Remodeling this two-story Uptown apartment presented designer Katie Schroder with a challenge: “The husband is very conservative; the wife is not,” she says. “She loved the fact that we are a very color-forward firm, but he was a little scared.”

Living with color wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to the couple. For years, they’ve been amassing a collection of 20th-century modern art that includes vibrant works by Avedon, Miró, and Warhol, and the wife collects midcentury American glass, “particularly for its bright colors,” she says. Even so, “hot pink isn’t something that I often deal with,” the husband says—at least, not until Schroder got her hands on his living room. Here, the designer shares her secrets to creating bold rooms that even a color-skeptic could love.

5280 Home June/July 2021
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1. Start Simply

“Because I like color so much, I like to start with a simple floor and a light neutral wall,” Schroder says of the quiet backdrop she created with white-oak floors and walls painted Benjamin Moore’s warm White Dove. “It was a surprise to [me and my husband] how well the colors of the furnishings work with the art,” the homeowner says. “I think sticking to the consistent wall color—taking that element out of the competition—really helped.”

Schroder transformed an unused corner of the main floor—“which was just screaming for a banquette,” she says—into a comfy nook for casual meals and family games. The custom bench’s colorful upholstery fabric by Pollack complements the homeowners’ collection of vintage rock concert posters from the Bill Gra- ham Presents collection. Photo by Emily Minton Redfield
Schroder used the homeowners’ existing rug as a jumping-off point for a palette that includes a purple-velvet-upholstered bed by Lazar Industries, blue bedside tables from Brownstone Furniture, and a Vanguard bench enlivened by a jewel-toned burnout-velvet fabric. Photo by Emily Minton Redfield
An updated staircase, with new black-painted steel railing and white- oak treads, provided the perfect backdrop for the complete “Song” series by American fashion photographer Francesco Scavullo, who captured iconic musicians including Diana Ross, Debbie Harry, Luciano Pavarotti, Ravi Shankar, and Cher. Photo by Emily Minton Redfield
“Because I like color so much, I like to start with a simple floor and a light neutral wall,” Schroder says of the quiet backdrop she created with white-oak floors and walls painted Benjamin Moore’s warm White Dove. “It was a surprise to [me and my husband] how well the colors of the furnishings work with the art,” the homeowner says. “I think sticking to the consistent wall color—taking that element out of the competition—really helped.” Photo by Emily Minton Redfield

2. Build a Palette

In an open floor plan like this, a cohesive color scheme is key, Schroder says. But that doesn’t mean limiting yourself to just two or three hues. “I think the more colors in a palette, the better,” says the designer, who pulled a rainbow of jewel tones from the couple’s art onto textiles, cabinetry, and tile. Andy Warhol’s “Ingrid Bergman with Hat” inspired the living room’s raspberry-pink velvet and ocean-blue chenille armchairs, as well as the adjacent dining area’s wall of federal-blue cabinetry by Caruso Kitchens.

3. Add Some Texture

Texture, like pattern, is all about the mix—“something smooth, something linen-like, something chunky-monkey,” Schroder says. On the main floor, she chose a vinyl for the banquette seat and counter stools, “knowing there’s a sheen to it,” and a classic wool tweed for the living room sofa, “for a matte, men’s-suiting vibe,” while the blue chenille fabric on the tall-back chairs “has a lot of movement.”

4. Create Layers

When taking color cues from fabric or art, Schroder warns against being too literal. “I enjoy pulling out a color that’s least represented in a fabric so that the rest of the colors shine,” she says, “or not addressing some of the colors within a fabric at all, so that the palette looks interesting and layered.” Another layering technique: the two-fabric chair, as seen in the dining room, where Schroder upholstered the seats with a solid velvet and the backs with a print, “so you get that ooh as you walk around,” she says.

Schroder took cues from Andy Warhol’s vibrant portraits of Annie Oakley and Ingrid Bergman when furnishing the living room in bright pinks and blues, including a pair of raspberry-velvet-upholstered swivel chairs and high-back armchairs from CR Laine. Photo by Emily Minton Redfield
Cabinetry by Caruso Kitchens—with a white finish on the uppers and a federal-blue hue on the base—pairs with a backsplash of laser-cut marble tile from Decorative Materials “that has 50 shades of blue and white in it,” Schroder says. Photo by Emily Minton Redfield

5. Play With Patterns

Like many clients, this couple was drawn to patterns with a similar style and scale. “But I warned, ‘It’s going to look flat if we stay in that zone,’” Schroder says. “When I think about mixing patterns, there should be a stripe, a solid, and a woven, and a mix of large, medium, and small scales.” Or, in the case of this home’s main bedroom, a Persian-rug print, a geometric burnout velvet, and a classic Greek key motif. Ever a dull moment? Not in this house.