The door to Susan Jamieson’s home office is painted Bridget Beari Colors Pickle, a vibrant olive green. (Photo by Joe Bernando)
For the seasoned design pro or the first-timer, Susan Jamieson’s book, “Color Rules,” serves as a comprehensive guide to using color in your spaces.
Founder and principal of Bridget Beari Designs, Jamieson has designed projects that have appeared in R•Home, ELLE Decor, House Beautiful, Southern Living and Traditional Home. Her Bridget Beari brand includes wallpaper, paint collections and a home decor store in Richmond’s Fan District.
“Color Rules” is a compilation of blog posts on the use of paint — pulled from Jamieson’s extensive archives — with advice on applying these insights to revitalize and enhance interior spaces. Color rule No. 39, for example, “Go with the flow,” explains how to unify disparate architectural elements by painting the walls and ceiling the same color: “When there are no contrasting colors or sharp divisions between the wall and ceiling, the eye is not drawn to any specific area, allowing for seamless and harmonious visual flow.”
Jamieson offers tips on using color to make a space your own and how to create a bold statement without going overboard. Your front door, she suggests, is the perfect place to take a chance with color and set the tone for your home. Paint a ceiling or use wallpaper. She says it’s OK to be subtle, but if you want it to be bright, bold and fun, that’s what it should be.
“You can also look at things that you own, like your art. You can pull the colors from art and kind of do the room around them. There are a lot of ways to find that inspiration — within your closet, or outside of yourself, something you own, something that’s special to you that you’ve collected,” Jamieson writes.
Jamieson with her dog Lili (Photo courtesy Bridget Beari Designs)
The first chapter, not originally covered in a blog post, was added during the book’s development. It explains the color wheel, how colors work together and how best to use them in your space. Major paint brands now label their paint with its Light Reflectance Value, which indicates how much light it reflects off the painted surface. For example, on the LRV scale of 0-100, black is 0 and reflects no light; white is 100 and reflects all light. Knowing the LRV and how it interacts with the light in your room is key to achieving the desired look.
Calling it a “color bible,” Jamieson intends her book to be used repeatedly — not only for painting decisions but also for other color-related choices, such as fabrics and wallpaper. It’s her hope that even someone who thinks they already know everything about colors and their use will find something helpful in reading it.
Jamieson named her firm Bridget Beari after her beloved rescue pups, Bridget and Beari; a portion of the proceeds from “Color Rules” will benefit animal rescue organizations.
