The Secret For Getting Cohesive Room Colors

Dear Laurel,

Please forgive me. While I’m grateful to have these beautiful palettes you’ve shared for the downstairs living spaces and then upstairs bedrooms, I’m still at a loss on how to put it all together.

 

I mean, how do you create cohesive room colors and furnishings that flow from room to room?

 

We’re purchasing our first home and can’t afford to hire someone. But, I really feel out of my element here and don’t want to make a lot of expensive mistakes.

Jen Eric-Reeder

 

Hi Guys. This letter from Jen Eric Rieder is not one specific comment or email, but one topic that’s been coming up, a lot recently which is creating cohesive room colors; along with furnishings– AND, not having the foggiest idea of how to begin.

I look at the work of the masters of design for inspiration.

This is why I adore sharing the work of those who’ve inspired me all throughout my career. However, some of my favorite designers aren’t professionals. Although, they certainly could be.

One, such talent, I’ve written about her and shared her glorious Instagram account dozens of times, the last seven years. Yes, it’s time to revisit Maura Endres, or M.O. Endres on Instagram.

 

I first “met” Maura while in Italy. However, I believe she contacted me on Instagram after finding my pics.

She had just been there and was sharing her favorite spots around Venice. Our first and only face-to-face meeting was in New York City, in 2018. We attended a luncheon, and heard the fabulous Charlotte Moss being interviewed.

When Charlotte Moss is speaking, it’s a luncheon, never lunch. ;] Some people have so much presence, they seem larger than life. Charlotte is amongst them.

 

There’s a photo of Maura and me at the event, here.post.

I looked like holy crap that day; wasn’t feeling so hot.

I was having issues with an autonomic nervous system disorder I have. You can read about that here, if interested. I’m much better now as my medication to help control the symptoms of light-headedness, and all that goes with it was adjusted after this.

The first time I wrote about Maura, six years ago, about Why Does My Decorating Look So Awful? It wasn’t Maura with the substandard decorating. She’s always a fantastic example to follow.

 

Maura’s incredibly gorgeous instagram page should be required reading for anyone who’s in the business of interior design and is seeking to create timeless, classic interiors.

One can look at her home from ten years ago, or today, and while there are some changes,

I don’t see her posts as often as I used to because I spend most of my time on Instagram stalking dancers– both ballet and ballroom, too!

 

I’ve always loved the international Latin style of ballroom dance.

 

My favorite dancers are the young teen-agers. Ballroom dance is a sport and super popular in Russian Those kids are incredibly dedicated and talented.

If interested, please check out this young lady from Moscow who just turned 15. Yes, I know, she looks 25 in some of the videos. The video I linked to is Liza Aibova dancing with a new partner.  He’s 14. Yes, 14. These kids practice several hours a day, and also study ballet, pilates, and do other conditioning exercises with private coaches.

As you can imagine, beautiful Liza also does a lot of modeling and never wears the same gorgeous dress twice in her competitions. I’m not sure when these kids go to school.

 

Okay, let’s listen to a beautiful rumba melody by the legendary Jose Feliciano, and then we’ll return to Maura and her beautiful, cohesive paint colors and furnishings.

 

YouTube video
 

I hope you enjoyed that.

 

Maura’s home demonstrates every element I harp on talk about that demonstrates perfectly how to get the color flow between spaces exactly right.

 

You will also find she decorates with a unified palette, but it’s never boring. She punctuates every area with accents of black, gold, white, and silver. Plus, she uses lots of neutrals.

One thing I especially adore about Maura’s home is that it doesn’t have high ceilings, and it wasn’t built a hundred years ago. Here’s the proof that great bones and a warm gracious home don’t have to have soaring ceilings. In fact, some homes today are so cavernous, it’s far more difficult to create that cozy charm.

 

Maura has achieved something extraordinary through a unified and exquisite palette of colors, perfection of scale, and the most stylish details possible.

She finds her furnishings at flea markets, vintage stores, and the like. Not all, of course, but, a lot of it. Some of it, is inherited.

Plus, she happens to have super-talented children; One who’s created much of the art on that jaw-dropping art wall. Ahhh… remember when I deconstructed that one? You can see it here.

 

I know that some of you, desperately want me to do this post, only you want it for a home with an open-concept floor plan.

 

There have been many posts written about how to fix open floor plans. In fact, we were just talking about it.

So, what I feel quite strongly about, is that it’s fine for a home to be open, as long as there is some separation created in strategic spots. You can read more about some ways to go about that here.

 

Now, I will attempt to deconstruct what Maura has done.  She makes it all look so easy and effortless.

 

First, she has created a backdrop of neutral colors in her wall colors and finishes.

 

I don’t know all of the colors, and quite frankly, the exact colors are of little consequence.

Please let me repeat that.

 

THE EXACT COLORS ARE OF LITTLE CONSEQUENCE.

 

As a matter of fact, you can see for yourself how much they change in images of the same spot, but in different lighting situations.

The living room and kitchen are off-white and dark gray. That’s it. The little library appendage always looks green to me, but Maura says that it’s Pratt and Lambert Tobacco 2248, which is a warm, gray-brown, but there must be some green lurking there somewhere. I suspect that little room is north-facing.

 

Pratt & Lambert Tobacco

 

benjamin moore dash of pepper 1554

 

I could not find an exact match in Benjamin Moore, but it is very close to Dash of Pepper 1554. Dash is just a shade lighter, as you can see.

 

benjamin moore bear creek 1470

 

Maura said that the dark gray kitchen cabinets are Benjamin Moore Bear Creek. Yes, that I can see based on the image below. Bear Creek is a very sophisticated, warm, gray-brown with a hint of green. It looks phenomenal against Maura’s pretty collection of dishes.

 

Maura Endres fabulous kitchen dark gray cabinet with china - Benjamin Moore Bear Creek - Cohesive Room Colors and furnishings
Those colors are very close to each other, and Bear Creek looks right. But, I’m still having trouble seeing Tobacco for the little library.

 

Maura Endres library alcove in fall - Pratt and Lambert Tobacco -  Cohesive Room Colors and furnishings

However, I came across another image of an office painted Bear Creek, and it also looked green.

Benjamin Moore City Shadow CSP-60

In most photos it looks closer to Benjamin Moore City Shadow CSP-60 to me. However, I am willing to believe that it is actually what Maura says it is. This was one reason why I stopped doing paint consultations via the internet. It’s a bloody nightmare!

 

The lesson here is to get samples of the color you SEE and like, not necessarily what it is.

 

Samplize Removable Paint Samples

Of course, please test, test, test. I recommend that you use the wonderful Samplize easily movable and removable paint samples. (you can order through that link) It’s a brilliant idea as they use two coats of real paint on their samples. However, there’s no messy paint to clean up and no patches of paint on the wall, either. You can get all of the Benjamin Moore and Farrow and Ball colors, too!

 

Benjamin Moore linen white

The living room walls look like they might be Benjamin Moore Linen White.

 

 Cohesive Room Colors and furnishings - Maura Endres living room
This is an older image of this vignette.

Nothing stays the same very long in Maura’s home.

 

Maura Endres living room vignette - @m.o.endres on instagram -  Cohesive Room Colors and furnishings

This is so difficult. I love it both ways!

 

Benjamin Moore Herb Garden

In an adjacent room, that appears to be a den, the wall color is painted a brighter green similar to one of the 144 Laurel Home Collection colors, Benjamin Moore Herb Garden, perhaps.

 

Maura Endres @m.o.endres on instagram - color balance -  Cohesive Room Colors and furnishings

 

The upholstered pieces are all in pale beige and cream tones. In addition, each piece is beautifully scaled. Read about my disdain for puffy, bloated furniture here.

 

@m.o.endres on instagram - beautiful styling - art wall - Cohesive Room Colors and furnishings

 

Blues, Greens and touches of coral and red, art, and lots and lots of books.

I also love that each of the pillows is different, but coordinated.

 

@m.o.endres on instagram

 

I don’t know what Maura’s background is, but her talent for styling is extraordinary.

 

And that silver-footed gallery tray– with canted corners! I have tried to find another like it, and well, there isn’t one. Like her gorgeous red cachepot, (you can see it here) this is the last silver gallery tray of its kind in the entire world. ;] However, all kidding aside, what stands out for me, more than any kind of formulaic flow of colors is a passion for creating these incredibly beautiful vignettes.

 

Maura Endres @m.o.endres on Instagram beautiful collection vintage Chinoiserie boxes -  Cohesive Room Colors and furnishings

Maura does stylish vignettes the way the rest of us merely breathe. Or, at least that’s how it appears. There are 100s of these incredible vignettes scattered throughout her Insta account.

 

Maura Endres vignette with blue and white chinoiserie -  Cohesive Room Colors and furnishings.

 

The blue and green colors all come together in the dining room, which features this stunning hand-painted mural.

 

Total show-stopper and a good reason to never move. Notice that the mirror has migrated to the new vignette and there’s a new mirror to take its place. (you’ll have to go her instagram to see that one. It’s gorgeous too!)

 

Classic Maura Endres vignette - blue and white Chinoiserie porcelains Rococo mirror -  Cohesive Room Colors and furnishings

Above, a newer iteration of the same vignette.

However, if you can’t afford a hand-painted mural, this post has several good sources for relatively inexpensive, scenic wallpaper murals.

But, if you also love Chinoiserie murals, please check out this sister post.

 

Maura’s palette is simple, but also versatile.

 

It looks great in every season and with everything she brings into her lovely, warm family home.

Now, your home and color preferences might be inherently different. But, many of the same principles will hold true.

Room flow - analogous blue and green - art walls Maura Endres - @m.o.endres on instagram -  Cohesive Room Colors and furnishings

Above, is another place where we can see the cohesive room colors coming into play.

 

Elegant decorating by Maura Endres -  Cohesive Room Colors and furnishings

For more ideas, colors, palettes and palette families that can mix and match, if you don’t already have one, please consider purchasing the nearly 500-page Laurel Home Essential Paint/Palette Collection with 40 home furnishing boards with dozens of different pieces of furniture, rugs, art, lighting.

If you start here, there are links that will take you first to part I, the paint collection, and part II the paint palettes. But, they are sold together. The reason that there is a part I and a part II is because I couldn’t do it all in one never-ending gulp.

 

And now, for what I hope is a special treat. I have done my best to channel Maura’s beautiful style and created a widget filled with home furnishings, some old, some new– many of which are on sale!

 

 

And for more cool furnishings, please check out the hot sales page. There are dozens of beautiful new items this week and all are on sale.

 

Cohesive decorating and colors @m.o.endres on Instagram -  Cohesive Room Colors and furnishings

 

Thank you again Maura, for showing us how to decorate between rooms using cohesive paint colors and beautiful, classic furnishings.

 

Please follow Maura on Instagram!

xo,

PS: Thanks to so many of you for your fantastic comments and suggestions regarding my kitchen and its never-ending design possibilities. haha I won’t be doing another post about it right now, but I should have an update for you on Tuesday.

PPS: In addition to the HOT SALES, Melissa and I have just updated our favorite home furnishings. These are items I believe will stand the test of time. So, please check out our favorite home furnishings here.

 

16 Responses

  1. Wish I could send photos of my newly remodeled/redecorated French Normandy home. I re wallpapered EVERY room in my fav soft teals, pinks and whites, Swapped out the dingy backsplash with handcrafted teal mermaid tail tiles that are beautiful with my swirled brown granite, wraparound almond cabinets with pink/gold/ivory Etsy ceramic pulls. Blush velvet stools, chairs and oversized floral teal Anthro sofa in my large kitchen. I have ordered a gorgeous epoxied oval table done in teals, light real oak, tinges of cream and pink a la a sunset reflection. The quarter round island is topped with distressed walnut, two embossed front sinks at either end : main cooking area and a butler’s area. I tucked jeweled trinkets around for the children to find, placed Makenzie reindeer in every room, antiques mix with traditional and modern elements, I drape lace and velvet over shades and chairs, change pillows and quilts when the mood strikes. I get raves and entertain a lot now.

  2. What a beautiful post, Laurel! A feast for the eyes! I’ve been following Maura on Instagram since you first mentioned her here. Her lovely home is such an inspiration. I love to see homes so warm and full of personality – hers is all this plus impeccable style. Thank you!

  3. Yours is my favorite blog, Laurel! I have all your resources, follow you religiously, and have learned so much. Thank you! Just an FYI (and you may already know this), in shopping for a new light fixture for my small entry, I was told that in August the regular incandescent chandelier bulbs will no longer be sold. They will be the LEDs that look like the awful “Edison” bulbs with those horrid yellow filaments. This is affecting my decision about the new light fixture as I do not want to see those bulbs. And, because I have some both interior and exterior fixtures with chandelier bulbs, I’m purchasing all the old ones I can find to hoard.

  4. A little disappointed. While nice examples of pulled together rooms doesn’t really answer the question. How do you put together a cohesive look, flowing from room to room.

  5. Dear Laurel, Flattered as ever to be mentioned here on your blog. I popped onto IG and noticed a spike in my numbers and had a feeling it may have come from one of your posts! It’s no wonder why so many design conscious people turn to you for guidance! Thank you Laurel! Hope the new followers find inspiration at @m.o.endres xoxo

  6. Good morning Laurel. Thank you! Thank you for allowing us to live vicariously through your kitchen. It is truely better than any Tv show could ever want to be. I follow numerous IG, FB, blogs, and yours is the only one I look forward to with excitement. Thank you for sharing other wonderful accounts to keep me occupied on the other five days of the week. Thank you for Jose Faleciano. Its probably been decades since Ive heard him. Added to my playlist and another beautiful decorating layer, sound.

  7. That galleried tray you love; the old Bombay Company once carried canted corner, galleried trays, I believe they were made in India. Some were Victorian, some Georgian and some had an Anglo-Indian vibe. I got a large one and it lives under a highboy, against the wall, acting as a backing for an antique clock (NYC, you use whatever space you have…) Try instituting a search on E-Bay.

    1. Hi Walter,

      Thanks so much. I will look out for those. I have a tray with canted corners from India. They put the bottom of the tray on upside down. haha. Isn’t that hilarious?

  8. I can’t get enough of Maura’s beautiful home! I have taken so much inspiration from her photos. I so wish she would do a book, so I can drool even more. I am also the proud owner of one of Elizabeth’s paintings. Now, I’m going back to check your widgets.

  9. Maura’s home is beautiful, no doubt. She has a keen sense of style. I bet the way she dresses is reflected in her style also. A personal style is something that takes time to acquire. I’m sure it took time to acquire all the beautiful things in her home. But when you select things & colors that reflect your style, it will always flow & work together.
    I realize that today’s post is to help folks that need help getting started. I think knowing your self & what you like or what you’re drawn to is a great place to start.

  10. Hi Laurel,

    I love Maura’s house! The kitchen, the library, the mural, her daughter’s gorgeous paintings, ALL of it! She has a charming “she shed”, too.

    The widgets are perfect as always.

    XOXO

  11. Love the music. Have you heard/seen Jesse Cook? Great classical guitar. His concerts are entertaining and fun to go to. Comes to Boston often!!!

  12. I love most of the things in your widget, Laurel — but no shopping off it from the depths of rural France! What I find most interesting is to examine the photos of ME’s house and see how she re-uses various items to create different vignettes and different looks in the same room, without actually changing the big items. It’s not only beautiful, it’s also economical. But it does look as though there’s some considerable furniture moving being done — or does she have three sofas?
    It’s also essential to look carefully at how each view is curated so as to bring out the best of everything: look at the first picture and see how everything is placed to get the balance right — are we admiring the paint colour or the thing as a whole? Try changing the paint colour in your head — a deep blue would work here too, I think, although then the leaves on the branches might have to be more orange/red (not sure about that, it’s because I think the traditional Gien pattern would look great here). There are always multiple options.

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