I recently published a post on Spring decorating ideas that got me thinking about how much I enjoy working with a neutral color pallet. I love the flexibility it affords me in my decor and how easy it is to change up the look of my home each season with a minimum of effort. So I decided that a deeper dive on its benefits was in order.
Does the mention of a neutral color pallet bring images of all white rooms to mind? Yawn. I grew up in a house with all white walls. I always thought it looked rather cold, kind of boring, and uninspired. I can remember my mother scrubbing walls to remove fingerprints and scuff marks. White is not easy to keep pristine and beautiful, especially if you have kids or pets.
Later when my husband and I married every rental we lived in had white painted walls and it left me aching for some color. When we purchased our first home I was finally able to add the color I craved.
Back then I didn’t really know what I was doing and I fell into the trap of reproducing all the latest fads in my home. I didn’t realize how quickly I would tire of a certain look. I didn’t understand the concepts of flow, color theory, or the difference between colors with warm undertones vs. cool undertones. All I knew was that something was off, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what exactly it was that wasn’t working.
So as you can probably imagine, I made a lot of design mistakes over the years. I had my tropical phase, a nautical phase, and then there was the country phase…sigh. Have you had similar experiences with your decor?
Through trial and error I finally started to gain a better understanding of design and color theory. I gradually began moving towards a more neutral color pallet.
I’ve learned a lot about interior design over the years through a lot of mistakes. I can definitely say I know what doesn’t work. But because I love to experiment, I am always learning and slowly getting better and better with interior design concepts and what does work.
I can recognize when I get something right and figure out when something doesn’t work and why it isn’t working. That’s often the hardest part; being able to figure out why something isn’t working so you can fix it.
So if you think you can’t learn how to decorate your own home beautifully, I am here to tell you that you can do it. With a little practice you can do it confidently and obtain beautiful results. Plus you can have fun doing it as well! Anyone can do it if you are willing to give it a try and learn some of the fundamental concepts of interior decorating.
All white rooms are having a revival and many of the rooms you see on Instagram and Pinterest are actually quite beautiful when white on white on white is done correctly.
But using a neutral color pallet doesn’t mean you have to use all white everywhere.
A neutral color pallet can also be varied tones of grey or beiges, oatmeal, tan, cognac, chestnut, and various shades of brown. Using lighter tones of beige with rich chocolate browns and cognac makes for an anything but boring interior. Using various neutral tones creates a rich, multi-dimensional, interesting color pallet.
I strongly encourage you to consider using a neutral color pallet when you are deciding on the overall color scheme for your home. Stick to neutral colors for your walls and large furniture items. These are things that are either very costly to replace or require a lot of effort to change.
Winter 
Spring 
Summer
Yes paint is fairly inexpensive to change up, but I would much rather spend my time decorating seasonally with fun accents than painting a room. Trust me, I’ve done my fair share of painting over the years…ugh.
Decorating seasonally? FUN!
Painting an entire room? NOT FUN!
If you are trying to decide on paint colors for your home, you might want to check out the post I wrote about how we chose the colors we currently have in our home. I provide some very useful tips that will help you in picking just the right colors for your home.
The neutral colors we chose give me infinite flexibility to add seasonal bright pops of color with a minimum of effort or expense. Even though the color pallet is neutral, I never get bored with my home because it provides a backdrop that allows me to change up the look of my home with ease.
Everyone’s style is unique. Light conditions vary from one house to the next, even from room to room. Each of us have different tastes and styles, so the colors I picked may not be what will work for your decor, but they are a good neutral backdrop that would work in many homes, with many different styles, in many different light conditions. Use the tips I share to pick your perfect paint colors.
I will admit that picking the perfect paint color for our home was the hardest, single most challenging decor decision we had to make. You want to get it right the first time so you don’t end up having to repaint everything all over again. We have very high ceilings in our house so we hired a painter to do it. It was great not having to paint the house ourselves, but it cost a lot more to have it done. It puts a lot of stress on you to get your color choices right the first time.
Make it easy on yourself and pick one or two colors that you carry throughout your entire house. If you ever need to touch up any spots you won’t have to dig through cans and cans of paint in the garage to find the right one.
TIP: Pay no attention to the design critics that say accent walls are out. If using an accent wall makes sense for a space, by all means paint an accent wall to accentuate a unique architectural feature in your home.
You will easily be able to move furniture and decor items from room to room because you will have the same color pallet throughout. Items that look great in one room will easily work in another room. Not only will this create a sense of flow from one room to the next, but it will also create a cohesiveness to your interiors. It’s a designer trick that most professional interior decorators use.
Save using a completely different color for a small room, like a powder room. A deep jewel tone or bright color in a small space would make for a lovely unexpected surprise when you open the door and be much easier to pull off than having every room in your main living areas a different color.
Using the same colors throughout your home will give you the flexibility of being able to reposition furniture and decor items throughout your home and keep you from getting bored with your interiors.
Another critical design element to consider is investing in high quality furniture pieces. Keep them neutral and choose timeless, classic pieces that won’t soon go out of style. Neutral colors on your walls along with neutral, timeless furniture pieces will create the perfect backdrop to your seasonal decorating. Think of it as a blank canvas that provides the backdrop to seasonal touches you can easily add.
Winter 
Spring
I don’t know if you are like me, but I tire of things pretty quickly. I have trouble getting up the energy to paint an entire room and it’s nearly impossible to convince my husband that we need a new piece of furniture when what we have is still in good condition, LOL.
But with a neutral backdrop you can easily change up the look of your home with just a few simple, inexpensive changes. It will keep you from getting bored with the look of your home and it’s very easy to change up how your house looks and feels. Plus it’s a whole lotta fun!
Don’t be afraid to go with a more neutral color pallet in your home. I promise, when you get it right you will love how much flexibility it gives you in changing up the look of your home quickly and easily so that you never get bored with your home again.