Picking the palette - March Design House

Henry painting the trim

I'm so excited to show you the March Design House {open March 2, 3 & 4}.  March for me is all about adding elements of surprise with paint and color.  Whether it's images on the wall, furniture, or accessories...all I can say is be ready for something new!

In this post we'll show you our palette picks for the March house.  At the end of the post, we'll even give you our palette cheat sheet so you can get the same look for your space.

What's in and what's out.  After our big February Groundhog sale, we had a great opportunity to take stock of each room.  We took off the draperies and let the light flood the house.  Let the inspiration begin!  With new truckloads and containers arriving almost daily for the house, we began to plan themes and decide how to work in new furniture and accessories by room.

  
An inspiration board {or door}.  In this photo, I'm trying out color combinations with paint chips against new decorator fabrics.  The March sun room was inspired by a spring storm, and green accents will be brought in to welcome the new season.  A more monochromatic scheme in some spaces downstairs helps neutralize the house.  I'm using Martha Stewart's fawn with whites and creams, and bringing in lots of driftwood and linen tones.

Trend alert.  Last month on our travels, Sooz and I saw lots of blue - but used in new & inspiring ways.  This season, decorators are keeping color fresh by using blues in the full color spectrum.  We saw some beautiful examples mixing blue furniture, paint splashes, and fabrics in the same room. Here's Henry working upstairs, close to where my color spectrum surprise will be!

A Design House first.  Rather than try to make an artistic statement with a lone ladder or a perfectly empty room, we're keepin' it real in this photo.  Yes, you really are seeing a trash bag.  Part of the unglamorous prep work each month is a major top to bottom house cleaning.  We get our fair share of dust bunnies and somehow still keep finding glitter from the Holiday Open House everywhere  : )

We'll be painting our ceilings with pops of color for the March house.  {Can't say how much we appreciate Henry's willingness to tackle those textured ceilings - my shoulders hurt just thinking about it}.  The wall colors are beautiful, but the contrasting ceilings {see the dark grey?} really knock the sweet out of it and add sophistication.

Can't wait to show you everything on March 2-4.  I love how we're playing with color this month - and more importantly, I want you to see fresh new looks and not be afraid to try them out yourself!

Check out our March Design House palette cheat sheet below and have fun trying out some of our March 2012 color combinations.

March 2012 Design House Palette Cheat Sheet

 

1. Amazon Stone - Behr {downstairs}
2. Smoke - Benjamin Moore {downstairs}
3. Rattan - Martha Stewart {hallways}
4. Cobblestone - Martha Stewart {hallways}
5. Fawn - Martha Stewart {downstairs}
6. Solitude - Benjamin Moore {sun room}
7. True Blue - Ralph Lauren {upstairs}
8. Agave Green - Benjamin Moore {sun room}
9. Design Studio White - Ralph Lauren {upstairs}