The clients wanted a change from orange ...

Orange, a mix of red and yellow, is a strong color especially in its deeper tones. Of all the colors it is perceived as the hottest. It makes us think of radiant energy and heat, fall and pumpkins, and stark contemporary settings. A room with too much orange can be overpowering so it needs to be used in small doses and in select places.

My clients’ family room had been decorated with a strong orange fabric on the window treatments. They had lived with it for some time and were ready to eliminate the orange entirely and soften the look.

They liked the existing pale yellow paint color they had on the wall and wanted to find a new solution that complemented it. On the floor they had a beige cut-pile velvet area rug that was beginning to show its wear and needed to be changed. The sofas and chairs were in good shape and just needed to be re-upholstered.

... to something new. Chairs were reupholstered and a new Oriental rug was added.

To give the room a different emphasis and feel, we moved the pattern from the window treatment to the new Oriental rug. The rug we selected had a traditional pattern with the predominate colors of reds, blues and off whites which gave us a wide range of new color options for the fabrics.

The color blue is the complimentary color of yellow on the color wheel which means it is located opposite it. This means that if you are ever unsure how to combine a color in a room, by selecting its complimentary color, no matter what shade or intensity, results in a combination that works well together. Keep in mind that you can always mix in an accent color to give it a specialized or personalized look.

Because pale blue was used in other rooms in the house, we selected it as the intensity of blue to use rather than the dark blue in the rug. For the club chairs and ottoman the fabric took the form of pale blue with tiny yellow medallions running through it.

To bring in the yellow color of the walls, we selected a yellow solid colored velvet for the sofa. For interest we put patterns in the fabrics on the wing chair and accent chair in front of the window.

For the window treatment, my clients wanted to have a look that was not as boxy and stiff looking as before. I accomplished this by designing a valance with curving bottom that was highlighted with two levels of decorative fringe. The side panels were made so that they could be opened and also closed to cover the window. By pulling the side panels back and holding them back with decorative medallions we continued the curving movement and transitioned the room into an updated space they enjoy spending time in.

Teal Michel ASID, is a licensed full-service interior design firm specializing in residential interior design and renovation-remodeling design throughout the Carolinas. Teal has won awards from ASID for interior spaces and furniture design and from the Home Builder’s Association of Charlotte Excellence in Remodeling for remodel design and interior renovation. She has participated in HGTV’s “Designer’s Challenge” and her work has been featured in several books. www.tealmichelasid.com ^[1].