At Christmas I found these stunning flowers. Who cares that they aren’t red and green.
Injecting color into even the neutralist of homes is one of the easiest ways to liven up a space.
A pair of yellow knobs from Anthropologie completely changed the feel of my second hand painted armiore.
That can of spray paint refreshed my tired urns to the point of making me fall back in love with them.
After noticing how much I liked this color in my Christmas bouquet, I bought this pillow. Even though most of the colors in our home are blues and greens, I love this pillow on every chair in our house. It’s like a shot of collagen only for your house, not your lips.
Even my cast off sweater adds to the fun.
When I went white with my slipcovers last year, people warned me of the perils of removing color from our home.
For me, the neutral backdrop was the one thing that freed me to add even more color when I wanted and where I wanted. I’m looking forward to adding some super bold patterned pillows to our sofa.
It doesn’t take much color to make a statement.
And I’m not picky about matching exact blues or greens or any color for that matter. If I like it, I invite it in.
Just because I used the words inject and shot, doesn’t mean this is a painful process.
I simply shop the house and place a few things around that add a pop of color. I don’t follow rules of three or hold two shades of blue up together to see if they are perfect matches. 
My personal color muse right now is Ashley from The Handmade Home. She can work any color into any room seamlessly. I especially love it when she adds in yellow, it always seems to be the finishing touch.
And if you are at a loss for adding color, Centsational Girl, Kate, pretty much covers all sorts of ways to baby step yourself into a colorful home.
Color. Get some.
You know what, MSN had some short films from Stacy and Clinton from What Not to Wear yesterday-their color advice was “if you’re wearing neutrals, you can accessorize succesfully with shots of bright colors-if you’re wearing bright colors, keep the accesories neutral.” So, you haven’t removed the color from your home, you’ve neutralized the main outfit so that you can add some cheerful accesories!
love what you said about a neutral backdrop freeing you to use color. I couldn’t agree more!
I call them “punch colors” around here.
http://www.fieldstonehilldesign.com/search/label/punch%20color
I adore magenta… so I love your pillow and throw! great stuff!
-{darlene}
My living room colors are neutral so I’m always changing the “pop” of color, depending on the season. It works well with my ADD with changing things up! ha!
Oh my stars and heavens, that last shot of the Windsor Smith room made my stomach drop to my knees. So gorgeous. I’ve been wanting some chairs just like that for a while now. Did you make it to the Metrolina last weekend?
LOVING all the coral accents in the kitchen/dining room shot! Shows how even in a room of neutrals, except for the accents, a room can appear colorful. Janell
Pop of color are my favorite!! I love keeping my furniture and paint colors more neutral and adding different colors in accessories, pillows and other fun stuff. Man, I need a sail fish! Ha!
I love you Nester! You decorate with such grace and help us to feel the freedom to decorate with grace ~ where we can make mistakes and it’s okay. With all of the top-notch wonderful decorating blogs in blogland, it can be so easy to criticize our own decorating or feel like we can’t measure up. Thank you for your gentle encouragement (not just in this post, but all your posts!)
I remember when The Pleated Poppy did a post about transforming from the Shabby Chic/White world to the color world. She painted a dresser a bold yellow/goldish color and she loved it. It feels so wild!
My comment…what’s next, a tattoo?
Love it. Working on it in my home too.
I love a neutral color palette with pops of color. I love that if you start with a neutral base you can add or subtract color at will. Your are also not wed to any particular color palette,
I LOVE color! My husband usually thinks I am crazy until he sees the end results but when it came to adding color to our boring mailbox yesterday he was on board for what I chose! He is starting to see things my way! I love it!
Love those yellow knobs! You truly have a gift for color!
We purposely bought neutral furniture so we could change out accessories over time. It was also a ploy to keep our furniture longer because the room will always look fresh and “in-date.”
Amen sister! Way to tell it like it should be! All it takes is a little here and there, funny how we get braver with more neutral backgrounds right? Love this post Nester, and thanks for the shout out friend!
xo
Kate
Oooo I love all your pops of color- especially the pink pillow!! Hey this thank you is long over due, but some time around the start of my blog (less than 3 months ago) you featured one of my projects in your “nest files”. It took me forever to figure it out because people were finding me from your site every day but I just assumed it was from a comment I left. When I finally clicked on the link in my stats and realized it was because you had actually linked to something I’d done, I was so excited!! I’ve been reading your blog for the past couple years- long before I became a blogger, so to have you like something that I did and stick it under “things I don’t want to forget” (or something like that- sorry if I’m getting it wrong!) is a thrill for me- I feel like I got noticed by a celebrity! haha. Anyway I’m sorry I didn’t thank you sooner, but THANKS SO MUCH! :)
What a great post! LOVE the pops of fuchsia in your home. And now I want to go out and buy yellow curtains! Thanks for the inspiration! :)
LOVE those anthropologie knobs! I must visit the store at some point just so I can stop shocking people that I have never been to one!
That is why your home is so beautiful, because all your “things” are standing out to be admired!! Love Love Love your style!
I love blues and greens too! It’s the colors we have in our home.
Um, so, you kind of made my day. You’re kind of MY muse. ;) You are just too sweet to me, Nester gal. You define the term inspiring encourager. ;)
I LOVE all of these images!!
I can so relate to how you said using a neutral backdrop freed you to use more color. I love to add pops of color, and when my basics are neutral, I can pretty much rotate the color elements on a whim, changing the entire look, and not feel like I blew my whole budget!
I love your use of color in your home! The raspberry pillow is a lot of fun and that urn is fabulous in the cobalt blue on your door step. You’ve got a great way with color! May I ask you about your aqua lamp? Did you buy it that color or did you spray paint that? That aqua is beautiful and I’m wanting to be bold and incorporate pops of aqua in my bedroom.
Love that yella Anthropologie knob! Completely fabulous…almost like a spring cookie. :o) Kitchen-perfect!
P.S. We are expecting our third daughter this summer and just moved into a bigger home (thank you, Jesus!!) and I’m so looking forward to implementing all sorts of great decorating ideas that I couldn’t fit into the old house! You know that Nesting Place is #1 on my get-ideas-from-that-wonderful-place list. ;o)
I love your statement “the perils of removing color from my home”… hilarious. I have had white slipcovers on my couches and upholstered chairs for about 15 years. We have lots of neutrals and then add pops of color with textiles, art and plants and guess what people say when they visit??? You know it – They say “I love all the color in your house and how bright it is.” :)
Your house is beautiful and welcoming. Love it.
marcie@madebymolliesmom.blogspot
Oh my goodness! Those yellow knobs are KILLER! Must. Not. Covet. ;)
Great advice….we’ve incorporated something similar into our MyD rules of thumb the well known 60-30-10 color rule.
Wow…what great inspiration. As someone who loves color, I just adore all that you’ve done with your home and with the bedroom makeover. Fabulous!
Nester,
Just beautiful, as always! Wondering about the houndstooth fabric on your chair (with your sweater). Do you have a source? It’s EXACTLY what i’ve been looking for (aka a chair that will work in EVERY room in my house). Thanks!
I did just that in my kitchen-our palette was very earthy and neutral, and I went a little crazy with the cobalt blue from our wedding…curtains, spray paint, and Home Goods made it alllllll come together. Now, there are sweet pops of color everywhere, AND I get the added bonus of thinking of my beautiful bridesmaids every time I notice it!
I LOVE. It. All. I just found your blog and I’m hooked already. You’re totally speaking my language, girl! I, too, keep it fairly neutral with large furniture (sofas, tables, etc.) and wall color, because I change my mind as often as a celebrity divorce (about every 3.5 minutes)! I play around with color when it comes to pillows, rugs, curtains and artwork. Fabulous blog!!