Great Room Reveal- Choosing a Color Scheme for a Modern Vacation House

I was just reading a post about deciding how you want a space to make you feel, and working from there. In our vacation house we knew we wanted walls of glass, a "glass box in the woods" if you will, and simple, clean, modern lines inside.

Coming from our architecture backgrounds we knew this could easily lead us to an all-white color scheme, which was NOT what I wanted at all. The forest outside is so beautiful with all those green leaves, brown, textured trunks, white snow (in winter), and bright blue sky, that I wanted something to compliment the outside, which is so much the focus of the main room.



So, so many homes in the mountains go for a traditional mountain or woodsy vibe with dark colors, leather, wood paneling, low lights, and we also knew we didn't want that look either. The now-commonplace strategy is to go for a mountain modern vibe, which combines both the mountain greens, browns and taupes with the "modern" elements like metal accents or white walls. For us, this also fails far too often and we knew we needed to go a different direction.



Enter our chosen color palette of white walls, neutral big pieces (sofa, counters, cabinets) and pops of bright red, orange and pink. We went the other way, traveling across the color wheel to find the complimentary colors to the outdoors, and I think the end result is perfect for us! Even the toys and books are playing nicely within the color scheme:)

Still plenty of clean lines, the throws on the couch are neutrals that just layer and add texture without screaming at you, and the throw pillows are accents, not bright patterns. Of course the red rag poufs in the middle are a bit louder, but I think they are nicely balanced by the surrounding sofa, and most importantly for us, our kids ADORE them, and will sit semi-quietly on them and watch TV while we drink tea, talk, or enjoy a glass of wine with friends.

Couch is the Reese sectional from Room and Board, hide rug from Joss and Main, red rag rug poufs from West Elm, Oliver chairs from West Elm, toy storage from Land of Nod, TV console is the Frasier media console from Pottery Barn (now discontinued), throws and pillows from Target and West Elm.

This color scheme totally carries through in the kid bathroom, and then starts to be a bit more specialized in the bedrooms where we happily cater to each child's needs, and my own need to not wake up in a bright red room, when all I want in life is a blue and white bedroom, much to my husband's constant regret:)

All those room reveals are coming up, so keep coming back! I think I'm on a Tuesday-and-Thursday schedule, which seems to balance being an actual/active/pregnant mom-of-three and having a life off of the computer:)

Jessica