Ally With Color: How to Infuse Color Into Your Home Renovation
For many Wisconsin homeowners, choosing color can feel intimidating. What if it’s too trendy? What if it feels overwhelming? What if you get tired of it?
Our perspective: The most memorable homes are rarely the ones that play it safest. They’re the homes that tell a story, reflect the people who live there, and feel distinctly personal. When used thoughtfully, color can add warmth, character, and a sense of joy that neutral palettes alone often can’t achieve. Here’s what this Wauwatosa home addition taught us about the power of personal color choices in creating a truly authentic home.
Start With What You Love
One of the biggest mistakes we see is homeowners choosing colors based on what they think they should like rather than what they actually love.
This Wauwatosa homeowner has always been drawn to bright, cheerful color. For decades, she treasured a vibrant teal dresser that moved with her from home to home. When our design team saw it, we immediately understood that color wasn’t just a design choice, it was part of her story!
Rather than steering away from bold color, we embraced it. The teal became an inspiration point throughout the project, helping create a home that feels joyful, personal, and authentic to the people who live there.
Your home should reflect you, not a trend forecast.
A color you genuinely love often has far more staying power than the latest design trend. When a color feels personal, it tends to feel right for years to come. The most timeless homes are often the ones that embrace what their homeowners truly love.
Let Wallpaper Lead the Way
If you’re looking for wallpaper inspiration for your next renovation, don’t think of wallpaper as the finishing touch, but rather consider it the starting point.
Wallpaper can be one of the most powerful design tools in a bathroom because it already contains a thoughtfully curated color palette. Rather than selecting paint, tile, and cabinetry first and then searching for a pattern to match, we often encourage homeowners to find a wallpaper they genuinely love and let it guide the rest of the design. Starting with wallpaper creates a strong foundation for the room and helps ensure every selection feels intentional and connected.
In this kids’ bathroom, a playful botanical print filled with vibrant greens, blues, pinks, and warm accents inspired everything from the deep teal cabinetry to the bright pink sconces. Rather than competing with the wallpaper, each element was selected to celebrate the colors already present in the pattern, creating a space that feels cheerful, energetic, and full of personality.
In the primary bathroom, the homeowners’ love of bold blues shaped the design direction. A floral wallpaper featuring rich blue tones and coral accents inspired the painted trim, wall color, and even the striking blue tile within the toilet niche. By pulling colors directly from the wallpaper, the room feels layered and cohesive while still embracing color in a meaningful way.
One of the biggest misconceptions about bathroom wallpaper is that it needs to be the room’s only statement. In reality, some of the most successful bathroom designs happen when wallpaper influences every other design decision.
Another benefit of wallpaper is that it doesn’t have to cover an entire room to make an impact. This primary bathroom is a great example of that, the wallpaper was thoughtfully incorporated within a recessed toilet niche, creating a moment of color and pattern without overwhelming the space. Using wallpaper in a smaller, enclosed area allows homeowners to embrace a bold print while still letting elements like tile, cabinetry, and architectural details take center stage. It’s a great strategy for adding personality, visual interest, and depth.
Use Color Strategically
Color isn’t just decorative, it can serve a purpose too!
For this Milwaukee addition project, the homeowners specifically requested a soft sky-blue porch ceiling, a tradition commonly found in Southern homes. Often referred to as a haint blue ceiling, the color has long been used on porches throughout the South. While folklore suggests it helps discourage birds, insects, and other unwelcome visitors from nesting overhead, many homeowners today simply love the bright, welcoming feeling it creates. In this case, the light blue ceiling adds a subtle layer of personality while making the covered porch feel more open and airy.
