Interior designer April Jensen, founder of St. Louis-based ADJ Interiors, has been long sought after for her deft use of color in design. But even the clients who hire her based on the colorful rooms they see in her portfolio can hesitate to commit to a palette. “It’s kind of scary for people, even though they say they want it. A lot of the time it’s fear of commitment. Will I like this forever? Will this go out of style?”
To ease color into a home, Jensen moves slowly but with purpose. If a client is unsure about bathing the kitchen cabinets in a forest green or sky blue shade, she’ll often suggest a less expensive alternative that’s easier to change down the road, such as throw pillows or a single chair. Practicality, and a desire to not be wasteful, are considerations that she often hears from homeowners, so “you need to meet them in their comfort zone,” she says.
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But meeting them where it’s comfortable doesn’t mean color fades into the background–it’s actually quite the opposite. “Even if someone tells me they want a very neutral aesthetic, we try to introduce some color from the beginning as a placeholder–so it’s non-committal. ‘This color that you’re seeing here could represent art. It could represent something larger.’ But it kind of holds a place in their mind so that they get used to seeing it,” she says. Then, when it’s time to make the final decision, it’s a bit easier because the client has been seeing the color all along.
Visualizing what that color will look like in a space is one of the biggest challenges for most homeowners. To help clients see how color influences a room, Jensen will have color renderings drawn up to get them over the hump. But her most successful projects, she says, are those that are built on relatability, such as when color is experienced through clothes—”because everyone gets dressed”—or in nature.
To discover the colors that appeal to you, take photos and think about the pictures you took and why. “I take the silliest pictures, but then I’ll go back through and I’m like, ‘Oh, it was the texture of that moss. It was the sun that day. It was my hydrangeas when they first bloomed,” says Jensen.
Also keep in mind the role that color plays in your life. For instance, you may love the color red but you might not like to wear it. Or, you like color but you prefer to channel it through accents, such as through your shoes or jewelry. Likewise, in a home, a client may feel great with a saturation of color in the laundry room or the powder room, but everyday spaces carry just a hint of the hue through wallpaper or splashes of color. “People will commit to their bar, their butler’s pantry, their powder room, their laundry room. They’ll take the chance on those safe spaces and then we go all the way,” she says.
Color, like art, elicits feelings in people. “I’m sure if I were to do a deep dive into the colors that I was surrounded by growing up, I’m sure these would be the colors that still feel the most comfortable to me,” says Jensen. Take the time to notice what you’re drawn to and develop your own look. “There is a casualty for clients to overthink. Just go with your gut,” says our designer. “Learn to listen to yourself. Your gut is usually not wrong.”
