaving the trim white is painting the trim in the room a bright color while leaving everything else neutral. This has the effect of stretching that accent color throughout the room, making it part of the overall design without introducing a monolithic slab of color in one place. If you have a picture window or other large window, using it as a sheer accent wall, painting the trim an eye-catching color is a good variation on this concept.
Floor
You can create an accent area in your room using the flooring—either by painting part of it ( yes, really ), choosing an area to cover in a bright color, or simply placing a bright rug in the desired location. This allows you to keep the rest of the room in a neutral palette while still maintaining the impact of the pops of color. Using a mat also makes it easy to change different colors at any time without breaking your brush or sledgehammer.
Ceilings
Another alternative to an accent wall is an accent ceiling , which works best in a small space like a bathroom or small guest bedroom, but can feel a little overwhelming in larger spaces. High ceilings enhance the effect by drawing the eye upward and emphasizing the height of the space while making a small room appear larger; but even if your ceilings aren’t that high , painting them a bright color will be unexpected and will surprise anyone who walks into the room (in a good way).
Ladder
The risers on your stairs are often overlooked as an opportunity to have some design fun—they’re essentially a series of blank canvases. Since most people take stairs for granted, encountering a staircase with bright colors or a bold pattern (using paint or wallpaper) on each riser will surprise and delight people, and since the staircase is visible from the room but not part of it, it’s a great way to introduce some subtle pops of color into the space.
Household appliances
Finally, if you’ve been following the stainless steel kitchen appliance trend for a century or two it’s been going on (or maybe it just seems like centuries), consider replacing (or vinyl wrapping ) something a little flashier. This literally ruins the rather neutral color palette of a neutral kitchen with monochrome appliances. For a more cohesive and noticeable effect, pair a colorful fixture with a painted cabinet interior.