Why a Neutral Palette Makes Decorating So Simple
Before I started transforming the decor in my home to a farmhouse style, I had a lot of color in my house. My living room was tan with highlights of aqua and my family room was gray, dark red and green. Our master bedroom was themed in yellow with orange highlights. Oh heavens, now that I am writing this I realize how awful it sounds! What was I thinking?
Having lots of color in your home looks nice (ok, maybe not always) but it really makes it difficult to decorate for the seasons and holidays. Trust me, I tried and it was really difficult.
So here are a few peeks of my former attempts to decorate with color. Notice my “Christmas” decorations with the aqua and green holiday balls? My holiday Christmas wrap was all in turquoise and white. It was a pretty holiday theme except it just didn’t look and feel like Christmas.
Having a neutral palette in your home is more calming and easy to work with. Hence, the furniture in our living room is heading out to get slipcovered in a white/off-white. The walls are almost bare (i.e. the art work is gone) and new artwork is coming in October (created by yours truly). Plus, a lot of the furniture has been moved out.
You have already seen how our bedroom is now gray and white. (The green chairs are gone, I promise!). No more yellow!
Now it looks like this (sans the green chairs).
And it used to look like this.
Our dining room now looks like this
And it used to look like this.
With a neutral palette, it is so easy to change pillow covers and add fresh flowers and accessories to add a seasonal theme to a room. When I decorated our home for the Summer Home Blog Tour it was more fun and so much easier than I imagined! You don’t have to take things away when your room is in neutral colors. Instead, all you have to do is add color.
I am so excited to finish our living room and family room. Fingers crossed everything is done before I start adding the red and green for Christmas!
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I also have transitioned my home from many colors to a farmhouse palette of soft grays and whites with touches of black and wood accents- I am LOVING it! Last Christmas was the first time I used red in my decorating with lots of natural greens, it was simple and looked lovely, plus my family said it finally felt like Christmas. Yes, going neutral was definitely the way to go for me, and I love the added benefit of being able to switch furniture from room to room and it still all looks good. Looking forward to seeing your living and family rooms redone – your home is beautiful!
“What was I thinking?” I asked myself that very question when we downsized a few years ago. The answer? We went through the 90’s. At the time it was in style. When you stop changing, you stop growing, so look around and see that you are flexible, teachable, and can move forward through anything! It all looks great.
Thanks Shelly. This was so nice of you to write. It’s definitely true! Change is constant and change is good!