I watch a lot of HGTV shows, and Designed to Sell is one of my favorites. If I can’t sit down and give my full attention to an episode, I love catching design nuggets while I’m doing other things. I had the show on Friday night while I was preparing to meet some friends for dinner when designer Monica Pedersen said something that stopped me in my tracks.
Lavender, Monica said, is the new beige. On this episode, Monica helps the Jacobs, a family of six, design their 1920s Colonial to sell so that they can move to Sweden. In the dining room, Monica is inspired by a blue-and-white, 18th century plate and convinces the couple to paint the space lavender to serve as a modern backdrop for the family heirloom. Kudos to the Jacobs for being willing to go outside the box. About the finished room, they said: “It works!” A potential buyer called the room traditional but also funky. What do you think?
Lovely in Lavender?
Whether or not you like the lavender, I think this dining room works. Just look at the before picture:
A Dining Room Not Designed to Sell
If you missed this episode – which also features a fabulous living room and sunroom makeover – mark your calendars for March 12 at 6 p.m. when you can see it again. Click here to find out more about the program schedule and the products used in this episode.
What do you think about the lavender? Would you use it as a neutral? Where would you use it besides in a little girl’s room?
Both work for me. The lavender takes a little getting used to. I am not sure that is the color of choice for this colonial design. I like the arrangement, not sure about the color. Sort of liked the original color. That is just me. Benigna Marko
i think gold and red is today’s grey and pink.
I like Monica but this is not her best work. I thought the ‘after’ picture was the ‘before’ picture at first… no really, this is pretty bad to be honest. The lavendar walls and traditional detail call for the lovely chandelier and white curtains that were in the room to begin with. The table needs a table cloth in lavenderor blue shades to bring out the white dishes and to hide the yellow wood, and a different centerpiece that is airy and light.
Lavender is definitely not the new beige but it is a great option if used right. Not sure that it actually works here as well as intended. The large dark cabinet sucks all color off that wall. Paint it white!
I do not like the lavender at all. I would be very unhappy with this makeover!!
I saw that, too. I was amazed that the homeowners didn’t put up more of a fight – not necessarily b/c lavender is a bad choice but because a lot of homeowners seem to do that on TV.
Here’s a suggestion: BE HAPPY YOU GOT CHOSEN TO HAVE A MAKEOVER AND TRUST THE EXPERTS WHO COME TO HELP YOU!!!
I liked the lavender. Don’t know if I’d do it myself, but it works surprisingly well
I happen to love lavender. I think that was a bold and brave move to use it as a color choice for getting a house ready to sell. I honestly wouldn’t think it would work for most people. I guess it would also depend on the shade whether it was dark or light. Kuddos to the homeowners for the bravery, way to go!
I think that lavender is a fantastic idea. I think any color is a great idea as long as it’s done in the right context. For example, my grandmother has wonderful palette for design and her kitchen is an electric lime green. This shade is one that any person would look at and scoff, but she has used a mix of dark chocolate and dark cherry cabinets in the kitchen and black marble counter tops and it looks awesome! I always so, don’t be afraid of color….express yourself. I know you Judson’s have no problem in that area!
Unfortunately, I like the “before” one. The wall color and window treatment seem softer and warmer.
I agree. That makeover doesn’t look much like a makeover at all. I think the “before” picture does seem softer with the color that was previously in the room. Lavender does not seem like a good color choice for a formal dining room.
What was she thinking?? HGTV is my favorite TV station and I am also a former real estate agent and I have learned a lot from both sources. Monica didn’t just miss this one a little, she missed it a lot. Certainly trends come and go but “neutral”, when sprucing up to sell a home, will never mean lavender. I agree with the earlier comment, I like the before picture better.
Thanks, Katy, It sounds like you may remember the photos I posted of my new home in a post late last year. Our kitchen is also a bright green that shocks many people at first. But then, once they’ve spent a little time in the room and realize how everything works together (like it sounds like your grandmother has done in her kitchen), naysayers are pleasantly surprised.
I don’t know what it is about bold, different color. It can scare people. It can turn people off. But once they give it a chance, if they’re honest, they like it. Too bold for their own space? Perhaps, and that is the beauty of creative expression.
Glad to hear your grandmother isn’t afraid of a little color. The best thing about color is: you can ALWAYS just paint over it.
Lavender is not the new beige and shouldn’t be used in a house that needs to be sold, IMHO. Some people may love it, but it’s going to turn a lot of potential buyers off. The whole point of designing to sell is to make a house appealing to as many people as possible. I think the “before” room was fine. I like the wall color and light fixture better than those in the “after” picture.
Nooo Way! Lavender is not neutral. I love to add color to my home but painting such a room such as the dining room lavender is not a choice I could make. Perhaps a bedroom or powder room. But trying to convince my husband to have his dinner in a lavender dining room…
I have to say lavender is not my color nor do I consider lavender a neutral color however; I thought the room looked good. I think the color is calming which is good during a meal.
I used lavendar as a room color for my daugter’s bedroom, and toned it down with a grid pattern feature wall with blocks of white, a mid-range plum color, a few blocks of golden yellow, and blocks of a lavendar with gray mixed, giving it a muted appearance. I added soft pinks and pale green with pillows and bedding. Other pillows pulled in the feature wall colors & the original lavendar color. It is a very taste-specific room, but it looks lovely, and my daughters love it. But neutral, it is NOT!! A muted lavendar (mixed with gray) might work in a laundry room or mud room, or perhaps even a powder room, but it should only be used in small accents in the public rooms of a home. I think Monica made a mistake on this room…
No, no, no. I too thought it was the before picture. I’m not a fan of the golden yellow but prefer it over the lavender. Absolutely NO! It wouldn’t make me want to buy!
I LOVE lavender!!!! HOWEVER—-in this case, I think it’s a mistake with the yellow tones in the table. Also don’t like the dark wood in the hutch and the dark blinds. It may have worked better if she had kept the white curtains and lighter accent table that had been there originally, and added a white element to the table such as placemats or tablecloth.
Good for you!
I’m not sure I would put that lavendar in my dining room, but I like the way it works for them. I love the hues that nature does with my lavendar plants and the clover in our fields. I have not been able to match them perfectly in paint, yet. My bedroom is a deep lavendar with very pale lavendar ceiling.The accent color is pale yellow. My living room is called “Rasin” which is a dark grape color with a pale grape color ceiling.Everything else in the room is the neautral beige. I also painted my stairway and upstairs landing a burnt orange.Brown being the second color. Haven’t gotten tired of the color yet. The reason I tell you this is because for too long everything in my house was neutral. I am so tired of that neutral thing! While I’m at it you might as well know that my dining room is basically neutral beige, with deep green accents (a little burgandy) That way the red/white kitchen and deep forest green bath blend in. Yes, I’ll take color anytime over the “right thing to do” neutral.
The new Lavender is NOT the new Neutral!! I think that would be a mistake to leave that color. I would have to repaint back to beige. I still like the neutral colors as beige is relaxing and calm. That would be the color that I would stay with. The lavender may work in a bedroom, but that would be the only room. Monica should change that color…
Designed to sell is my favorite show. I love Monica and lavender. I just redecorated my master to change it out. However I do not like it here, mixed with gray or not it still works best with white.
But lets give Monica the benefit of the doubt, maybe it just didn’t photograph well.
Not too keen on the lavender for this particular space. I personally like the original color but definately needs some
hints of other colors around the room to make it glow, warm and inviting. Colors to make the table pop and a better match of furniture or choose colors to bring it all together.
I say beige but thats just me and I also was wondering if any one knew if there was a good size closet in the guest bedroom???
I liked the before better too! If I would have walked in this home with lavender walls I would have said “Thats the first wall to be painted”! Yuck!!! That is NOT neutral!
I like both the before and after. For this particular dining room, I think the before looks better. However, I think both are too stylized to meet “neutral” standards for selling a home.
I would use lavender in my home – I’m thinking in a master bathroom with a complimentary tile floor, tile shower, a HUGE spa tub, double vanity and attached walk-in closet. Welcome to my dream home. *sigh* Back to reality.
Home and Garden section of the Washington Post has featured articles and discussions about lavender being the new neutral since spring of ’07. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050200623.html Here are some excerpts:
“Go really pale or really deep,” says Chicago designer Anne Coyle. “Avoid midrange because it tends to look childish.” “The best shades are those that have been paled-down, dirtied, weathered,” says London designer and author Stephanie Hoppen. “This makes them sophisticated rather than sweet…”
From the business perspective as a realtor, I’m quite familiar with the phrase ‘neutralize it’. The lavender would likely work against a seller, so we would suggest they paint, NOT necessarily beige. There are a lot of terrific colors that might not be a first choice for the buyer, but they can see past it. Most won’t however, see past all the distractions in the makeover room. There is WAY too much going on with the patterns in the plates, candlesticks, blinds, radiator cover and small chair. This is the kind of room that they later talk about and say “Crown molding? I don’t remember any crown molding”.
On a personal note…I am looking for the perfect lavender/grey for my master bedroom…LOVE IT!
I agree with some of the other posts, that this was not one of Monica’s best design ideas. I don’t think the lavender was a good choice to use with the COLONIAL design elements, it wasn’t a good match. The lavender is a soothing color, so with the right furniture/decor, I think it would be a fantastic color in a dining room.
Color, color, and more color in various values. Often turn to the HG Sites for the color combination and the inspiration when working with a piece of artwork. One favorite dream; to have one of my pieces compliment even the smallest of wall space with in one of the Green HOMES. Reserve the BIG dream for moving in and actually putting the artwork up there to view on a one to one moment in time. Dreams and motivation that’s what your site excels around. Thank you
oh-main reason why was going to post….perhaps the problem is not the Lavender…..Its the furniture ……….
MY SON, SINGLE AND MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL ALWAYS WATCH THE SHOW HGTV 24 HOURS A DAY IF HE IS ALONE AND I AM NOT THERE TO VISIT HIM. HE LIVES IN A STUDIO APARTMENT. MAYBE, ONE DAY, HE CAN HAVE HIS DREAM HOUSE, EVEN SMALL BUT PERFECT FOR A BACHELOR LIKE HIM. HE IS YOUR BIGGEST FAN. THANK YOU SO MUCH. E J.
I hate the lavender, I would have never choose that color. It might have worked in a little girls room but it doesn’t work here. I would have taken advantage of the two separate spaces and painted the bottom portion maybe a shade deeper and then painted the top part lighter using a flat base paint.
No, no, no… it’s not neutral. Most men, many women would not like it at all. The only way to pull it off would be if the room were so spectacular, so full of beautiful accents and sparkle that the wall color becomes secondary to the overall design.
The before room was a lot closer to the most neutral. The plates and things all about make the room too busy. The lavender only adds to the “too busy look.” The china hutch looks formal but the window treatments are too casual. The dining table is too light colored for the hutch. She would have been wise to add some placemats to bring some dark accents to the table. The plates look like something my grandmother would do.
The yellow is too strong, but it is much better than the lavender. The light fixture & accessories were better in the ‘before’ pic. The one thing I did like better in the ‘after’ was the use of more blue transferware plates – that would have looked good in the ‘before’. I like lavender but not this time. (My bathroom was ready for repainting & I repainted it the exact same periwinkle that it was before as I just love the colour.)
one word- AWFUL
There is just something about the color “lavender” that makes me want to vomit, but the yellow was like someone shouting at me. If I had to make a choice for my house, I might try the lavender only much lighter, like it almost wasn’t there.
I agree with most of the others. I wouldn't use lavendar in the dining room. I would use a lovely medium green with white aaccents.
my boyfriend and I were talking about doing our new dining room in a pale blue-lavender (cold-toned grey) to add interest and compliment a theme based on the vintage 1930s art deco hanging fixture over the dining table. the room is currently large, white, and stark. The fixture was painted a matte black by the previous owner, and I was planning on adding a new, fresh coat of paint to this- keeping it black but freshening it up and perhaps a bit more shiny (eggshell?) ….we are also doing a corner bar and a wall of family photos in dark wood colored frames, as well as using a huge mahogany buffet, a mahogany colored dining set, and a mahogany corner china hutch (opposite corner to the future but not yet installed bar)….with all these large dark-colored wood pieces I thought the pale blue-grey-lavender would lighten and freshen up the room and give that vintage/funky speak-easy feel we want, but still be elegant enough for a formal dining room – and neutral enough for various table linens i.e. holiday linens in deep reds and greens – I think the trick is to keep it very pale and not too pink or blueish.
Thoughts?