Meet Our 2024 Color Stars: 10 Designers Who Make Decorating with Color Easy

We’re tickled pink to introduce our 2024 class of Color Stars! These design geniuses expertly wield hues from the bold to the barely there to create unforgettable spaces that set a mood. Each expert has a true gift for working with color, but there’s no need to be green with envy—here, they share their wisdom with us. Consider these tips—including their favorite paint picks—hues you can use.

Dabito

Designer, artist, influencer, and author of Old Brand New (which is also the name of his design firm), Dabito brings an artist’s eye to interiors, skillfully color blocking to turn rooms into masterpieces. “For me, color blocking is just contrasting color, creating a negative space and a positive space: a white wainscoting on the bottom and yellow on the wall or painting the ceiling a different color than the walls. I also love painting just the door or just the baseboards,” he says.

His secret to pairing colors is to tweak the combos so they don't look too obvious. “If a color combination is too recognizable, I’ve got to pivot, tone down the colors, or amp up something to make the tension a little bit different." Purple and yellow could go to aubergine and mustard for example. How clean a color is also matters. ”Deeper tones feel more elevated and easier to adapt. When paint has a little more black or gray in it, it becomes a bit more neutral and not as in-your-face as a hot pink or neon yellow,” says Dabito.

”Once you have your palette, tie all the spaces together by sprinkling similar colors in each room,” he says. This can be done with paint, furniture, and accessories. ”It’s easy to color block with furniture by picking a solid-color sofa and playing with warm and cool contrasting colors. For example, choose a couch in a warm hue like yellow and pair it with an accent or coffee table in a cool hue like green.”

Hilary Matt

What’s black and white and gorgeous all over? A room by New York City-based designer, Hilary Matt. In her hands, the classic combo takes a thoroughly modern turn. Nuance, she says, is her trick for pairing white with black in a way that feels bold and livable. “I would never do all stark white. Neutrals to me would be whites mixed with beiges and off-whites and creams and oatmeals,” she says.

Those colors extend to furnishings as well as paint. ”Texture—in the sofa fabric, carpet, chairs, wallpaper—is important when you’re working with a monochromatic palette. The mix of all that makes a room feel lush and alive even though it is all neutral,” say Hilary.

Also think about the finish of each paint color. ”You get enough contrast with black and white. Aside from stair rails, the paint finish needs to be matte. A shiny black is too jarring and gets too jazzy. On walls, I always do matte washable so you can wipe off any marks—the Magic Eraser is my best friend.”

Jessica Davis

The founder of Atelier Davis, which has offices in Georgia and New Jersey, interior designer Jessica Davis combines wood and color with the greatest of ease. “If you have a cool or a neutral palette, wood adds warmth and texture to something that otherwise could be flat. It’s also a nice foil to color blocking and works really well with saturated colors,” says Jessica.

But while she mixes masterfully, she’s not looking to match. “You never want to have more than two primary colors together. The third color has to be something that’s slightly different—like taking it one notch from yellow to slightly greener yellow—if you don’t want it to look too juvenile.”

Jessica also favors art for adding color in a big way and says it doesn't need to match your furnishings. "You could select a modern piece that’s really colorful and put it in an understated traditional room and make an impact." Think about the type of art as well. "Art with depth, like in a floater frame or on a canvas, works nicely on a wood-paneled wall,” she says.

Beyond natural wood paneling, she's also a fan of going the opposite direction—super sleek glossy walls. “I love a high-gloss lacquer to bounce light around, but it’s risky because it shows all the flaws. There are some cool new wallpapers out that mimic high gloss and make it a lot easier to get a saturated, glossy color.”

Ariel Okin

Pastels pack a punch in the hands of New York-based interior designer Ariel Okin, who proves gentler hues can be soft, strong, and stunning all at once. ”Pastels are a great clarifying color; they can take the heaviness or moodiness of a room down quickly and brighten a space instantly. We love to lacquer in pastel for a high-gloss finish that feels jewel-boxy,” she says.

Don't forget to shake things up a bit though. “Every palette needs something a little off to make it feel collected—like a tiny hit of an acidic or buttery color, such as chartreuse or marigold. Pastels need anchoring hues that are darker or jewel tone, like olive green, chocolate brown, rust, or plum, to bounce off and keep them from feeling too sweet or saccharine. It gives pastels more clarity. I love chocolate brown, burgundy, and robin’s egg blue together.”

Variety benefits a monochromatic palette as well. “Playing with variations of the same general hue is what keeps quieter color schemes interesting and from feeling too one-note," says Ariel.

It's also important to keep the big picture in mind. ”Think of your home in a comprehensive way, not as individual rooms but as a full story from top to bottom. There has to be a thread that brings the palette through the entire space, even if it’s a little hint of marigold in one room that ties into another where it features more prominently.”

Consider all the different ways you can carry that thread of color through. “Pillows, throws, and paint are fast and easy ways to add color to a room—printed fabric lampshades are one of our favorite things to change a look quickly.”

Kesha Franklin

The creative director of New Jersey-based Halden Interiors, Kesha Franklin gets a gold star for her ability to combine metallic shades in a way that’s elegant, inviting, and unmistakably modern. “I love to mix metals, like brass and bronze, because they work together and make a great foundation for colors," she says.

Playing with different metallic tones—polished, satin, and matte—is key. "If I do black and rose gold, for example, the rose gold would be in the polished finish and the black would be matte. I like that tension; I love a good contrast.”

Even if you're going for a tone-on-tone color scheme, she still suggests adding a bit of variety. ”If you’re taking a monochromatic approach, layer, layer, layer. When you have one color and you kind of gradate those shades, it does make it pop. A combination of textures will also add interest and depth to the room,” says Kesha.

Look beyond actual metal finishes as well. ”Metallic fibers and colors can be found in wallcoverings, fabrics, rugs, and art. Metals are both shiny and flat, so colors like a mustard yellow or a blush pink can translate into a warm brass and a soft rose gold.”

Whichever color you choose, Kesha's golden rule is to bring a swatch or sample inside your home and see how it looks in your lighting—both natural and synthetic—at different times of the day. "Test it out, because lightbulbs—bright white, soft white, cool white, warm white—impact color."

Bobby Berk

Interior and furniture designer—and former cohost of Queer Eye—Bobby Berk is known for his bright, bold personality and gift for transforming a space with neutrals that are anything but boring. “The key to updating light neutrals is to bring in some warm tones—a little splash of camel in a leather ottoman or throw pillow, leather accents in accessories on the table, a sisal rug, or a warmer wood tone. Balance it with earth tones and some black,” he says.

Adding texture is also wildly effective at enlivening a neutral room, says Bobby. ”I like adding drama and dimension to neutrals with different-texture items: chunky, knit, sweaterlike, woven throw pillows or a really texturized rug," he says. "Otherwise, neutrals can be flat and boring.”

Drama can also come into play in the form of a black painted wall. “People often assume that dark walls will make your home feel too dark. But when you add the right amount of black accents to a room balanced with white, it makes your space feel larger. The biggest color risk I’ve taken is persuading my clients to embrace black walls—and they absolutely love them.”

For colors that pair well together, Bobby suggests looking to travel and nature as your color guide. The palette in his own home came from a visit to Sedona and the colors of the Red Rock mountains and the cacti. “I love desert colors: rust, terra-cottas and clays, and cactus colors and creams. Those are the colors I have in my home; I eat, breathe, and sleep those colors. You can use them individually, but I love them together."

Or simply stay home and go through your wardrobe for color cues. ”Your closet is a great place to find out what colors you really love. You’ve already picked these things out, so you’re probably going to love these colors in your home too.”

Leah Ring

When it comes to color, “more is more,” says Leah Ring of Another Human, the Los Angeles-based design firm known for unexpected pairings of strong colors that turn out to play well together. “Pairing strong colors is about mixing cools and warms. A good blue and a good lime green are my go-to's," she says.

She also likes to incorporate a "weird, bright" accent color. "I love a chocolaty brown with a really bright color: magenta or chartreuse or teal. There’s something retro-feeling about those combinations. Using a saturated neutral balances shocking colors.”

Leah suggests thinking about your home's color palette holistically and uniting the undertones of the different paint colors that you're choosing. “If you land on one color you really like, you can build from there, but take the time to consider the nuances of each color. If you picked a yellow with a little brown in it, then your pink should also have a little brown to it—it can’t be too purply.”

Paint aside, Leah recommends window treatments for adding serious color to a room. “Window treatments are an expense, but they add so much color and life and change the feeling of a space in a dramatic way. Even if you’re a renter, that is something I would encourage people to invest in that I think they may overlook. It makes a huge difference in how a space feels.”

Corey Damen Jenkins

For New York City and Michigan-based designer, Corey Damen Jenkins, a love of rich, deep colors adds elegance to everything—from fabric and furniture to entire homes. By using decorative elements "that bind a color scheme together" he expertly weaves even the most saturated jewel tones through a room. "It could be a beautiful multicolor rug, wallcovering, drapery fabric, or artwork that becomes the foundation you pull colors from. It harmonizes the room so it feels natural and cohesive versus forced.”

Paint, says Corey, is the the easiest way to change a room. "If all of your furnishings are neutral, white, cream, or taupe, and you paint the walls a sapphire blue, suddenly those furnishings will contrast in a very bold way. We painted the walls of a 1920s home a dark, beautiful emerald green, and it made the white trim pop so much more boldly because there was now a visual line of demarcation.”

Paint can have a dramatic impact on more than just all four walls—think abut the 'fifth wall' too. “The ceiling is a great spot to make a statement. You can have four white walls and paint your ceiling pink or robin’s-egg blue, then pull that accent out in art, throw pillows, and pieces around the room, and instantly that ceiling has commanded the room with a new color scheme.”

Or take the opposite approach and simply add color with smaller touches. "If you don’t want color all over, play with accessories: objects, vases, accent pieces—a throw on the edge of the sofa, folded, with a little yellow in it. These are ways you can scatter color around the room.”

Heidi Caillier

Her new book is called Memories of Home, so it’s no surprise that Seattle-based designer, Heidi Caillier, is known for nostalgic design that uses historical color in refreshing ways. “I like to use historical colors as the base of a room (they tend to ground a space) then put a spin on it, bringing in something that feels unexpected, whether it’s a grass green or a soft yellow or a crimson that offsets them.”

Even neutrals take on a colorful tone in Heidi's book—both on and off the page. “I tend to view a lot of colors as neutrals, especially when they have muddy undertones. If you add a little bit of brown to a color or muddy it down a little bit, it pretty much works with everything.”

Instead of defaulting to neutral sofa or lounge chair, Heidi suggests embracing color on your upholstery as well. ”Do a blush, lilac, mint green, or celadon; it still feels soft, but it adds depth.”

Mandy Cheng

A former Los Angeles production designer for film, television, and music videos, interior design Mandy Cheng gleans inspiration not from the big screen but from the great outdoors. “My go-to colors are green, a version of terra-cotta, and yellow. These are colors you love in nature, they’re common enough that they’re not terrifying, and they evoke calming emotion,” she says.

Pulling colors from a fabric or wallpaper pattern is a failsafe way to build a room's color palette. “If it’s a floral pattern and there’s an accent in blue, I’ll start with that color and hold paint swatches in various shades of blue next to the wallpaper. I want to pick something that complements it in the same tone, just darker or lighter or desaturated.”

Another short cut to picking colors—"Start with paint brands that have a curated selection so you’re not picking from 4,000 dark greens, but you’re picking among five. They’ve already done the work to tell you which colors look good. Portola, Backdrop, and Farrow & Ball are some of my favorites," says Mandy. Larger paint brands like Sherwin Williams have edited palettes—like their Timeless and Historic collections—that can also be helpful if you want to choose from a tighter group of colors.

Sometimes custom color is the way to go, especially when it comes to high gloss. "If you’re painting cabinets, the color will always appear lighter than the swatch because it’s usually a lacquer, so the formula is different than regular paint, and it reflects light," says Mandy. "I would suggest telling the painter [or the paint store], ‘I want this color, but I want it 25 percent darker.’ That way, it will be the tone you’re looking for."