THE COLOR FORMULA
I have to admit, pink interiors usually aren’t my thing. Maybe it’s because pink is considered such a “girly”, feminine color – and if you live with a guy, you also know that pink is a tough sell as far as interiors go (try selling a guy on “Millennial Pink” and see how that goes!)
However… BLUSH is a whole other color thing. I think of blush as what you get when you combine beige, buff and a tiny bit of pink. It’s definitely pretty – but not over-the-top girly-girl. In today’s post, I’m going to share some inspirations on how to incorporate this trending color tone in your home, and how to make it look sophisticated – not saccharine and little-girl-ish.
BLUSH INSPIRATIONS
I’ve curated a gallery below showing the varying shades of blush.
STYLING WITH BLUSH TONES
A few interior designers whose projects I produced for design magazines expertly incorporated sophisticated tones of blush into their interiors.
In the image below, I produced this photo shoot for Better Homes & Gardens® Cottage Style magazine, at the home of Dallas designer Emily Johnston Larkin of EJ Interiors. Emily added a pair of occasional chairs in a beautiful blush velvet fabric, adding a pop of color to her sophisticated living room. To style the space for the photo shoot, I added soft peachy-pink dahlias to the coffee table. Notice how the addition of blush doesn’t look too “girly” – it just looks really HAPPY! (And who doesn’t want a happy home?)
Below is a story I produced for Better Homes & Gardens® Before & After magazine. The very talented San Antonio, TX interior designer Maria Beck added soft blush pillows to the sofa in this gorgeous solarium, and I styled the space with a mass of blush-pink David Austin roses. Flowers are an easy way to incorporate this color into your interiors – roses, peonies, ranunculus and carnations come in beautiful shades of blush.
Both images produced by Donna Talley
RIGHT – Photo: Home Styling Works
FIFTY SHADES OF BLUSH
If you do an online search for “Blush Paint Colors”, you’ll find a myriad of tones – from dusky pink to mauve to sandy beige-pink, with names like “Rose Blush”, “Gobi Desert”, “Bashful”, “Misty Blush”, “White Truffle”, “Desert Bone” and “Warm Blush”.
I think of blush as a kind of “soft neutral” – more interesting than beige, and a soft way to add a little bit of color to interior spaces. It’s “there, but not there”, if that makes sense. Think of blush as a barely-there color that you can accent with other colors.
The image below from Sherwin Williams shows a soft blush paint color on the walls (according to the brochure, the color is “White Truffle”, shown in the paint color gallery above). This photo illustrates why you should always test out paint colors on the wall – the “White Truffle” swatch looks much darker than the color in the room. Keep in mind that this is a bright living room, so the light absorbs a lot of the color.
BLUSH IN SMALL DOSES
I’m a color commitment-phobe when it comes to wall paint – give me Sherwin Williams “Snowbound” white walls any day! That being said, I like to play with color in low-commitment ways, such as throw pillows, coverlets and throws, fresh flowers and table linens. Low-commitment accessories that are easily changed out with the seasons.
Images below: An easy way to add a touch of blush is with potted geraniums in a sunny spot in your home (read more about my geranium ideas here and here). Or you can add a touch of blush with a velvet throw pillow, or a beautiful bunch of peonies. More ideas in the shopping gallery at the bottom of the post.
BLUSH + OTHER COLORS
Blush can read as “sophisticated” when combined with dark colors like chocolate brown or gray (fabrics, furniture and accessories). Below is a flat lay I helped Dallas interior designer Kristin Mullen create for a photo shoot we shot in my studio. I love how the warm brown tones offset the pink in that gorgeous Schumacher “Chinois Palais” fabric.
Blush can also be added in subtle ways to a “English country cottage” decorating style, like in the image below that I styled for an advertising photo shoot. I added a throw pillow and flowers in blush tones, which are echoed in the romantic floral curtain panels.
BLUSH PAINT
You can give a vintage or secondhand piece of furniture a “blush touch” by painting it with chalk paint. Check out these images of antique Swedish painted furniture in beautiful blush tones from the 1st Dibs website for inspiration.
BLUSH STYLING IDEAS
As you’re probably aware, there’s a difference between STYLING and DECORATING. As a stylist and producer, I take what is already there and enhance a room with small, but impactful, touches. You don’t have to paint a whole room to add a “touch of blush” to your interior spaces. Here are ways to style with blush in your home:
- Flowers
- Throw pillows
- A quilted matelasse coverlet or blanket folded at the end of a bed, dressed in white and gray
- Faux fur and chunky throw blankets
- Blush-pink succulents (real or faux) in white pots, grouped on a dining table or sideboard
- Dinner/salad plates and napkins
- Artwork
- Blush dried bunny grass or pampas grass in a white vase (links to my curated white collections in this post)
- Lamp shades with a touch of leopard blush (link in the shopping gallery below)
- A rug with blush undertones (I have this rug in my living room)
- One or two occasional chairs (similar to the chairs in Emily Larkin’s living room), covered in a blush botanical fabric
SHOPPING + STYLING
I’ve curated a shopping gallery for easy ways you can introduce blush tones to your home.
CLICK ON IMAGES BELOW FOR PRODUCT LINKS
JUST A TOUCH OF BLUSH
I hope this post has inspired you to Make Your Every Day More Beautiful® by adding a “barely there” touch of blush to your home for the summer months.
