Are You Feeling the Blues in Home Décor?

If you follow popular home renovation and design shows on TV you might be noticing that the blues aren’t a bad thing, at least when it comes to home décor. Let’s talk about the color and easy, inexpensive ways you can incorporate this classic color into your house – whether it’s old or new.

On Trend – Having the Blues in Home Decor

Blue is the color of both sky and sea. A constant. Timeless, extending into infinity, it’s often the primary color chosen by brands that want to inspire trust. The color actually promotes real feelings of calm, security and serenity in human beings:

Leatrice Eiseman, writing in Pantone’s Guide to Communicating with Color, asserts that “In the presence of a blue environment, we feel calm… there is some evidence that when blue enters our line of vision, the brain sends out chemical signals that work as a tranquilizer.”

Small wonder then that human beings would want blues to play dominant roles in the spaces where they live and work. We’ve noticed a trend lately in popular home decor and remodeling shows away from what can be somewhat sterile white and gray farmhouse neutrals to include strong-but-muted blues in everything from cabinetry to flooring and accessories. Here are a few examples:

Blue Kitchen Islands, Cabinets and Backdrops

When gold became the popular hardware finish a year or so ago it might have been inevitable for blues to start popping into kitchens and bathrooms. It’s a perfect backdrop for bright and muted gold and brass hardware in nearly any hue.

blue-kitchens-trends

Blue Bathrooms

Since blues range in hues from midnight blue skies to aqua oceans, it can play any role that you want it to in the bathroom from playful to energetic or serene. It’s a great way to anchor cabinets in a dark color without using the espresso and dark cherry wood tones that were popular with new home buyers a few years ago, and without resorting to black or gray.

color trends blue bathrooms

Blue Front Doors and Foyers

Blue is a classic. It’s an ideal way to introduce color into what might otherwise feel like an overly sanitized white palette. It also evokes feelings of specific places – which is one of the reasons that white and light or mid-toned hues almost always make us think of the word “beachy.” We especially liked the use of blue hexagon floor tiles – they are practically “art” in this photo.

blue front doors blue foyers

Blue Bedrooms

If there is one room in the house you want to be tranquil and serene, it’s the place where you retreat and sleep! You can surround yourself with blues as HGTV did in their 2019 Urban Oasis master bedroom (top right) or use blues to create a feature wall that tones down otherwise light surroundings to promote rest and relaxation.

Are you feeling the blues yet? Here are four inexpensive ways to incorporate blues throughout your home’s décor.

1. Experiment before you commit.

Nearly every DIY’er experiences a paint color choice disaster at one point or another. Buying some small samples and trying them out on your walls or cabinets ahead of time, in your space, with your home’s natural and artificial light, will make it easier for you to get your blue paint color choice right the first time.

2. Use statement pieces on a neutral palette.

Changing your home’s color palette with every new trend would leave you exhausted and broke! Plus, if you’re renting, changing walls and cabinetry might not even be an option. Keep your overall palette of walls and floors neutral and use statement pieces such as side chairs, headboards, area rugs and similar furnishings to bring out the color mood you want to arouse.

3. Make an art of it.

With nothing more than a can of paint or a few panels of a favorite blue wallpaper, you can create your own oversize art piece. With this approach you can give the illusion of a feature wall without all the work and expense that goes along with doing it!

4. Put your pops in the right place.

When you introduce energetic, color-rich blues into a neutral palette they naturally take over in attracting all the attention and getting all the glory. Plus, these are easy and inexpensive to change when your next favorite color trend comes along.

tips for using blue color trends in home decor