How we use color throughout a home

We staged a home this week that is a great example of how to carry a color palette throughout a home.

When we decorate a home (or even just a room), we begin by creating a color palette. This palette includes the wall paint colors, as well as the pops of accent colors we will use in furniture and decor. For our recent project, we created a palette of yellow, greens and blues, with gray and white acting as our neutrals.

Tip: when you're creating your palette, don't forget to take into account the color of the floors and any existing trim or woodwork. This home featured dark wood floors.

We used the yellow downstairs in the living room rug and on the kitchen/dining room walls, and then carried it upstairs on an accent wall in the office area.

We featured green on the upstairs wall, on the kids' room walls (photo below), and in pieces such as rugs, artwork and books throughout the home.

Note the pops of yellow in this room as well!

And we chose blues as accent walls in the master and guest bedrooms.

In the master, note how the pillows, artwork, rug, pouf and throw all introduce different, yet complementary, blues.

In the guestroom, you can just see a sliver of the blue accent wall; notice that yellow features prominently in the room as well.

Even the home's exterior showcased our palette!

Note the peppy yellow door.

One of our slogans is "add some color to your life" -- and this house shows exactly how we like to do that!

Visual Jill's top 5 tips for unique style

We're really excited about the house we just completed. It showcases the top 5 ingredients that we always include in our projects to make them shine.

1. Modern in the mix -- Our designs always include at least a few mid-century modern pieces, mixed in with more transitional styles. In this living room, note the iconic Nelson bench paired with the upholstered green armchairs and white couch.

And in the library, we used our favorite Eames lounge chair with a colorful rug from Joss and Main.

2. Color -- We've said it before, we'll say it again. An amazing accent wall can bring a completely new energy to a room. In the guest room we chose Benjamin Moore's Million Dollar Red, which complemented the rich woodwork in the house.

3. Artwork -- We search high and low for unusual pieces of art for our projects. Some of our best come from flea markets and street fairs. For example, Jill found the fun painting above the child's bed at the Temescal Street Fair. We mix these one-of-a-kind pieces with basics from Ikea and other retailers.

4. Global influence -- Our designs usually include a touch of the exotic -- a painting from Bali, fabric from Tahiti, or a pouf from Morocco, as seen below.

5. Unique accessories -- We look for inspiration pieces that set the tone and/or color scheme for a room. These can be paintings, pillows, vases, or even a funky lamp. In the dining room, for example, the centerpiece vase from Anthropologies filled with succulents is just the right touch for the room.

In the master bedroom, you can see all five of our ingredients working together: modern in the mix (orange ottoman); color (accent wall in Benjamin Moore's Wisteria AF-585); unusual artwork (a painting from Mexican artist Javier Fernandez); global influence (pareu from Tahiti on bed), and unique accessories (Anthropologie pillow).

Inspiration on 4th Street

Whenever we need a shot of inspiration, we head over to Berkeley's 4th Street. We can count on these favorite home decor, crafting and fashion shops to always be merchandised with imagination and style.

Our first stop is often The Gardener, an emporium of exquisite handmade furniture, one-of-a-kind finds from all over the world, beautiful ceramics and jewelry (and, of course, plants). On our most recent visit we saw this wild wire-and-plant wall sculpture:

And we also admired this collection of ceramic bells hanging from rope over a long dining room table:

Leave it to The Gardener to create beautiful displays from humble pieces such as wire and rope!

Another must-see on 4th Street is Anthropologie. As we've talked about here before, we are always blown away by their store displays. Check out this great use of old cans:

Anthropologie is a feast for the eyes and the imagination (not to mention that they have the best clothes and incredible home decor!).

Some of our other favorites on 4th Street are:

Design Within Reach
Convert (the best sneaker selection for women, men and kids!)
CB2 (one of our most-shopped stores!)
Castle in the Air (a magical place full of paper, trimming, and inspiration)
Paper Source

The list could go on and on . . . 4th Street is a must-visit for anyone in the Bay Area who loves good design. Grab a coffee from Peet's and start window-shopping! (And try to make a day of it so you can treat yourself to lunch at Tacubaya!)

Let's talk turquoise

We've been noticing a resurgence of turquoise in home decor lately . . . and we love it.

The July-August 2012 issue of Elle Decoration (French) included some inspirational shots of turquoise -- including a lighter and a darker shade here:

Another page from the magazine shows a bright and happy turquoise accent wall:

We love how the bright yellows, greens, pinks and reds used elsewhere in the room just pop against the turquoise.

Houzz recently featured two ideabooks starring turquoise. One showcased a sophisticated Berkeley home, designed by Cheryl Burke, and this lovely wall.

The color is Benjamin Moore Galapagos Turquoise.

Another great Houzz ideabook offers sound advice for working with turquoise. We are crazy about the combination of colors shown here:

Design by CapeRace Cultural Adventures

The three shades of blue/turquoise with the bright yellow door and crisp white trim and floors -- beautiful!

And Jill's own dining room wall was painted turquoise last Fall . . .

Maybe it's time for us to revisit turquoise too!

Five Fave Updates for Fall

We know that Fall doesn't officially arrive until September 22, but it definitely feels like summer is ending. Maybe it's the sound of kids walking to school outside my front window, or maybe it's the fat Fall issue of Vogue that's in the mailbox . . . the seasons are getting ready to change.

You might be in the mood for some changes in your home decor as well. Here are five easy things you can do to introduce a new burst of seasonal energy in your home.

Add some green. Try a brighter, deeper green on an accent wall, or just on one piece in your room.

In this home office, we used Benjamin Moore's Dill Pickle on one wall, as well as bits of green in the accessories (colored pencils and file folders). We also love Split Pea from Benjamin Moore, which we painted on this bedroom accent wall and then picked up in the pillows, below.

Place a pouf. We've written about our love for poufs before. Fall is a great time to incorporate a pouf in a deep jewel tone or a strong neutral.

Here we've teamed a gray Moroccan pouf with the Everett Striped Chair from West Elm . . . which brings us to our next idea . . .

Go gray. OK, maybe not your hair, but how about your walls? Or a sofa? Or a rug? As we said last month, gray is really the freshest neutral for your home.

Pick a printed or patterned pillow. A new trend we're loving is two-sided pillows, each featuring a different color or pattern.

Both of these fun pillows are from Anthropologie, always a great place for unique home items.

It's like getting two pillows for the price of one. Just a single new patterned pillow can really wake up your sofa or bed.

And finally, incorporate a personal artifact into your decorating. Maybe it's a painting you bought on the streets of Spain, or some shells you picked up on your summer beach trip. Below, Lauran hung an old metal winery sign that she got at an Italian flea market (and hand carried back on the plane home!) in her dining room.

To add a little "zen" to her home, Jill showcases a Balinese sculpture and prayer beads that she bought at The Dry Garden Nursery.

Try one or two of these ideas this Labor Day weekend . . . and your home will be ready for the changing seasons.

Tahiti Style!

Jill just returned from her honeymoon in Tahiti, and she brought great decorating ideas home with her! She fell in love with the bright tribal motifs all around the islands. Check out the assortment of pareus she chose:

These colorful sheets of fabric can be used in different ways . . . of course you can wear them, as Jill is here:

Or lay them across your bed to add some color to your room!

Jill also purchased some original paintings that are a modern interpretation of tribal art. We love the balance of neutral and pop of orange!

Remember -- when you travel, even just to a new city, take a look around and see what treasures you can find. Jill says some of her favorite decor items are those she's picked up on her vacations, because they are authentic and original, and reflect the particular culture of her destination.

And we'll leave you with a vision of where these lovely pareus came from . . .

A colorful, wonderful wedding!

Posted by Lauran

Last weekend Jill hosted her own wedding reception in her Berkeley home -- and her friends and family reveled among the bright flowers and joyous decor.

Bold colors filled the space -- from the lanterns hanging from the trees, to the tablecloths, to the napkins, and even the soda pop selection!

A wonderful dessert table from Cafe Clem!

Jill truly transformed her backyard into a candy-colored wonderland. (I personally love how the whole soiree matches our Visual Jill logo!)

Congratulations to Jill and David, who are now soaking up the sun in Tahiti!

Gray -- the fashionable neutral

Tired of beige walls? Want a new alternative to your stand-by black pants? It's time to check out gray -- the freshest neutral in both fashion and home design.

We've built a Pinterest board showcasing some of the best gray:

Here's a closer look at a few of our favorites:

via Pinterest, via Satsuki Shibuya

via Pinterest, via Jaime Derringer

via Pinterest, via Afro Chic, from design*sponge

This week's email from West Elm also features gray (or "graphite", a more glamorous name):

We just used two soft grays in a living room, and we love the results!

photo by Lisa Ratner

The darker gray on the left is Coventry Gray, and the lighter on the other two walls is Horizon (both Benjamin Moore):

A word of warning about grays: they can look really different from the color cards when painted on your walls, depending on the light. We've found that many can end up looking purple or lavender. And these I've shown here look almost green on my screen -- not so in person. So always test your color selections before you buy that big gallon!

Fresh colors help sell a home

Last week we staged our biggest project yet -- a 3-bedroom, 3-bath (plus office) home with an in-law apartment in the back. We were really happy with the results, and so were the developer (who hired us) and the real estate agent! After just one open house, they are expecting several offers this week.

Take a look at the photos below, all shot by the talented Lisa Ratner.

Family room

Living room

Dining room

Office

Kids room

In-law apartment

What made this house so sellable? First of all, the developers did an excellent job. All the material selections -- lighting fixtures, tile, cabinets, etc. -- were spot on, and their work was high-quality. The floor plan was very livable and the home got lots of light.

As far as our contributions, the two top reasons the staging worked so well are:

1. Color choices. We selected a modern fresh palette based on light grays, warm white trim and pops of citrus colors. Note the yellow bedroom, the orange accessories in the in-law, and the green accent walls in the dining room, office and family room.

2. Mixing old and new items. In our staging we take advantage of some Ikea favorites as well as Eames classics, flea market finds as well as new CB2. It's all about mixing the vintage, modern, bold and good old stand-bys.