Colors such as Arugula SW 6446 (157-C6), Grays Harbor Grays Harbor SW 6236 (222-C6) and Caviar SW 6990 (251-C2) help a Georgia design team reimagine a home style typically known for walls painted white.

With its comfortable juxtaposition of clean lines and charm, there’s no denying the appeal — and popularity — of modern farmhouse style. In most cases, a palette of pale neutrals plays heavily into the look. But Will and Cristina Stevenson’s new home in the historic Atlanta suburb of Decatur takes a decidedly more colorful detour. “Color and pattern were in Will and Cristina’s vision early in the project,” says Nicole Jui, project architect with Terracotta Design Build. “They further modernize the farmhouse look.”

You wouldn’t necessarily know it from outside, where the home’s fiber-cement siding and working wood shutters are painted Pure White SW 7005 (255-C1) and Iron Ore SW 7069 (251-C7), respectively — but brilliant color strikes as soon as you step inside the front door and catch glimpse of dining room walls covered with Still Water SW 6223 (219-C7). “It balances the living room on the other side [of the entry],” Jui says. “It’s dramatic.”

 

Walls painted Still Water SW 6223 ensure the dining room’s atmosphere is on colorful par with dinnertime conversation. The design team chose ProMar^® 200 Zero VOC Interior Latex Paint not only for this space, but for the rest of the house, too.

 

 

The family room’s wood windows and metal doors, painted Caviar SW 6990, pop against walls painted Shoji White SW 7042. “That contrast between the black and white speaks to the modern farmhouse look,” Project Architect Nicole Jui says. Jui collaborated with a team including Ili Hidalgo-Nelson, architect, and Katelyn Rountree, interior designer, on the new home’s design.

The idea of balance places bold and bright colors between pale neutrals throughout the house. Sandstone SW 7547 (284-C2) on the living room’s walls and Pure White SW 7005 (255-C1) on the kitchen’s cabinets, for instance, give way to Caviar SW 6990 (251-C2) on the mudroom’s cabinets and window and door trim, and Open Air SW 6491 (172-C1) on the sun porch’s ceiling.

 

Light blue is a quintessential choice for porch ceilings in the South. In the Stevensons’ sun porch, it’s Open Air SW 6491.

The approach extends upstairs, too, where a hallway and lounge painted Shoji White SW 7042 (254-C4) connect to more colorful bedrooms suites, including that of the Stevensons’ young son, Henry. “We wanted something fun for him to grow into but that would also apply to him now,” Jui says. Her design team’s choice? Walls in North Star SW 6246 (255-C1) punctuated with a big accent stripe in Arugula SW 6446 (157-C6). “It’s not your typical boy’s room color — it’s kind of unexpected,” she says.

 

A stripe of Arugula SW 6446 pairs with bright furnishings to energize son Henry’s bedroom. The same green carries into the vanity cabinet in his adjacent bath.

That was precisely the idea not only for Henry’s room, but for the entire house. “All along, we wanted to bring it out of that expected farmhouse look,” Jui says. “And we did it by being more colorful and playful.”

 

Cabinets provide the perfect opportunity to introduce pops of color. In the main bath, the choice was Grays Harbor SW 6236 (222-C6).

Design and construction by Terracotta Design Build, ©2020. All rights reserved.

Photography by Jeff Herr