The Secret to a Beautiful Interior Color Palette (That No One Talks About)

Hi Everyone,

Today, I want to share something I’ve never really said out loud before — even though it’s been an integral piece of my work for decades. Ever since I was in design school, I’ve found that it’s a simple formula for creating a beautiful interior color palette.
And no, it’s not “pick your wall color first.” In fact, that’s one of the biggest mistakes you can make.

 

Step One: Respect the Fixed Elements

 

Every room has something that can’t change; at least not easily. These are the fixed elements: tile, stone, cabinetry, stained glass, flooring, or even the view.
Take this Boston apartment on Garrison Street. (Oh my! It JUST sold after sitting on the market for nearly a year. Alas, it the sale price was down $460,000 from the original asking price!)

The architecture is gorgeous, but what stands out most are the stained glass windows. There are pinks, reds, and greens.

 

Step Two: Choose a Lead Color

 

Every successful room has a lead color. It’s the one that makes up at least 50% of the palette. Sometimes it’s white, sometimes it’s blue, beige, or even black.
Steven Gambrel, one of my favorite designers, is famous for his use of blue. Sometimes bold, sometimes subdued, but always layered with variation.
The lead color doesn’t have to scream. It can whisper. But it needs to be present in multiple shades, tones, and textures.

 

Step Three: Build Complexity With More Colors

 

Here’s the part no one talks about: a beautiful palette isn’t made up of just two or three colors.
It’s made of many colors. In my Laurel Home Paint & Palette Collection, I give you 12. But you could easily use 20 or 30, as long as they harmonize.
That doesn’t mean chaos. It means depth. Look at any great designer’s work and you’ll find:

• The lead color in multiple tones.
• At least one secondary color.
• Repetition of accents (wood tones, metals, fabrics, art).

 

As Barbara Barry says, “Complexity is what makes rooms rich.”

 

In addition, if the room is more than 50% midtone, it’s most likely going to fall flat.

 

That is the problem with the Garrison Street interiors. They are too one-note. The architecture is complex, and the furnishings are a big snooze fest.

 

Laurel, if you were putting this place on the market and didn’t want to do a full renovation first, what would you do?

 

That is the best question. Thank you! ;]

Look, someone decided to put this place on the market, most likely with rented furniture, and it was actually listed originally for over $460,000 more than the sale price. While I think that price is too high, I do believe they could’ve gotten maybe $200,000 more and a far quicker sale, too.

In other words, if they had invested, say, $30,000 to $50,000, they could’ve received a handsome return on their investment. Then, they could’ve taken the furniture, sold it to the new owners or someone else, or given it to charity. I realize that sounds like a lot of money to put into a place just to sell it. However, homes that show well sell faster and for more money.

 

As for what I would do, you can never go wrong with lots and lots of white, with some black accents, and deep, rich wood tones.

 

Add more accents of gold or brass, along with some blue and white Chinoiserie lamps or vases. And, finally, some beautiful art prints in antique gold frames. Of course, some beautiful throw pillows would be a great addition.

The walls, I would paint a creamy white such as Cotton Balls, Cloud White, White Dove, Simply White, or Moonlight White.

I would’ve had the floors redone in a rich, darker walnut with a healthy sheen.

For upholstered pieces, I would use mostly white furniture, slipcovered or not.

Remember this room we looked at recently?

 

 

Over the years, in addition to doing work for my clients and myself, I’ve studied with ferocious intensity the work of numerous exceptionally talented interior designers.

In this post from late last fall, I touched on one of the guiding principles that can’t be stressed enough.

 

It’s about the avoidance of making everything too matchy.

However, what I’m about to say goes beyond that.

 

It’s the secret that no one talks about.

 

Are you ready?

 

A Case Study: Steve Cordony’s Gorgeous White-on-White Living Room

 

 

Consider Steve Cordony’s living room at Rosedale Farm. At first glance, it seems colorless — just whites and beiges.

 

 

But look closer:

 

 

 

* Walls, trim, and ceiling are all white, but each is slightly different.
* Upholstery goes from crisp white to pale linen.
* Curtains, lampshades, books, and even blooming branches are all shades of white.

 

That’s at least a dozen variations of “white,” each adding texture and depth.

 

The secondary color is brown. It goes from a mid-tone natural fiber rug to dark mahogany accents. And finally, various shades of green from pillows and florals, with touches of gold and black.

 

And if you’d like to see a more in-depth look at Steve’s gorgeous work, please check out this post.

Please also follow Steve Cordony on Instagram. 

I first discovered Steve because he was the stylist for Ralph Lauren’s Palazzo RL in Milan, Italy. This is one of the most magnificent interiors I’ve ever seen. Please check it out here.

 

via @house.blanche – instagram – via @ralphlaurenhome – furniture and color balance Palazzo Ralph Lauren Milano. Styling by Steve Cordony.

 

In fact, I could see this look at 8 Garrison. They wouldn’t have to do the green velvet drapes. But, they could do pretty much everything else, or a modified version.

 

When It Goes (a bit) Wrong.

 

 

Recently, Steve (or maybe one of his assistants) swapped his green accents for blue pillows. He also added a pink and greige Oriental rug.

 

 

Is that dude in the portrait giving the side eye? This isn’t up to Steve’s typical stratosphere level of decorating.

 

 

While still beautiful, these elements don’t relate to the rest of the house (which leans heavily into green). And they don’t relate to anything else in the room except for the Ralph Lauren Foo Dog Chinoiserie lamps and a vase. The room lost some of its cohesion and a lot of its warmth.

 

 

Yes, just from switching out the throw pillows!

I also think his room could handle the fabulous over-scale Blythe Table Lamp.  You can get it at One King’s Lane, and if you put in 20OFF, you can get 20% off. But, this baby is nearly 37″ tall. You will need at least a 12′ ceiling. No worries. There is a more petite version, the Medium Blythe Table lamp, which is 28″ tall and also a lot less money.

 

Okay, I couldn’t help myself — I reimagined the space with an antique Heriz rug, a Chinoiserie screen, and pillows that tied the palette back together.

 

 

Below is a mini widget with everything I selected. Please click on any image for more information.

 

 

 

The difference is subtle but powerful: the colors connect, and the room feels whole again. Of course, you might disagree, but I prefer the complexity of many variations of the same color family. It’s like an orchestra of color.

This is also the promise of the Laurel Home Paint, Palette and Home Furnishings Guide which you can read about here.

 

BTW, the updated Paint Guide is coming out by the end of this month. All owners get free lifetime updates!

 

Below is a side-by-side comparison of both spaces.

 

 

The Loose Formula

 

So here’s the formula I want you to take away or bookmark!

 

1. Lead Color — the dominant shade (at least 50%), and multiple variations of this tone.
2. Secondary Color — another tone repeated throughout with multiple variations.
3. Third Color (or more!) — accents that tie the palette together.
4. Repetition + Variation — the lead color shows up in multiple tones, textures, and places.
5. Complexity > Simplicity — the more (well-chosen) colors you layer, the richer the result.

 

In Closing

 

Picking a color palette isn’t about matching everything or starting with paint chips. It’s about looking at what’s fixed, choosing a lead, and then building a family of colors that are more like siblings and cousins, not four sets of identical twins.
Do this, and your rooms will never feel flat or “one-note.”

And now you know why I wasn’t enamored with the blue wall paint at 8 Garrison, the disjointed color scheme, and the bland furnishings that related to nothing.

xo,

 

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