Revamped and Spruced Up: Embracing Josef Albers' Color Magic for Your Home
Renowned Artist's Stylistic Approach Encouraging Bold Color Schemes in Modern Interiors
As you dive into the world of home decor, get inspired by the legendary artist and Bauhaus educator Josef Albers. This iconic figure has leaped off the canvas and into modern interior design, offering a fresh take on color schemes that'll bring a burst of energy to your living spaces. Here's what the design pros have to say about channeling his stunning color ideas in your own abode.
Notable Design Enthusiasts
- Margarita Bravo is the fearless founder and CCO of Margarita Bravo Design Studio.
- Suzan Wemlinger stands as the principal interior designer at Suzan J Designs.
- Elle Cantrell is the mastermind behind Elle Du Monde, a full-service residential design firm.
- Nureed Saeed is the creative force behind Nu Interiors, a project management marvel that offers interior design solutions.
DIY Wall Art for a Lavish Look on a Budget
Who Is Josef Albers?
Born in Germany at the turn of the century, Josef Albers made a name for himself as a life-long lover of how colors relate to each other. Having studied at the revolutionary Bauhaus school, he later became a teacher there. years later, after meeting his wife and fellow Bauhaus artist Anni (Fleischmann) Albers, they moved to the United States where he taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, eventually heading the new Department of Design at Yale University until 1958. His art significantly explores color, with painting series that showcase unexpected color pairings designed to electrify spaces. In 1971, he became the first living artist to grace the Metropolitan Museum in New York with a solo retrospective, and his legacy continues to enchant us to this day.
The Remarkable Impact of His Work
With a keen focus on color, Josef Albers' worked with various mediums, crafting monochromatic and multicolor works that demonstrated how colors interact and react differently under different lighting conditions.
"Colors deceive continually," he mused on the first page of Interaction of Color, embodying the enigma of his colorful creations. One of his most remembered series, the "Homage to the Square," features the same geometry (three or four nested squares in each piece) as a canvas for exploring the dynamic nature of color relationships. Over 25 years, he produced more than 1,000 works that now reside in global museums and cultural institutions.
Embracing His Stunning Color Ideas
Leverage His Compositions for Proportions
According to Margarita Bravo, founder and CCO of Margarita Bravo Design Studio, Albers' art offers a unique and versatile approach to color layering in interior design. Inspired by his structured yet flexible compositions, she suggests using his squares as a blueprint to follow the 60/30/10 rule– painters can choose a dominant wall or upholstery color (mirroring the largest outer square), followed by a mid-tone for key furniture pieces or millwork for 30%, and accent colors inspired by the innermost square to cap off the ensemble with a bold statement. Alternatively, designers can start with an accent color inspired by the innermost square and build their palette around it.
Color as a Starting Point
Suzan Wemlinger, principal interior designer at Suzan J Designs, recommends being inspired by a particular color found within the artwork, and basing the color scheme around that central hue. For example, painting walls and ceilings, using fabric, rugs, and painted furniture to incorporate supporting colors, and finally, accents with bold patterns, textiles, and meticulously chosen accent pieces.
Choose Functional Colors
Nureed Saeed, owner and creative director of Nu Interiors, believes that Josef Albers employed color as a functional tool that strategically moves people through a space, as well as influencing its overall mood. Saeed encourages designers to remember that bold colors on ceilings create the illusion of taller spaces, drawing one's eye upward, and that colors within a space can forcefully invoke certain feelings – inviting warmth, productivity, or even a sense of calm.
To achieve success with Albers-inspired color pairings, Bravo warns against diluting or toning the colors down too much, as muting their intensity diminishes their magic. For designers starting out, they recommend moving into smaller spaces like bars or powder rooms to experiment with these bold and saturated hues before experimenting in larger areas.
- Margarita Bravo, the founder of Margarita Bravo Design Studio, suggests using Josef Albers' structured compositions to follow the 60/30/10 color layering rule, using his squares as a blueprint.
- Suzan Wemlinger, principal interior designer at Suzan J Designs, recommends basing a color scheme around a specific color found in Albers' artworks and incorporating supporting colors for a balanced palette.
- Nureed Saeed, owner and creative director of Nu Interiors, believes that Albers employed color as a functional tool in interior design, creating the illusion of taller spaces with bold ceiling colors and influencing a space's overall mood.
- In the realm of home trends, the DIY wall art movement is using Josef Albers' color ideas to create a lavish look on a budget, taking inspiration from his multi-chromatic works that demonstrate how colors interact and react differently under various lighting conditions.
- As the fearless founder of Margarita Bravo Design Studio, Margarita Bravo advocates against diluting or toning the colors down too much, as this can diminish their magic.
- Designers are encouraged to experiment with Josef Albers-inspired color pairings in smaller spaces like bars or powder rooms before moving on to larger areas to achieve success.
