Confessions of a Color-Obsessed Interior Designer

Photo: Jackie Haxthausen

Wanna know a secret? My favorite color combinations rarely come from paint decks or fabric swatches. I find inspiration in my Tuesday morning coffee runs or the way the vegetables at the farmers' market look radiant next to each other.

I have over 40,000 photos on my phone, many of which are color studies I hope to bring forward for design and wardrobe styling for my clients later. My camera roll is basically a very organized color library that I refer to all the time, and I’m sharing a collection of photos from a recent Saturday I spent around town, where a ubiquitous color combination of goldenrod, peach, and orange dominated the day.

The Infatuation Begins

The morning started at my nail salon, where fresh flowers are always part of the experience. Since tulips are some of my favorites, I happily snapped this pic, not knowing what an influence these colors would have on the rest of the day.

This habit started in art school, before I even switched to interior design. We had to do these color studies where you’d mix paint to match something from real life: a flower petal, a piece of fruit, whatever. Sounds simple until you realize that “red apple” is actually twelve different reds depending on where the light hits it. That training broke my brain open in the best way because I stopped seeing “red” and started seeing warm red, cool red, red with brown in it, and red with orange in it. 

My watercolor teacher, Michael Crespo, was famous for saying, “Paint what you see, not what you know.” This was especially poignant when he brought in a coconut cake and assigned it as our project for the day. Much to my surprise, I wasn’t mixing white and off-white paints. I was seeing and painting pale blue, taupe, lavender, gray, and chocolate brown coconut flakes. 

When I went through seasonal color analysis training last year, it was like I was watching art and design school reruns. Using my background in the nuance of color (things like the difference between a warm taupe and a cool taupe), I realized the gift of loving color was useful whether it’s applied to your living room or your closet. The cream that works for a True Spring person is not the same cream that works for a True Winter, and the same principle applies to your sofa.

Even the colors I selected for my mani/pedi that morning were on-theme. Peep the gorgeous chinoiserie mural panels in the background that reinforce the goldenrod tone!

Navigating with Eyes Wide Open

To some, it’s just a line painted in a parking lot, but on that day, the yellow seemed to bounce on the pavement.

I’ll see a color combination out in the world (someone wearing a specific shade of terracotta with a deep teal scarf), and I’ll think, “That’s the palette for the Jones project.” Not because I’m copying their outfit, but because seeing those colors together in real life confirms they have enough contrast, enough harmony, enough something that makes them feel right together. Real life is the best color consultant you’ll ever have.

Food is one of my favorite color teachers. Colors that appear together naturally in produce almost always work beautifully in interiors. Eggplant and sage. Tomato and basil. Peach and cream. Stone fruit season is basically a masterclass in True Spring palettes. Late summer vegetables give you the entire True Autumn range. And if we’re talking pastries and desserts? A symphony of inspiration! I’ve pulled an entire paint and fabric story from a piece of blueberry cheesecake.

The street gives you permission to be bolder than you’d be on your own. I see someone wearing burgundy pants with a mustard sweater and a camel coat, and I think about why we don’t do that in living rooms more often when we absolutely could and should.

Implementing the Inspiration

In a favorite boutique, I was greeted by a dress that featured the same beautiful yellow, and I sensed a pattern emerging.

I pulled the palette for a client’s entire living room directly from a photo I took of a woman wearing a gorgeous green coat on the streets of Paris last year. Those colors were striking,  and I just translated them into wall paint and upholstery.

Inspiration photos of other people’s homes are a great starting point, but usually (and often unbeknownst to my design clients), I’ve found inspiration in something else during the design process that guides me to create the color palette for their project. Show me your favorite painting, or a photo of a place you loved, or literally your favorite sweater, and I can pinpoint exactly the mood you want to create with color.

My seasonal color analysis training taught me that everybody has a palette where they look most alive, most themselves, and we’re beginning to use those same principles in our design work. Some rooms call for warm, saturated color while others need cool, soft tones. Part of my job is figuring out what each space is asking for.

I’ve found client palettes in fall foliage in Vermont, vintage Hermès scarves, restaurant branding, storefronts in London, literally anywhere. Once you start seeing color this way, you can’t stop! The world becomes this enormous, constantly updating color library.

Tested, Not Trending

I tried on - and purchased - this gown for an event that was coming up, and couldn’t have been happier to note that it, too, showcased the colors of the day!

The colors I use most in client work are rarely the trendy ones. Instead, they’re colors that show up everywhere in real life: the brilliant green of the golf course near a client’s home, or the pale blue of the ocean in a photo from their family vacation. On our most recent trip to London, I noted a particular cream in a dollop of good butter with flaky Maldon salt. It wasn’t quite yellow, but it had a warmth so pleasant that I wanted to color-match it right then and there.

These colors work because they’re already proven. Nature has been testing them for millennia. Fashion tests them every season. Architecture tests them across decades. By the time I’m specifying them for your living room or pulling together an outfit for one of my personal styling clients, they’ve already passed every test that matters.

I’m not saying you should paint your dining room to match a beet (although certain beets are an incredible color and it would look amazing), but I am saying that the world around you is full of perfect color combinations. If you pay attention, they’ll tell you exactly what your heart wants to live with and wear.

So yes, I’m color-obsessed and can confirm the best color inspiration isn’t in a trend reports. It’s all around you, all the time!