Sarah is a staff writer at Apartment Therapy. She completed her MA in journalism at the University of Missouri and has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Belmont University. Past writing and editing stops include HGTV Magazine, Nashville Arts Magazine, and several outlets local to her hometown, Columbia, Missouri.
Sarah is a staff writer at Apartment Therapy. She completed her MA in journalism at the University of Missouri and has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Belmont University. Past writing and editing stops include HGTV Magazine, Nashville Arts Magazine, and several outlets local to her hometown, Columbia, Missouri.
Besides a longstanding association with ruffles and romance, the color pink has historically been overlooked in home decor as a “girly” hue and frequently relegated to kids’ spaces. In recent years, however, the rosy-tinged pigment has been steadily gaining traction as a more sophisticated option in the design world. Take, for instance, the Millennial pink movement, an entire generation’s obsession with blush-toned everything.
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One could also take a cue from the cinematic world, like the eponymous setting of Wes Anderson’s “Grand Budapest Hotel.” Restaurateurs have also jumped on the pink train, with establishments like Sketch, a trendy tea room in London swathed in luxurious pink velvet, and Pietro Nolita, an Italian eatery in New York City featuring a vibrant all-pink aesthetic.
It’s only logical, then, that pink would eventually find its place outside of the playroom and into the main spaces of the home. Here are eight ways to use pink in home decor that are both stylish and decidedly grown-up.
First impressions are everything, according to Atlanta-based siblings Sophie Loghman and Saba Loghman, who opted to paint the front door of their shotgun-style house a soft shade of pink to welcome guests. Not only does it lend a playful note to the home’s Victorian accents, it also coordinates perfectly with the three pink flamingos in the lawn. And it offers a hint of what’s to come inside: lots of bright colors!
Color permeates every nook and cranny of this London home, but it’s the pink and red stripes painted on the living room floor that really stand out. It’s easy to see why it’s the proudest DIY of the homeowners, Ms. Pink and Mr. Black, a creative duo who shares the three-story flat with their three sons and two cats. The diagonal striped lines make a bold graphic statement, drawing your eye into the rest of the living space, which also features a light pink fireplace and berry-hued Chesterfield couch.
Thanks to its all-pink color palette on the exterior, including the siding, porch, and trim, this Nashville home owned by Adora sure stands out in the neighborhood. Inspired by Jayne Mansfield’s former Pink Palace and the Madonna Inn, the home’s interiors are just as vivid as the outside, including a pink kitchen with matching appliances and a pink-tiled bathroom. With its vintage furnishings and opulent style, the house is also frequently rented out for video shoots on Peerspace.
The front bedroom of this house in Australia was converted into a music room with a drum set center stage in front of a watermelon pink wall. A hand-painted mural and disco ball further enhance the space’s quirkiness. The homeowners, Kate Forsyth and Dave Bunting, along with their son Remy, had one mission after they moved in: to rid the house of its “three shades of beige.” With its pink mantels and colorful furnishings, including a custom-built rainbow headboard, they accomplished exactly that.
The peachy pink cabinetry in this stunning Montreal home is a testament to how form meets function. After all, the homeowner, Isa Lora Messier, is a chef who owns a restaurant a few blocks away. Though others were initially unsure about her kitchen’s unconventional color choice, she’s glad she followed her instincts and claims it to be her favorite place in the house. The pièce de résistance is the trio of rose gold pendants that hang above the kitchen island, which lend a modern luxe vibe to the space.
Though the interiors of this U.K. home are chock full of pink touches and leopard print, it’s the hot pink gravel on the patio that really grabs your eye. Paired with teal pavers featuring a palm tree print and coordinating teal furniture, it creates a colorful oasis for relaxing outdoors. The homeowner, Nikki Shore, who considers her style to be eclectic and maximalist, says it’s lovely to create a home where you can “smile and be happy.”
The blush-toned linens in the bedroom of this Brooklyn rental adds softness to the space while also complementing the various shades of pink in the artwork — much of which Briana Guin, who shares the apartment with two roommates, printed herself to save money. Her motto is to seek out items that bring you joy, even if it’s something as mundane as a toaster or frying pan. For her, that means all things pink.
Everything’s coming up roses in the bathroom of this South Philly home. The homeowner, Sue Liedke, had a vision of a “bright ‘50s ladies room” in mind when she approached the remodel. Rather than replacing the existing peach and pink tiled floor, she had the tub, wall tile, and sink reglazed in a rosy hue that matched, and then found a matching vintage toilet. Wallpaper and a few key accessories really polish off the look and seal in the nostalgic vibe.
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HGTV star and designer Leanne Ford has worked with lots of great clients both onscreen and off, but recently, she took on a bedroom makeover for maybe her favorite collaborator of all time — her three-year-old daughter, Ever. “This whole project started when my daughter grew out of her crib and was ready for a big girl bed,” says Ford, who has designed a collection with Crate & Kids that features beds alongside other whimsical but super-cool youth furnishings.
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The only problem? Ford’s designs — even for kids — tend to feature light woods, earthy upholstery fabrics, and a healthy dose of her trademark shade, white. While that makes her pieces sophisticated enough to transition well into adulthood, Ever’s all about pink right now, and she had her mind made up. “I showed the beds to Ever and her first comment was “… but it’s not pink,’” says Ford. “In order to make her new big girl room something that she was excited about, we had to figure out how to add some pink. Everywhere.”
The room had great bones — large windows, wooden floors, soaring ceilings, and a fireplace (swoon!), and Ford loved the way it looked upon moving into her home. All it really needed was a pretty pink glow up, courtesy of Behr paint in shades chosen by Ever herself: Peach Sachet (M200-1) on the walls, Pink Sea Salt (M190-1) on the ceiling, and Ultra Pure White (1850) for the trim. “Hot tip: Don’t take your kid to the [paint] store,” says Ford. “You do first edit there and then only bring colors home that you can handle looking at all day.”
Once the room was painted, Ford got to decorating. For the room’s focal point, she and Ever settled on the Canyon Arched Kids Twin Bed, which clearly isn’t pink. To make her client happy, Ford came up with what she calls a “silly solution” but is actually a brilliant solve. “I bought a bunch of ballet ribbon off of Amazon to tie around the bed frame,” she says. “It adds a sweet softness.”
Ford kept the bedding fairly neutral so the canopy itself — wrapped in pink chiffon — would shine. When it came to the bed’s placement, she actually switched up the layout of the room from how it had been used before, choosing to orient the bed in between the windows on the wall the dresser had been on prior. Floating the bed off the wall also gives the piece even more presence in the space, allowing the drama of the arched shape to take center stage just under the crystal chandelier above and atop the Heja Home Moroccan style rug underfoot.
In lieu of traditional nightstands, a vintage stool with a fabric seat sits bedside. “When looking for vintage to mix in, I tend to shop for pieces that are made of natural materials and have imperfections to add soul,” says Ford. “I look for pieces that compliment the feeling of the space and pieces that feel like the person we are designing the space for.”
If items don’t exactly work with your existing color palette, Ford recommends painting, reupholstering, or ribbon-wrapping, the last of which Ford also did on the antique-looking gold and glass hurricane sconces installed on the bed wall, as shown above. Instead of covering most of the fixture though (like the bed canopy), she simply tied off little bows on each light for an additional coordinating pop of pink.
To bring in extra storage for clothing, Ford added the Canyon Natural Wide Dresser to the mix. She topped this piece with a stunning piece of pink art: a few panels of Gucci’s Heron print wallpaper, which she had framed locally in white wood. Was it a splurge? Yes, but one that was far cheaper than covering the entire room in the pattern. Ford used two other major pieces of statement art in the room as well: a skateboarder photograph by Craig Stecyk, which hangs over the mantel, and an Angela Allen piece over the daybed.
Speaking of that daybed, even the most kid-centric kid’s room wouldn’t be complete without a place for adults to also get in on the playtime fun. The daybed, flush with pillows and a throwbed cushion from Hedgehouse, creates a little nook that’s always ready for cuddles. “We can all get cozy and wind down at night reading together,” says Ford of this spot.
As far as lessons learned during this project, Ford says treating Ever as a co-designer (perhaps she’s the next Leanne Ford Interiors intern?) helped to get her little one invested in — and ultimately thrilled with — the results of the redo. “Don’t be afraid to collaborate with your kid and have them get involved,” says Ford. “I think it’s fun to let them set the tone for their space and then you run with it and show them how to bring it all together.” Her suggestions on doing just that? For starters, beyond letting them pick the palette, get them to make art for the room.
Now Ever’s bedroom is a dream suite for a three-year-old that can also grow up alongside it. “I love how bright, happy, and young but still warm and cozy it feels!” says Ford. “And Ever is so excited about her pink big girl bed!”
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Colorful bedrooms aren’t reserved for the under-18 crowd, but kids’ spaces do often have color inspiration galore. (Here are 20 of our favorites.) Decorating a child’s bedroom offers up a chance to take bold risks and show off their unique style, personality, and interests in a way that adults sometimes have trouble doing in their own spaces.
Tripurashree Vittal (@craft_myworld) has let the colors of the rainbow guide many past DIY projects, and her daughter’s bedroom is no different. While it was serviceable, the blank-slate look lacked any hint of color or charm.
The walls were all white, which was a “a good foundation to start with,” Tripurashree says. A pink-and-white color scheme fit the bill for her daughter in her younger years, but as she got older, she wanted more color. “My daughter, who is almost nine years old, is getting out of the small kids’ decor and evolving into a sort of tween aesthetic,” Tripurashree says. “This became the great opportunity to design her room into a more colorful, fun, fresh, yet calm space for her to grow up with.”
Tripurashree did several paint projects to help liven things up and move the bedroom into the tween zone. For starters, she painted the wall behind the headboard a minty aqua (Clare’s “Headspace”), her daughter’s favorite color.
“Figuring out the right shade of blue definitely took more time than painting,” Tripurashree says. “It looks green or blue depending on the light and the time of the day! I like both the colors; it works perfectly.”
“Don’t be scared to use paint on anything,” Tripurashree says. “It’s one of the easiest and budget-friendly things you could do to add so much to the space, yet it is very easy to change if you don’t like it.” (Her advice is perfect for Apartment Therapy’s Color Month!) Tripurashree says she decided to use chalk paint on the pieces because it didn’t require as much prep as a latex paint, which helped save some time.
“It took only two weeks to get things together once I planned the layout, decor, and DIY projects,” Tripurashree says of her One Room Challenge redo. “Planning, sourcing furniture, and also working with the ever-changing ideas of my daughter took longer than the execution of the project.”
One of the biggest challenges in transforming the bedroom, Tripurashree recalls, was rearranging the furniture to be able to fit a queen-sized bed, a dresser, a desk, and book storage. “The only thing I will do differently is look at the big products in-person rather than ordering online, since I had to return two big mirrors, which took lot of time and effort from my end,” she says.
But she’s pleased she was able to piece it all together in a way that still gives plenty of space to move around, while also incorporating her daughter’s design ideas. “I wanted to involve my daughter in the whole process,” Tripurashree writes on her blog. “She is the one who is going to live in that room, I wanted to get her personality into the space.”
Now, her daughter has a color-filled, functional hideaway to call her own. “I’m super proud of the way the room turned out according to the way it was envisioned,” Tripurashree says.
This piece is part of Color Month, where we’re showing you the best ways to inject more color into your home and life. From paint color combos to vibrant house tours, head over here to see it all.