Color the World ORANGE!

New orange look (ignore the dog toy under the sofa)

I love bright colors, and it shows in my decorating style. I have a little rancher, and my love for bright tones shows all the way through. 

My kitchen is turquoise (chosen after a trip to Aruba-the sea was a beautiful aqua. 2 weeks later, my walls were, too) My bathroom is red, my office is green. 

My living room was lacking.

I had used navy, maroon, and beige in my living room, and decided that just wasn’t cutting it. 

I thought about changing the decor for a year or so and couldn’t decide how I wanted to proceed. At first, I thought I would paint the walls yellow. I love pale yellow. However, my old condo was painted yellow, so I decided to go with something more original. 

Is orange bright enough for me?? 

Now, I didn’t know how much orange to really use. I didn’t want people to walk into my living room and feel like they were entering a pumpkin’s intestines. I looked at tons of pictures on pinterest and took to the internet to find some guidance. I found an article that recommended using the bright color on 10% of the decor. 

So that’s what I did. 

At first, I was going to paint one of my walls orange, for an accent look. I decided to go with orange curtains instead. 

I think of curtains as a window’s earrings, and you know by now how I feel about earrings.  I ordered solid orange curtains on eBay, and waited impatiently for them to arrive.

What a difference! I had maroon curtains, and when I ripped those puppies down and replace them with orange ones, it instantly ‘facelifted’ the room. 

I loved it immediately! Here’s are before and after pictures. 

Old maroon curtains

Pretty, new orange curtains!

Another big pain point was the rug. I had a dark, drab navy and maroon area rug, and it took me forever to decide what to do. 

I looked at solid orange ones and print orange ones til my eyes crossed! I finally stumbled upon my solution at Ross. I found a solid dark brown shag area rug for $39! Yippee! It complemented the orange perfectly. 

I finished out the look with accessories.

Before, with maroon throw and white pillows

After, with orange print pillow

Some orange print pillows from Home Goods for $20 and an orange vase and candle.

I even got creative and bought some orange paint and recycled an old picture frame by painting it orange when I couldn’t find one. (the pic shows the new frame color as well as a shot of me and my friends in Greece. Ah, what a great trip. But I digress). 

Before: Maroon frame.

After: orange frame.

Overall, I spent about $100 on my living room, and it looks completely updated! 

I highly recommend picking a bright color and going for it! You won’t believe how much it lifts the mood.

Life is too short for bland decor!