Bold and beautiful

There are easy ways to get over the fear of painting your home in bold, bright hues.
By BETSY LEHNDORFF
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
In Latin, it might be called "mega-pigmento-chromophobia," commonly known as the fear of painting rooms bold, bright colors.
It occurs in people who constantly wonder whether they should have followed their mother's advice and gone a shade lighter. Mom's advice often comes back to haunt when it's time to sell the house -- Realtors say it's best to stick with neutrals.
"We've all heard these rules," says interior designer Kristi Dinner of kd design consultants of Denver. "I say there are no rules. It's not about making a bold statement. It's about creating comfort."
Dinner's own home is a kaleidoscope of brilliant hues. The exterior of the brick home is trimmed in Mediterranean blue to accent the red clay tile roof. Beyond the front door, the living-room walls are painted a celery green, with deeper olive colors showing up in a velvet-covered divan and floor rug.
Dinner has also created a brilliant hallway that varies in tone depending on the lighting. Dark corners are the color of the setting sun; walls near the light are intense yellow. Elsewhere is a red kitchen, a deep blue dining room and Dinner's orange-red bedroom, accented with a green headboard and orange curtains.
Finally convinced
"When I put up the color swatches in my bedroom, my whole family wondered how I was going to be able to relax surrounded by such bright color," Dinner says. "I told them to wait until I was done. Now they love it."
Dinner also encourages her clients to go for heightened hues, using her own home as a showcase.
For clients Carol and Hunt Walker, the task was fairly easy. After 11 years in a red brick 1950s ranch home in Denver, Carol was ready for more color. Every room in their house was crisp white, except for the living room, where red covered the lower walls up to the chair rail.
"My husband always grew up in a white, white home, so it took a little convincing," Carol says. "So I suggested we go one room at a time."
Dinner's first suggestion was that the Walkers paint their entire living room red to solidify the look. The broad swath of color brought new life to the room's antiques and traditional furnishings as well as the folk art on the wall.
The children's bedrooms got the next infusion of color: avocado walls and a violet ceiling in the girl's room and golden yellow walls for the boys.
Splashes of color
The dining room became apple green, Carol says. The family room with an ebony-colored floor and fireplace was painted butterscotch, and the kitchen was splashed with a clear, deep blue.
The last holdout was the white bedroom. Today, it's a passionate fuchsia with decorative white on the trim and closet doors.
"You create different feelings and you bring in different fabrics and rugs on the floors, so there is a blending from one room to the next," Walker says. The rooms also feel cozier.
"At night you can see the paint colors of the dining room, living room and bedroom from the outside through large-paned windows."