Punching up the color
New lighting, furniture -- without spending a fortune

by Carol Blitzer / photos by Dasja Dolan

From the outside, the neutral-toned Palo Verde Eichler doesn't stand out. But open the front door and the colors pop -- from the orange wall that greets you to the bright yellow that extends down the hall to the living room.

After living in the house since 1999, Gina and Stan Oda decided not only to update their home, getting rid of the old big tiles with dark grout in the kitchen, but to bring in real colors. Soon they recruited interior designer Deborah Marks to help them with everything from the color scheme to furniture and storage.
"It really needed to be repainted," Gina says. "We needed to make decisions: keep the monotone or make it more colorful?"

Most of the changes to the kitchen were cosmetic. "We hated the dark tile, but liked the layout. It's an easy kitchen to work in," Gina says. Retaining the wood cabinets but painting them a pale celery brightened the kitchen immediately. They also added navy blue Corian counter tops and backsplash, and painted one wall in the adjacent dining room the same blue, a fine backdrop for a monochrome blue Matisse print.

By widening the peninsula, they were able to increase their work space, and provide an eating area with barstools.

A big change was to the lighting in the kitchen and dining room. A few years ago they got rid of the crystal chandelier, replacing it with a large Eichler-esque globe. "But the light was harsh, and the dimmer buzzed," Gina says.

This time they found a bendable rail, with two blue halogen spots on each end (aimed at pieces of art on the walls) and orange and white glass pendants. "The curve softens the rectangular stainless-steel dining room table," Marks says.

Colorful walls and textured carpet squares make Natalie Oda's room a much livelier living space than the former pink walls with striped wallpaper.

Above the long kitchen is a suspended linear 28-watt fluorescent light by Fine Lite. At first they were leaning toward the high-output version, but they felt it was too bright -- and a dimmer required a bulky transformer. They also added under-counter lights. "We used to have to turn on the dining room light when we were cooking," Gina adds.

The next challenge was storage -- where to put all the games and books that were overflowing from the old coffee table. Today, a deep bookcase along the yellow wall in the living room holds baskets, where magazines and games are hidden.

A key piece of the design was relocating the Odas' treadmill to a guest bedroom, thus freeing up a wall for the storage unit.

"Deborah gave us a floor plan," Gina says, pointing to the challenge of their long, narrow living room with one entirely glass wall. Her furniture solution was a burnt-orange leather sectional from IKEA.

Deep blue pops the Matisse print on the dining-room wall, coordinating with the navy Corian counters and backsplash, as well as the tiny spotlights at the end of the bendable-rail lighting.	Rich color is everywhere, from the deep blue on the dining-room wall, to expanses of orange and yellow.
A mosaic of colored tiles surrounds the mirror over the living-room fireplace.	No window coverings block the view to the back yard from this colorful Palo Verde Eichler.

The Odas found an area rug online themselves, searching on www.rugs-direct.com by color and style until they found just what they wanted. Marks supplied the size and suggested placement.

Next came daughter Natalie's room. At 10, she knew she didn't want the striped wallpaper and pink wall-to-wall carpeting any more. Today her walls are Benjamin Moore Tequila Lime (green) and Gentle Violet (purple), and her House Pet-textured carpet consists of square tiles from Flor.com. The colors? Grasshopper, canary, goldfish, parakeet, tabby cat and hummingbird -- or green, yellow, orange, etc.

"We wanted wall-to-wall but couldn't find colors that were bright enough," Gina says, adding that they were able to design the pattern online. The whole project ran about $800.

New furniture in Natalie's room includes a desk and shelves from Pottery Barn Kids.

"Natalie made it very clear she wanted to be part of the process," Gina says, noting that they took her views into consideration not just for her room. At one point Gina and Natalie painted the fireplace wall orange.

"We didn't like it. It just didn't go," Natalie says.

Today it's a soft white, and colors are introduced by a mosaic mirror frame above the fireplace.

Throughout the project, the Odas kept their eye on the budget, which they kept to under $25,000. The priciest parts were the painting, Corian counter tops, lighting and furniture.

"It's so useful that we lived in the house so long," Gina says.

Resources:
Interior designer: Deborah Marks, 408-738-5690, dmarks.id@earthlink.net
Lighting: AIW Decorative Hardware, 801 High St., Palo Alto, 650-324-1339