The Rainbow Home: Over 200 Ideas and Tips for Adding Color to Your Home

Perryman (The Color Bible), director of the design consultancy Colour of Saying, encourages readers to decorate with bright, vivid hues in this scintillating interior design manual. Her “ten steps to a colorful home” include creating a mood board, starting small with “a brightly colored vase or tablecloth,” and then getting bolder with a vibrant statement chair or rug surrounded by items of lighter, complementary colors. Profiling individuals with brightly hued homes, she shows how accessory shop owner Polly Chromatic imbued her house with a sense of play by painting polka dots throughout the entryway and installing a rainbow-striped skylight in her bedroom. The main draw, however, are the bountiful photos illustrating creative ways to spruce up each room of the house. For instance, Perryman shows how wavy stripes painted onto the ceiling can brighten a living room; how painting upper, middle, and lower kitchen cabinets different shades “creates a sleek horizon to help with the perception of space”; and how a patterned finish on a dining room table adds “visual interest and play.” There’s no shortage of tips on how to embrace color without overwhelming a space (e.g., “neutrals and graphic whites work well as backdrops as they enhance bold accent colors”), and the brilliant interiors demonstrate inventive possibilities. Anyone looking to redecorate their home boldly would do well to start here. (Apr.)