This month on Wit & Delight, our theme is about decorating with color and all the joy it can bring to our homes.

If you’re a newer reader to W&D, it might come as a surprise to you that I spent years of my adult life avoiding bold colors in general. I think a lot of people avoid using color in their homes not because they don’t like it, but because they’re afraid of it. They’re afraid of choosing the “wrong” color and messing up a room. And mostly, they’re afraid of liking a color that hasn’t been deemed popular by the masses.

There are ways to mess up the color selection for a room, but this exploration of the topic isn’t so much about that. Rather, it’s about demystifying the use of color for anyone who may be interested in utilizing it more.

This month’s theme is about why decorating with color is important, how it can make a big impact, and ways to do it in our homes.

One of the most intriguing things about color in home design is how it has evolved over the years. While neutrals have had their shining moment for the greater part of the past decade, we’ve begun to see a broad embrace of bold colors at home. And there are many cultures and places that never stopped using bold colors in home design. England is one of the first that comes to mind. Looking at macro trends, we’re seeing this swing toward color again, but it’s never really gone away. 

In my own life, my use of bold colors has progressively increased over the years. I used them somewhat sparingly in the apartment I shared with Joe. In our previous home, I enveloped a few of the smaller rooms entirely in color. Examples of this include the office turned nursery, our powder room (seen in this post), and our basement bathroom. In our current home, it’s clear that I’ve fully embraced the use of color.

There used to be such a lack of color on my Instagram and Pinterest feeds. I think that’s part of what influenced my preference for neutrals years ago. I now use bold colors as a tool in design just as I would use neutrals—and that was a big shift for me. Once you experience the joy of decorating with color, it can become a little addicting, in the very best way.

My hope is that this theme ignites your curiosity about color in home design, even if you generally prefer decorating with neutrals.

As designers of our home environments, I think it’s beneficial to explore and understand the whole world of options at our fingertips—whether we implement them or not. Perhaps you’ll discover something you love that surprises you, which is the very thing that makes home design so delightful in the first place.

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Kate Arends

Kate is the founder of Wit & Delight. She is currently learning how to play tennis and is forever testing the boundaries of her creative muscle. Follow her on Instagram at @witanddelight_.