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How to Design with Orange
October 12, 2012
Dwell's favorite homes featuring orange hues all show that the secret to using this often-avoided color is a balance of neutral tones and plenty of natural light.
In a renovated mid-century home in Washington, the living room's fireplace has been powder-coated orange to complement the vintage finds, which include a test bomb discovered at an antiques mall.
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An old Toronto storefront was converted into a home-studio, where pops of color invigorate an otherwise muted space. In the kitchen, two niches within a wall of cabinets were designed to keep vases, dishes, and small appliances handy but off the countertop. Local dealer Plastic World custom-cut the cubbies' Plexiglas doors, which provide hints of vivid orange.
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The interior of Jonathan Adler and Simon Donnan's Shelter Island vacation home is decorated with a combination of vintage finds and Adler's own designs, which include the Oatmeal grass cloth wallpaper and a bright orange Whitaker chair and ottoman.
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In a corner of a concrete home in Lima, steps leading down to a family room are energized by a coat of glossy orange paint.
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Cristobal Palma
One family in Seattle, Washington, looked past a sloping landscape and instead saw the opportunity to build their dream home. Resembling a modern day metal treehouse, the Hale and Edmonds residence is nestled within the edges of a wooded park. The house's exterior of paneled grey is perfectly balanced against the accent of the orange frame, proving that there's a chance for subtlety with the bright color.
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Originally appeared in A New Slant
This ultra modern prefab home in Ukiah, California, was designed by Marmol Radziner. While the overall color scheme consists mostly of white and grey, the pops of color by way of furniture complement the contemporary design. One piece in particular is the Mikado 2 sofa by Hans Hopfer for Roche Bobois acting as the focal point of the living room. The brightness of the orange is matched by the natural lighting via sliding doors and is paired with a wool Photon rug from Design Within Reach for extra dimension.
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Courtesy of
©DE
Originally appeared in When Prefab Is Painless
This eye-catching villa in the Netherlands, designed by Next Architects, proves that you can go big and go home as well. While some homes feature hints of color, the Villa van Vijven structure garners well-deserved attention thanks to its warm orange facade that is meant to mimic the tiled rooftops of Holland's country buildings. Moreover, the villa's horizontal plane echoes the flatness of the lush green landscape. The orange of the exterior also carries over into the communal entrance beneath the building, offset by natural elements such as stones adjacent to the entryway.
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Originally appeared in Modern Communal Living in the Netherlands
This home designed by Djuhara + Djuhara Architects in Jakarta, Indonesia, brings a tropical air to the East with orange accent walls to balance the wood-paneled exterior. The color accents of the Wisnu residence extend to an orange door leading to the patio, contrasting the metal screen and natural stones. This truly minimal and eco-chic home defies normative of Jakarta suburbs with its open feel and abundance of natural light.
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Originally appeared in Humid City, Cool Home
This Spanish delight in the middle of Barcelona, was renovated to give the 18th-century flat a modern appeal. While keeping rustic features such as the stone walls and exposed beams as a nod to the home's Roman-era origins, the festive Spanish tiles lining the floors and walls of the library make way for bright furniture pieces throughout the residence. The house boasts a stunning lap pool with a wood-burning fireplace as well as a cozy outdoor space featuring a barrel ceiling and hammock, with orange and fuchsia pillows in perfect harmony with the home's white walls.
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Originally appeared in The Barcelona Home Like No Other
Furniture designer Christane Högner found inspiration in Belgian street style for her family's two-bedroom apartment in Brussels. The home, an eclectic mix of high and low finds, offers hints of color as seen here in the bedroom. White chairs serving as nightstands are paired with the orange lamps to mirror the throw pillows atop a set of white bedding to add a fun Creamsicle effect to the room.
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Originally appeared in Kind of New
To say that Jeff Wardell and Claudia Sagan's apartment is truly unique would certainly be an understatement. Their 3,200-square-foot San Francisco abode, formerly a Chinese laundry and tooth-powder factory, holds onto its industrial roots with a tangerine-toned shipping container in the middle of the couple's living room. The container serves dual purposes as a guest bedroom, housing a Pat Carson–designed Murphy bed, and home office with the glass wall transforming from opaque to clear with a flick of a switch.
Architect Michael Lee designed Matt Jacobson's minimalist Southern California house to reflect the breezy lifestyle of its setting in Manhattan Beach. Boasting plenty of wood balanced with clean whites and concrete, the renovation takes beach-side living to a contemporary level. Sitting in the corner opposite of a muted peach-colored desk chair is an orange Lagardo Tackett for Architectural Pottery side table-like piece, providing a warm greeting to the entryway of the bathroom.
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Originally appeared in Basic Instincts
Barnaby Grist and Ellen Goldberg bring to their Noe Valley home the epitome of business in the front, and party in the back with a renovation by Architect Bassel Samaha of Samaha + Hart Architecture. The facade of the San Francisco abode still retains its Victorian charm but the rest of the home is completely revamped with a modern facelift. The multi-tiered structure is a solid cloud of white and glass that optimize the house's airy flow and stream of natural light. The minimalist open kitchen displays a silver glass tile backsplash while simultaneously drawing attention to the Inox table from DWR and tangerine Ikea chairs on the deck.
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Originally appeared in Noe Valley Renovation
Designers with a great eye know that orange and navy blue are a perfect combination since they are complements of each other on the color wheel. Case in point: Architect Jim Poteet helped Stacey Hill turn an empty steel shipping container into a playhouse, garden retreat, and guesthouse in San Antonio, Texas. The structure's navy blue exterior and floor-to-ceiling glass doors fully maximize the richness of the orange-hued outdoor furniture.
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Originally appeared in Smaller in Texas
In a renovated mid-century home in Washington, the living room's fireplace has been powder-coated orange to complement the vintage finds, which include a test bomb discovered at an antiques mall.
Photo by Kyle Johnson.
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