It's The Great Pumpkin (colored room) Charlie Brown

Fall is my favorite time of year...when cool temperatures bring relief to the heat of summer, the trees unleash a canvas of color, and nothing sounds better than curling up under a blanket with a cup of cider and a good book. I'm also drawn to the colors of fall--deep browns, warm oranges, and earthy yellows. The heart of our house is decked out in a harvest color scheme--orange tweeds mix with brown leather and harvest colored stripes in the great room, and the orange is carried onto the walls of the adjoining kitchen and morning room. Now, I've often questioned the decision of having those orange kitchen walls. Every party ends up in the kitchen, and so every single photograph that anyone has ever taken in our house is on the orange background of the kitchen. It's not always the most flattering backdrop.

But, photography issues aside, I am enjoying the resurgence orange has been seeing the past few years. The memory of the decorative horror that was the seventies meant a long hiatus for orange, but in honor of Halloween, I want to share the following orange rooms that show just how versatile and dramatic the color can be.

An orange runner and painted stripe punctuate an otherwise monochromatic foyer.

A deep spice orange gives warmth to this study. (Love the graphic artwork over the loveseat!)

Orange is right at home in a contemporary setting too. Here, it has been used as a graphic accent over a bed.

Pumpkin color walls and matching draperies with gorgeous tassel trim make this room warm and inviting.

In this crisp bathroom, a bright orange paint repeats one of the colors from the tile wall, bringing warmth and depth to a room whose clean lines might look cold with a more neutral color scheme.

 

Glossy light orange walls are a great backdrop for the graphic art in this foyer. The striped vestibule makes this space feel like a chic Tim Burton set.

 The peachy orange walls of this traditional foyer show just how versatile shades of orange can be.

And finally, this gorgeous foyer. If your neighbor said they were painting their foyer orange and black, would you ever dream the result would be this elegant? The black trim really makes the spice orange walls POP, and the color gives the botanical gallery weight--those prints would feel lost on a beige wall.