Blue Rooms

February 13, 2011

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Blue Step by Step

Credit: SIMON WATSON

Take a look at this gallery of cool blue rooms to find color inspiration for your home."Blue is the only color which maintains its own character in all its tones.... It will always stay blue," wrote Fauvist painter Raoul Dufy. Why limit yourself to one shade on the balusters when you can unleash your creativity and enjoy eight at once?

Using little test pots of paint, we coated the uprights in twos, pairing them off on adjacent steps and graduating the tone from light to dark to create an ombre effect all the way up the banister. So easy to do, such a striking effect.

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Breakfast Blue

Credit: SIMON WATSON

Traditional porcelain with a Chinese motif provides a charming reference point for this crisp breakfast room. The mesh weave on the light, modern chairs, which are painted in two shades of blue (in an easy-to-clean acrylic semigloss) echoes and updates the fishnet-pattern rims on the china. On the vintage bench, a cushion upholstered in a graceful floral is coated in Tyvek for effortless wipe-downs. Accent pieces and accessories in soft, rich blues -- napkins, glassware, a throw, the art on the walls -- play up the theme, while the glossy white walls, table, and floor give the setting a gleaming stage.

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Sea-Glass-Inspired Palette

Credit: SIMON WATSON

Choosing the right blue is all about creating a mood. Here, washes of light sky blue on the walls and lots of white evoke the tranquillity of a tropical breeze. A pale aqua on the underside of the shelves extends the theme for anyone who's in the tub. Add another tropical touch by using radiator-grill panels on the walls and as shutters to provide privacy without sacrificing light. Coordinated accessories -- a table, glass canisters -- plus items in a contrasting sunny citrus enhance the balmy mood.

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True Blues

Credit: SIMON WATSON

By picking blues that are more neutral than primary, you can get away with a lot -- in this case, seven patterns and an eclectic grouping of furnishings and accessories in one living room. The space oozes comfort because the blues have undertones of gray or beige that allow the patterns to happily mingle. And they make it easy to add playful pieces such as an exuberant Victorian mirror framed in steel blue. Using patterns of different scale also helps hues coexist. A custom carpet, made of square rug tiles cut on the diagonal and arranged randomly, reads like an abstracted quilt. Its bold shapes add interest without overpowering the room's other prints.

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Paint a Room

In theory, we all know how to paint a room. Dip a brush or roller in a color and spread it over the wall. But painting neatly and efficiently is a skill most of us could brush up on. We have a basic guide to the essential tips and techniques to get the job done.Learn How to Paint a Room

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Using Ombre

The gentle progression of color in ombre suggests the transition from wakefulness to slumber, especially in soothing shades of blue. The headboard slipcover and matching pillowcases are shrouded in sky-blue linen that's dyed a deeper, sea-inspired tone, embodying the spare beauty of a monochromatic palette.

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Blue Wedgwood Tins

Tin containers have been manufactured in a very cool color of Wedgwood jasperware. For display on a neoclassic sideboard, we've chosen grays, blues, and greens. Symmetrically arranged with eighteenth-century formality, stacks of the circular "Wedgwood" tins can be used for storage. On the wall, a row of lids is displayed like a collection of antique plates or prints.

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Blue Wall

Suspended from wooden pegs tipped with 1940s tin tiebacks is a bevy of covered tin pails from the 1950s and '60s, some lithographed with scenes or birds, a la hand-painted Continental porcelains, others with bouquets or all-over prints.

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Space-Saving Bookcases

In a rustic family room, built-in bookcases hold art books, children's books, and novels -- a whole family's worth of interests. To maximize storage, a 4-inch-high, 5-inch-deep wooden step was built; the shelf holds two rows of books, and all are visible. The tilted top shelves display covers; the molding lip supporting the books matches molding on the middle shelf. The inside of shelves can be boldly painted or wallpapered; only a fraction of color is seen. Ours are lined in colonial-blue book cloth, found in bookbinding supply stores.

Get the look with Martha Stewart Living Paint Color in Twilight (bookshelves) and Cobblestone (walls) at the Home Depot. 

Order a Tester of Twilight

Order a Tester of Cobblestone

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Sage-and-Blue Bedroom

It's easier than you think to conjure a refreshingly imaginative bedroom. By selecting hues that not only make you smile but also enhance the mood and setting of the rest of your house, you can design a bedroom that is tranquil yet still has plenty of panache.

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Curtain Divide

Bring the translucent waters of some tropic island into your living room. This curtain divider not only provides functionality to limited space, but also is serene and calming like that from which it draws inspiration.

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Painted Pots

Whether you live on the West Coast, East Coast, or miles away from the ocean, bring all the colors of the water right to your backyard. Potted plants look even nicer in containers with hues of sea blue.

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Gingham Footstool Cover

We dressed this ottoman in two blue ginghams: large and small check. The tailored slipcover, with piping around the top and an ever-so-slightly flared skirt, gains a little whimsy from ball fringe inserted between the fabrics.

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Pop of Color

Credit: Sang An

The key to enlivening a neutral room is to brighten it with several shades of the same color. In a mostly pale room, a plaid blanket makes a strong statement. The chandelier, the wall-mounted bedside tables, and the cushion on the dog bed reiterate the blanket's several shades of blue. Orange poppies add a vivid, albeit temporary, secondary color.

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Tips for Decorating with Blue

1. A sedate fabric headboard is easily dressed up by attaching a wide edging of cotton-linen tape trim with fabric glue. 2. There's no need to buy a whole new set of linens to vary the vibe in a bedroom. A few deep-colored items, such as pillowcases and accent pillows, provide a soft foil to crisp white sheets and a coverlet. 3. To amplify a side table, slip a patterned wallpaper under glass. This project works best with tray tables or furniture with a raised perimeter or lip. 4. When embellished with a tape trim that coordinates with the headboard, a bed skirt acquires a finished, inviting look.

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Blue Floors

This homeowner stuck to subdued hues throughout the house -- her only exception was the kitchen.

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Linen Cabinet

Linens are tucked away in an antique cabinet, with glass doors that were painted the same blue as the doors in the house.

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Subdued Blue

This velvet settee between two rooms is where this family kicks back while Mom cooks. The Binth "Cuddle" pillows are designed to appeal to both children and adults. 

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Pale Robin's-Egg Walls

A lichen-colored sofa is paired with pale robin's-egg-blue walls for a calming color combination.

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Blue Wash

A bright wall hanging provides a burst of color on pale walls.

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Blue Entry

The second-floor landing of this home features a large baroque cabinet from Sweden, which retains its original paint. 

Get the look with Martha Stewart Living Paint Color in Love-in-a-Mist at the Home Depot. 

Order a Tester of Love-in-a-Mist

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Patterned Blue

A graphic damask fabric was used for the floor-to-ceiling curtains in this living area. The rug is by British designer Neisha Crosland, and the slipper chairs are antiques.

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Sky-Blue Dreams

This guest bedroom, which overlooks Central Park, is covered in a charming butterfly-and-bird-patterned wallpaper. The coverlet matches the pale-blue ceiling, and the bed skirt was copied from a decorative template published in the September 2008 issue of Martha Stewart Living.

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Stamped Stairs

Add an element of surprise to a staircase with a painted pattern.

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Wallpaper Headboard

Credit: William Abranowicz

Buy all the fancy linens you want, but nothing completes your boudoir like a headboard. The store-bought kind can be expensive and bulky, so try this shortcut.

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Ocean Take

A pair of clamshell pendants started out as table lamps, but wires were snaked through the bases and the pendants were hung upside-down. The paint in this living room was also customized, adding a water-based polyurethane top coat to get a mirrorlike finish that reflects the ocean. 

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Polka Dots

Credit: William Abranowicz

Go beyond the basics with colored accents. Try strips of playful dots made from painted upholstery tacks on pantry shelves and drippy Jackson Pollock-esque curtains.

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Signature Sofa

When designing around a signature item, such as this sofa, let color unify the look. Use a hue that is similar but a few shades lighter or darker than the color on the walls.

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Coordinated Accessories

To create a varied yet coordinated look in a sunroom, upholster cushions in a striped fabric, and then cut sections from the same cloth and sew them onto white pillows. A pleated taffeta lampshade echoes the pattern.

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Bold Combination

Repeating two bright colors unifies the varied look of this bed, and the bedroom overall.

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10 Ways

You don't need museum-worthy pieces to create an arresting composition when you place them on a wall painted a powerful color.

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