Designer-Approved Secrets to Decorating Fearlessly with Color

New York designer Sasha Bikoff is known for her fearless use of color. With a background in fine arts, she takes inspiration from her travels, nature, artwork, and anything else that moves her to create exuberant yet sophisticated spaces—and she wants you to do the same. “It takes a great amount of confidence, but at the same time, you want to surround yourself with the things that you love and with the color that inspires you. If that’s going to make you happy then that’s what you should go for,” she says. Bikoff shares her top tips for gaining confidence with color.

The Secret to Combining Kaleidoscopic Colors

“In order to choose bold colors from the beginning, you need an inspiration. A lot of times the bold colors and the combination are already right in front of you—for instance, in a carpet, painting, tapestry, or printed fabric. One client was really inspired by their garden. I said, ‘Let’s formulate a color palette that’s like a bouquet.’ Each room ended up being inspired by a different flower.

The Easiest Way to Add Color to a Room

“Through the carpet or rug. It’s really easy to find an area rug that’s colorful, doesn’t necessarily break the bank, is pretty easy to install and ship, and covers a lot of area. Decorative accents like pillows and throws are also really easy ways to add color into a room. Lastly, simply find furniture that’s in a color—an accent chair or a coffee table. Once you have to paint or do wallpaper or reupholster something, it gets a little bit more complicated, but those three items are click and ship.”

Unexpected Places to Use Color

“There are all these small, intimate, private moments within a house where you can add color and you can get that ‘ooh, aah’ moment when you’re living within the space. That could be a powder room, it could be a closet, it could be inside shelves or inside cabinets. I did a project where the kitchen was all white oak and the walls were cream, but you opened up the pantry door and the whole pantry was painted tangerine.”

What’s Been You’re Favorite Color Makeover?

“I just completed a really gratifying paint makeover. This space hadn’t been touched since the 90s. We had such a short amount of time and such limited resources to get it done. We ended up applying high gloss paint to all the surfaces in different shades of red. We kept the millwork in the space because we didn’t have the budget to take it off and redo the walls. So we just sanded down all the old wood millwork and painted over it and it made such a difference.”

Choosing a Paint Finish

“I always prefer to use a specialty finish because it enhances the color—a high gloss or pearlescent or a lime wash or a clay wash or some kind of plaster. I think it adds a layer of sophistication and texture that gives color new meaning as opposed to flat or matte paint.”