The Andreas gave their plain-jane family

room fireplace the cottage treatment

with paneling, a new surround and

mantel, and terra-cotta tiles.

Staying neutral on big furniture pieces, as Barbara does, makes them more versatile, but

beware too much beige. “It can look bland, so you’ve got to punch it up with color,” she says.

Barbara layers on shades ranging from turquoise to teal to her favorite blue hue, inspired by a

Tiffany box. Not only do her kitchen cabinets wear the color, so do the shutters and the double

door that lift the once unremarkable exterior to straight-out-of-a-storybook status.

To add spark to the blues and browns, Barbara reaches across the color wheel to blue’s

complement, orange. There’s an accent of zesty, orangey-red in every room—on a pillow here and

a lamp there. But in the family room, Barbara goes for it with a chili pepper-red chenille sofa

parked against a mink-brown wall. “Actually, I’m thinking about painting in here,” she says. “It’s a

dark room, and blue would lighten it up.” The walls keep talking, and Barbara keeps listening. G2)

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FEBRUARY 2009 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS

For buying information seepage 204.