Howard - Coastal Blues: Mrs. Howards guide to decorating with the colors of the sea and sky

I fell in love with blue long before I became a decorator. Growing up on the beach in Florida, I spent my days a stones throw from the ocean, with wide-open skies above. When I was five, my mother gave in to my pleas and let me paint the walls of my room a pale aqua. I couldnt have been happier.

Decades later, as I started a design career specializing in waterfront homes, I found I wasnt alone. But my clients didnt just like blue, or just love blue. They were obsessed with it, especially for the interiors of their coastal properties. Very quickly, I came to understand why.

Blue connects us to nature more than any other color. But it also connects us to worlds of possibility. We gaze out at the sea, fantasizing about exotic lands, and stare up at the sky, contemplating the limitless universe. Just like the universes unlimited potential, blue knows no bounds. Its variations and versatility are what make it so attractive to so many. Did you know that, statistically speaking, blue is the worlds favorite color?

The hue can range from almost-white ice to nearly black midnight, sliding along a spectrum from grayed-out slate to supersaturated royal, turquoise to sapphire, powder to peacock. Unlike other colors, blue never runs out of ways to express itself, and in all these variations, it remains true. Blue is the only color that maintains its own character in all its tones, the French Fauvist painter Raoul Dufy wisely noted. It will always stay blue.

Blues versatility equals its variety. Since different blues blend before they clash, they dont have to match to mix easily. This makes blue perfect for unifying contrasting patterns and textures. Its also forgiving: You cant make a mistake with blue. And it plays well with others. Theres not a hue on the color wheel that wouldnt call blue a friend.

This flexibility extends to blues emotional effects. Psychologists say blue calms us and puts us in an open-minded mood. Theres even research suggesting it lowers blood pressure and heart rate. It turns out, blue doesnt just look good; it makes us feel good, too.

I take advantage of this constantly, often using blue through an entire waterfront house. I bring on blue, especially in lighter shades, to craft a quiet, reserved atmosphere of serenity. It makes it hard to get upset or aggressive. Stronger blues encourage reflection and stimulate clear thinking. Regardless of shade, blue feels reliable and responsible, sincere and loyal. Theres a reason the expression is true blue.

Classic and timeless, blue transcends trend, and its popularity never fades. Over the years, Ive never decorated a waterfront house whose owner didnt ask for blue. Ive seen how happy it makes clients in their homes, and its been my great joy to share in that happiness.

With this book, I want to open your eyes to blues endless decorating possibilities. I hope its pages will inspire you to dress rooms in this tried and true color in your own coastal home, experimenting with different shades and tones, playing with infinite combinations. Here, youll discover how to swathe a space entirely in blue, how to add accents of it in small touches, and how to do something in between. Youll see rooms of all sizes, shapes, and types taking advantage of blues from across the spectrum, in myriad ways, big and small, indoors and out.

Whether decorating a beach cottage, a riverfront house, or a lakeside lodge, youll find ways to work with coastal blues that are right for you.

A multicolored stripe that includes a rooms various hues helps unify your palette.

Quite a few of my clients collect sea glass, bringing it back from the beaches by their homes to display in little bowls or jars, or to reflect its translucent blues and greens into bathroom or kitchen tiles. Often, we translate the soft hues found in a handful of sea glass into an entire interior. Theres great beautyand poetryin reimagining something delicate that washes ashore as an interior space awash in soothing hues.

And blues and greens do truly soothe when used together. Though an old British maxim warns, Blue and green should never be seen without a color in between, nothing could be further from the truth. The two sit right next to each other on the color wheel, so theres minimal contrast between them. Its sometimes hard to tell where blue ends and green begins, and that subtlety makes for spaces that relax and calm.

To me, and to so many homeowners, a blue-and-green palette is the most natural of choices: Every blue flower has a green leaf, after all. Sapphire waters meet verdant shores, and the sky meets the earth at the horizon. From above, our entire planet looks like an exquisitely marbleized sphere of those two hues.

Wallpaper in wide, low-contrast blue stripes softens the architecture here, while green accents ground lofty proportions.

The two sets of chairs flanking the sofa are of different styles, but both are covered in the same fabric. This creates a sense of implied symmetry that pleases the eye yet has more visual interest than an exact mirror image.