Take a look at a darker recommendation from Jasmin at Jasmin Reese Interiors.

In light of the recent Halloween and Día de los Muertos holidays, we had to opt for black for November’s color. Beyond its reputation for being spooky and serious, black is universally known for being dressy and chic, it works beautifully with both classic or modern looks, and it is endlessly versatile. See what black can do!

Black is very edgy, even to the point of being extreme, so it must be used thoughtfully and is certainly not for everyone’s taste. However, the color is unmatched for its drama and its ability to make other colors pop! A great place to start incorporating it into your home is to paint some black accents, such as windowsills or trim, or replicate this simple black door to add elegant definition and style to a clean, minimal entryway.

Interior renovation of Spanish Town historic residence completed by Ty Larkins Design, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

If you’re ready for a stronger commitment to black, you can paint the entire walls in a smaller room, such as this Hollywood-style powder room. The glossy jet black paint brings oozes of luxury and class to the panelled walls. And here’s a little-known design pro tip: black can actually make a small space feel larger. In my own small city apartment, I painted the living room walls a deep plum color to see if we could amp up the spaciousness and it worked wonders!

This dining room featuring partially-black walls is incredibly successful. The sleek black color above the white wainscoting and the white tulip dining table deliver mod sophistication to the space, while the vintage Turkish rug and leather upholstered dining chairs warm up the room and bring a classic touch.

If you’re ready to go the whole nine and paint one of the principal rooms in your home black or near-black, we don’t think you’ll regret it! Just like pure white walls make a nice blank canvas for other decor and accessories, black is also the perfect background for any artwork. The black wall set back between custom bookshelves in this library makes a stunning backdrop for a big bold painting. Combining black, gold and white for the ultimate sophistication, this luxe library is completed with a pair of gorgeous black bookcases that beautifully highlight treasured books and white marble sculptures.

Here are our favorite paint picks for the month:

Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black

Benjamin Moore Black Iron

Need help finding just the perfect way to work black into your home? Call us for a free color consultation.

Looking for professionals to do the painting for you? Call Blue Door Painting today.

Let Jasmin and the pros from Jasmin Reese Interiors fill you in on the fall trends.

The recent fall chill has us wanting to snuggle up with a glass of wine and a book at home, now that the season of bike rides and rooftop barbecues has come to an end. We’re inspired by the power of the color red to bring vitality and warmth to interior spaces this season. Take a look at some ways to use the bold hue around your home for dramatic and beautiful effects!

Reds works well in the coziest places in your home, such as libraries, bedrooms and dining rooms. The cheery red paint on this living room gallery wall creates a stunning contrast for the white matted photography, simultaneously adding a touch of formality and warmth. You can use red in larger rooms to warm up a space and unify a design, rather than cooler tones you might choose for smaller spaces to make them appear larger.

This lavish guest bedroom’s muted red and gold patterned wallpaper is complemented by the sumptuous velvet headboard and luxe fur bed cover, and is given an extra touch of class from a classic red leather ottoman.

We absolutely adore the unapologetic luxury of these crushed red velvet chairs, adding warmth and style to this cool, airy Paris conservatory. The romantic red furniture paired with the sharp contrast of the simple black and white tile floor is fabulous. You might take this inspiration to your kitchen and get a similarly striking effect by pairing vibrant red cabinets with a geometric black and white tile backsplash, and of course lots of plants!

In the feng shui tradition, red is said to be best for dining rooms because the fiery color can raise one’s blood pressure and heart rate, and may serve to stimulate conversation and connection. We couldn’t agree more with this theory, and have found that reds work especially well in social spaces, like this formal dining room with deep berry walls and dark wood furniture. The gentle glow of the wall sconces complete the inviting feel.

Pantone’s Color of the Year in 2015 was a lovely soft purplish red called Marsala, which offers a strikingly elegant backdrop for this gorgeous white stone hearth.

Here are our paint selects for autumn reds: Sherwin Williams Real Red is a great selection for a brighter tone, or Benjamin Moore Mediterranean Spice for a softer shade.

sherwin-williams-real-red

benjamin-moore-mediterranean-spice

There are lots of powerful ways to use red in your interior space to create a daring contemporary look or a homey, welcoming vibe. If you’re not ready to dive in by painting your entire walls red, try painting just the molding and trim in a room, or adding some pieces of red furniture and flowers around your home!

Need help finding just the right red? Call us for a free color consultation.

Looking for professionals to do the painting for you? Call Blue Door Painting today.

For September, our interior design partners at Jasmin Reese Interiors are giving a nod to blue, possibly the most versatile color on the spectrum. It’s also very special to Blue Door Painting, of course!
For the native New Englanders at JRI, blue is especially evocative of the coast, and September is when the chilly Atlantic is finally at its warmest. You can bask in the waves and enjoy the last breaths of summer at the beach. In honor of this exceptionally rich, classic color, Jasmin’s design pros assembled a selection of beautiful blue tones, as well as some tips for using blue paint and decor to make your home spectacular:

We love using barn doors like these to add a pop of color to interiors for bathrooms, or anywhere else sliding doors might be a practical solution for the space. These lovely barn doors, painted a Yale Blue and fitted on an iron track, add some drama to this living room entryway.

This high-gloss floor-to-ceiling royal blue paint, with a setback ceiling painted in gold, render this elegant salon extraordinary. Blue pairs wonderfully with gold, and also with white. The simple white and blue furnishings and ginger jars nod to the gorgeous blue and white Greek Key flooring.

Here’s another great blue and gold example! Hexagonal tile in cerulean blue works well with the golden shower head and accent mirror, giving this well-appointed bathroom a lavish feel.

Blue is a fabulous color for accent furniture because it complements so many other colors and designs. You can add style and save money during a bathroom renovation by repainting existing cabinets for a revitalized, fresh-looking “new” piece of furniture. We love this vanity painted a crisp navy blue to call out the navy honeycomb wallpaper. We often paint vanities in bathrooms a bold color to add drama.

We love the luxury this deep turquoise delivers when applied to custom built-in bookshelves — complemented by turquoise lamps and drapes and set off by unexpected burnt orange accents — in this classic library. We are working on a similar vibe in a library in Evanston right now, and we’ve included that paint color as one of our picks for the month. Stay tuned on our social channels for pics to come!

For our favorite paint colors this month, we’ve selected Benjamin Moore, Tropical Paradise (the color we used in a gorgeous Evanston library!) and Sherwin Williams, Indigo Batik.

We adore many shades of blue for their soothing elegance, and for the timelessness that they bring to complete a design. Share some photos of how you’re using blue in your home and garden!

Not sure which shade best suits the room? Call us for a free color consultation.

Looking for professionals to do the painting for you? Call Blue Door Painting today.

Read on as the design minds at Jasmin Reese Interiors make the case for this month’s featured color: orange.

Orange is one of the boldest colors on the spectrum, calling your attention immediately (but there’s a reason it’s used on “Caution” signs!). Don’t let those fluorescent traffic cones give orange a bad rap — when used correctly, it can be an incredibly sophisticated way to add some unexpected zest and movement to your space.

Orange Beachy Entryway House Beautiful

Many homeowners shy away from including orange in their interior design palate fearing that it will be too intense or distracting. In truth, it’s the intensity that makes orange such a fabulous accent color — the trick is just to use it sparingly!

Here’s a Bohemian chic kitchen in Lake Forest that we had the pleasure of designing recently. We used an orange tile backsplash to add some visual interest to an otherwise neutral-toned space.

LF Boho Kitchen backsplash

A few key orange accents around the room, using furniture and window treatments, pick up the orange from the backsplash and complete the look.

LP Boho Kitchen Window Treatments

Here’s another great example of a strong orange accent making all the difference. This orange nightstand subtly draws out the orange trim on the pillows. Orange took this sweet twin bedroom from conservative and classic to unexpectedly stylish.

White and blue twin beds with orange table

This orange doorway at the Parker, Palm Springs, shows us exactly what fierce modern style looks like. It’s all about contrast!

Orange Door, Parker, Palm Springs

Our favorite orange paint picks are Orange Nectar from Benjamin Moore, and Navel from Sherwin Williams. Use either of these to add some pop to an accent wall or piece of furniture in your home.

       Benjamin Moore Orange Nectar

          Sherwin Williams Navel

Sherwin Williams’s 2015 Color of the Year Coral Reef has been applied to paneled accent wall in this elegant sitting room. Notice that it doesn’t take anything away from all the gorgeous layers of white furniture, window treatments, or the striking fur rug — the whites pop brighter!

Orange Panel Wall White Fur Rug

Just because we’ve emphasized the importance of orange as an accent color does not mean it will necessarily overwhelm a space if it’s used as the primary color in the scheme. If you love orange, go wild and paint the entire room. The orange walls paired with sleek blue furniture, and blasts of pinks, yellows, and reds in the artwork give this fabulous dining room that appeared in Elle Decor a fun, energetic vibe.

Orange Walls dining room Elle Decor

How are you daring to use orange to liven up your home or garden? Inspire us with pics!

Need to find just the right orange? Call us for a free color consultation.

Looking for professionals to do the painting for you? Call Blue Door Painting today.

Need some on-trend color inspiration? Jasmin Reese Interiors is turning their attention to the understated beauty of blush tones for the month of July.
Blush is an especially fitting choice for this month because it evokes the sweetness and tranquility of a warm summer night. Think sweeping salmon-y sunsets and a chilled glass of rosé on the deck…are you relaxed yet?

Blush and pink tones are traditionally associated with tranquility and femininity. This is by no means a new concept – Feng Shui masters use blush tones to calm the energy in a space. This lovely nursery exemplifies the soothing effects of the color with a pale blush accent wall.

While blush is naturally subtle, it provides a stunning contrast point for the rich green accent color lining the bookshelves in this stylish office. Plus, pink represents fire and green represents wood, and we think the color pairing below nails that combination!

Blush interior paint is a striking tool to soften a space and to provide a powerful yet gentle contrast to a stark, minimalist palette. Just a warning: the color tends to be most effective in small doses. This lovely bedroom decorated in neutral grey tones with just the right touch of blush accent on the ceiling is perfect!

Here’s an even more dramatic example of blush as an accessory color to offset stark, masculine black walls. The chunky crystal chandelier adds a final touch of glamour to this alluring sitting room.

blush sitting room

If you’re considering adding some blush accessories to your space, don’t miss this lush velvet from Schumacher in “Sophia.” The fabric is upholstery weight so it can be used for furniture, pillows, or even drapes if they’re lined.

As for paint picks, here are our faves right now:

Wild Astor from Benjamin Moore

Cosmetic Blush from Sherwin Williams

Brag about blush! Do you have a success story using blush tones to paint or decorate your interiors? Share the pics on Facebook!

Need to find just the right shade? Call us for a free color consultation.

Looking for professionals to do the painting for you? Call Blue Door Painting today.

Need a little color inspiration? Let our interior design partners at Jasmin Reese Interiors tell you about May’s color of the month: green!

Here in Chicago, the spring comes pretty late in the year. We’re just starting to see a riot of flowers budding on the trees in Lincoln Park, and so many lovely shades springing up all over the city!

For us, green represents renewal and revitalization, and reminds us to appreciate and be inspired by nature. To highlight the visual appeal of this undeniably fresh color, we have selected some of the best uses for green we’ve seen in the design world recently.

Photo courtesy of Rue Magazine

Green is a beautiful and versatile choice for the walls in your home. Bolder than a typical neutral tone, but always classic and crisp, green is often a fabulous choice for interiors.

We adore the way this jungle-esque large-print banana leaf wallpaper combines with an elegant, muted rose upholstered dining set to deliver just the right amount of zing to the room.

Photo courtesy of the Glam Pad

We just installed this delightful green zebra-striped wallpaper by Schumacher in a sassy Lincoln Park powder room, and we’re so happy with the results!

Schumacher – Zebra Palm Linen Print

This addition of a rich green accent wall gives this room an air of sleek sophistication, and we love how it draws out the bright hue of the palm plant.

Cilantro Green Sherwin-Williams

Benjamin Moore Seaweed Green

Right now, our favorite green paint picks are Benjamin Moore – Seaweed and Sherwin Williams – Cilantro. Don’t forget — effective lighting for your rooms is essential to help the colors shine!

Naturally, green evokes plants and the organic world. We’d like to leave you with this image of maze gardens at Ruspoli Castle in Northern Lazio, Italy for inspiration.

Maze Gardens at Ruspoli Castle / Northern Lazio, Italy

Think you’d like to liven up your home or office with some naturally inspired hues? Call us for a free color consultation with Jasmin.