If mixing gray with beige makes minimalist and neutral greige, what does mixing an electric-teal pleather sofa with hints of citrusy yellow and orange make? For some the answer is, quite simply, “a raucous nightmare.” For Cure Design Group’s Cori Dyer, it’s home. “My grandfather was an artist and he used to paint upstairs all day,” the interior designer explains. “Art — color — has always…I don’t know. Color is part of who I am. I’m just a color person.”
Having an effortless relationship with color is a fight hard-won, as anyone that’s browsed magazines or random corners of the Internet for inspiration in the last few years can tell you. Current trends lean minimal. Neutral. Bold color, which many consider busy or complicated, doesn’t have much representation on the palette. Matter-of-factly, Dyer says that this all-encompassing neutral craze is one based in fear. “I think people are afraid of making a mistake with color. People are on the side of being timid, and especially with the way the trends are now — neutral colors and clean, colorless kitchens are all people see.”
Luckily, Dyer’s love of color — and her amazing technicolor household in Wildwood — have made her an authority on the subject and a paradigm worthy of study. Decked out in sunny oranges, sultry teals and fiery reds and pinks, her home doubles as her showroom, revealing how color can be used to create depth, dimension and interest.
“One of my neighbors calls my house ‘The Museum.’ There are always people coming in and out of it to see what they can do with color.” While there is much to look at in the space, it is also extremely comfortable and liveable. Dyer uses these visits as opportunities to get to the bottom of what people are afraid of, breaking down the barriers that are keeping them from using color on even a minimal scale. Color, according to Dyer, can be tempered. Consistency is key.
“Every room in my house has a portion of black and white. I use it as a neutral because for one, it’s timeless and it has an amazing contrast. I love mixing large and smaller pattern scales [of black and white] with color. It makes everything ‘not crazy.’”
Dyer isn’t looking to “scare them out of their shoes,” so she’ll usually suggest that clients incorporate color with a large investment piece, like art or an area rug. “I’ll start there, and it usually encourages them to use a little more color.”
Not everyone is ready for that much color in their home; she knows that color is, often, for the bold. But she feels that everyone — everyone — can benefit from layering color with classics and neutrals, finding space for the rainbow among their fifty shades of greige.
“I hope that my home is an anomaly in Wildwood,” Dyer laughs. “We’re exposed to so much [design,] you have to eventually choose what’s going to be yours. It’s harder than ever to bring in color, but I can show people a way to bring it in and really love it. They just have to trust me.”
Resources:
Appliances: Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery
Artwork/Antiques: The Refind Room, Warson Woods Antiques Gallery
Builder/Remodler: House & Home Remodeling
Cabinetry: J Voss Cabinet Shop, ProSource
Carpet/Wood/Floor Covering: ProSource
Closet: Closet Factory
Furniture: KDR Designer Showrooms, Design & Detail
Glass/Mirror: Thermal Concepts Home Products
Granite Fabricator: Hallmark Stone Co., Stonetrend
Interior Designer: Cure Design Group
Lighting: METRO Lighting
Plumbing Fixtures: Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery
Tile/Granite Supplier: Unique Tile
Window Treatments: Material Girl
Window/Door: Wilke Window & Door
