With Halloween right around the corner I just had to grab the opportunity to give some love to one of my favorite hues: pumpkin orange. The key to working with this intense color is to use it for those items or areas in your home that you wish to call attention to. Then be sure to select coordinating colors wisely.
Coordinating colors similar to orange — shades of brown, red or yellow — will make your palette colorful yet harmonious. Shades of blue (the complement, opposite of orange on the color wheel) will create a dynamic, high-energy vibe. The more color shy among you might want to pair this intense orange solely with neutrals.
You can use it to warm up a predominantly white or gray modern interior, to keep the space from feeling too stark. Or you can use it to add some vibrancy to a traditional space that’s perhaps heavy on dark neutrals or deep wood tones. I’ve gathered nine examples that illustrate just how gorgeous and versatile this hue can be in a home, along with six of my favorite pumpkin-inspired paint colors.
1. Accent Wall
Sure, they’re an obvious way to use a bold color in a room, but I remain a loyal fan of accent walls. An eye-popping color such as this on all four walls could feel overwhelming, especially if the room lacks plenty of natural light. I therefore tend to advise homeowners to use it on just one or two walls. Or on the ceiling.
Get a similar look with Pumpkin Patch from Behr.
2. Kitchen Backsplash
I like to use neutral hues for items that I don’t want to change out for many, many years, such as flooring and kitchen countertops and cabinets. However, it does not have to take a huge amount of work or a big expense to update a backsplash down the road should you grow tired of the color, especially if your backsplash area is rather small. So why not go for a bold orange color? When paired with white and rich woods, as in the example shown here, it creates a look that is clean and modern, yet warm and inviting.
Get a similar look with Pumpkin from Valspar.
3. Accent Stripe
A little pumpkin orange goes a long way, so if a full accent wall is too much color for you, think about using a mere stripe of the color. This is a cool look for a kid’s or teen’s room. And because it’s such a small amount of color, you could even let the child pick out the particular hue.
Get a similar look with Pumpkin Pie from Benjamin Moore.
4. Furniture
If you favor walls, ceilings and floors in neutral hues, think about adding a fun orange color in your furnishings. Furniture can get expensive, so you should make sure you love this color and want to keep it around for a while, but the nice thing about using furniture or decorative accessories for a jolt of color in a room is that they are fairly easy to update.
5. Lighting
One of my favorite, and more unexpected, ways to bring bold color into a room is through light fixtures. Lighting now comes in all sizes, shapes and colors, and I love making a bold-hued ceiling fixture the centerpiece of a room. It draws the eye upward and can make the space appear larger.
6. Cabinet Interior
Give your prized possessions the attention they deserve by painting the back or interior of your shelving or display cabinet a feisty shade of orange. You can also add a splash of color to the inside of a built-in niche. Pick up the color in small bits throughout the room to help move the eye around the space.
See more ideas for colorful cabinet interiors
7. Nondecorative Accessories
Consider a fun color for even the most utilitarian items in a room. I love the choice of orange for the storage boxes and binders here. It gives the office a happy, fun vibe.
8. Outdoor Wall
Take bold orange outside with an exterior accent wall. This is a terrific color for outdoor spaces in a cold or rainy climate, because it can provide a warm glow during the chilly fall evenings.
9. Front Door
No matter the style of your home, you can’t go wrong with a pumpkin-orange front door. But if you opt for this hue for the door, I recommend sticking with more neutral colors for the siding and trim, unless your home is minimalist and contemporary in style. This is because the more clean and simple the lines of the home, the easier it is to pull off a bold color palette without the whole thing’s appearing too busy.
Check out more tips about painting your front door orange
This article was originally published on Houzz.com
