Blue fans take note: The proverbial cool color is getting a verdant update. Teal to peacock, aqua to turquoise, today’s blues are getting a little warmer, a little brighter, a little fresher—that is to say a little greener. Ready to give these lively shades a go?
“When you look at the Caribbean from the air above, you see millions of shades of blue. This is an awe-inspiring experience for your soul,” says Andres Silva, senior designer with Sklar Furnishings. “I try to share that experience in interior spaces by bringing subliminal combinations of blues, teals and neutral colors.” He did exactly that in this Fort Lauderdale Ritz-Carlton Residence by infusing the light-filled living room with vivid hues pulled from the ocean views and using them to enrich shapely furniture, glass sculptures and a wave-patterned rug—all set on a backdrop of white. “Teal really pops when you pair it with neutral tones, and it creates a calm, relaxing space with good energy,” Silva explains.
Above: Fran Brady, interior designer with Clive Daniel Home, used a stunning teal-toned agate wall covering to dress a study’s feature wall in a Plantation Acres home. Concealed lighting illuminates the entire wall, accentuating the wall covering’s vivid colors and gleaming finish. Color repeats with a teal hair-on-hide rug, adding to the decor’s unexpected design details.
Above: “Every color is neutral to me,” says Gil Walsh, principal of Gil Walsh Interiors. Her projects’ palettes frequently showcase her fearless use of color. In a Florida home’s formal foyer, the rich teal tones of her client’s prized oriental rug inspired the color of the space’s furnishings and accents.
Above: “Teal bridges blues and greens, has a young feel and is slightly nuanced,” says interior designer Kristin Rocke. ”To me, teal references modern, whereas blue leans more traditional.”
In a Delray Beach home, Rocke used vivid shades of teal in a light-filled gallery hall. “It was a natural choice to complement and calm the exuberant rainbow of colors captured in the kid’s artwork,” she explains.
“Teal is forever agreeable,” Rocke adds. She loves using it with other variations of blue and green, like aqua and chartreuse. Rocke also pairs it with oranges, maroons and pinks. “Off colors keep good company with teal,” she explains.
Above: “The blue-green colorway can be used in any room,” says interior designer Susan Lachance, who paired blues with greens in a Boca Raton game room using art and accents. She also featured the colorway in the patterned carpet. “It ties the design together while grounding the space,” Lachance says. The designer explains that blue—the most popular color on the wheel—connotes the ocean and exudes a calm and serene atmosphere. Green, on the other hand, connects with the outdoors and nature, while creating positive energy. “The blue-green colorway is great because it is both welcoming and harmonious,” Lachance says. “The key is to not use too much of this colorway and to add touches of it throughout.”
“Teal always feels fresh,” says Erin Pitts, principal of Erin Paige Pitts Interiors. “It’s its own color family, really—not blue and not green.” And because it has a lot of depth and vibrance, she explains, it can hold its own in any environment. In the entry of an oceanfront home, she wanted to “bring the water inside,” so she added furnishings and accessories dressed in teal and various blues that pop against a backdrop of classic white. “Teal and blues play well together, so it’s fun to mix them,” she says.
This story is from the Summer 2021 issue of Delray magazine. For more content like this, click here to subscribe to Boca magazine.
