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Suzanne
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Corey
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Dietra
Hello, everyone. Welcome to dear Alice. Happy April.
Suzanne
Yeah, Easter. Bye.
Corey
Q1.
Suzanne
So crazy.
Dietra
Yes. We are well on our way into 2026.
Suzanne
Daffodils are starting to blossom out of the ground. Crazy. Color is back.
Dietra
Color is back.
Suzanne
It's coming in.
Dietra
Yes.
Suzanne
Everywhere.
Dietra
And we don't want anybody to be afraid of this. And so we said, let's do a whole episode about color blocking. In particular, we're seeing it on Runway. Runway shows just happened about a month ago, and I feel like all the coolest looks are not just using color, but they're color blocking. And I feel like this trend is. I shouldn't call it a trend. It's a design principle. It's so easy to do. It's. It's just combining a couple of colors and you. What you get is this really fashionable reaction. And so as you guys are trying to incorporate more color into your homes, we wanted to share a couple of our favorite color combinations with you. We've been playing around with them in our own homes. We've been seeing them, like we said, on Runway. And so we have some really fun slides to show you if you're tuning in. I would Recommend Spotify or YouTube so that you can really see these examples. But we'll try and describe for you what we're doing.
Suzanne
What we're.
Dietra
I'm going to show you today exactly one of the things that Pinterest was saying. A couple favorite colors that are really bubbling up to the top for 2026 is this icy blue color, which I love so much.
Suzanne
You just did this in your office.
Dietra
I did, yeah.
Suzanne
And it is. So we've always kind of referred to this. I feel like for the last five, even pre2020, we call Italian blue. And I don't feel like that ever left our brains. But I'm so glad it's Getting attention right now because it is so fresh, especially when you color block with it.
Dietra
Especially funny thing, Alice Lane, we sell this bed called the kit bed. We make it in a Terra fomo. You can picture this kind of being a terracotta color. We also make it in this icy blue color we call Capri. Capri Italian blue.
Corey
Yeah.
Dietra
All of a sudden last year, Capri kit beds took off like a rocket. And it's been one of those things that we cannot believe. The amount of Capri FOMO beds that we're making.
Corey
Yep. Everyone's feeling it particularly, I mean, we're
Dietra
making a ton in King, which means these are probably going in primary bedrooms. Yeah. So this has been a color that we've been feeling under our skin for a year now. And all of a sudden 20, 26, we're just seeing this as a massive movement. We're seeing it on Runway like we said. And I don't think it's going anywhere.
Suzanne
I don't think so either. And I'm excited when you said it was in King because that's for sure. In a primary bedroom or a guest bedroom. Primary bedrooms, I think historically have been we're going to stay neutral. We're going to do something fun in the guest bedroom or in our kids bedrooms. You guys that are buying the blue bed for you, Blue is a really good one to warm up too as you're getting into this color stories, drenching or you know, color blocking or anything. Because I have never, I've never met a couple, a family, anybody that we've designed for over the last 20 years that doesn't like blue. Yeah, everybody can get along on the blue train.
Dietra
Okay, so moving on from that icy Italian blue is jade.
Suzanne
Yes.
Dietra
Yes.
Suzanne
I love.
Dietra
No surprise here. Suhal did your bathroom in jade.
Suzanne
I know. And actually my court site is called the Jade Quartzite.
Dietra
Okay.
Suzanne
Do you know?
Dietra
No, I didn't know.
Suzanne
Yeah, I know.
Dietra
Like me and Pinterest, the reaction that has to your walnut burl, the warm chocolatey brown is so fantastic. And if you look in your mirror, you can see your bedroom color happening in the mirror. And that's that beautiful sort of cinnamon shade. And those three working together is such a perspective, y' all color block situation, which is so, so good.
Suzanne
Which is so fun. Cuz you color drenching is really fun. And it's relatively easy because you're dealing within one color train. Right. But then when you start to add other colors, it makes, if you get it right, it makes the other colors, it makes Everything come alive.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
This fire was a match, was put in my bedroom, and everything looks even better than it did just with the jade. So good. So good.
Dietra
Okay. Other base colors that Pinterest is loving is one called Plum Noir. So. So this is that really deep, dark purple that has that black in it. So sophisticated. Sometimes we call this oxblood, sometimes there's merlot, Sometimes there's a little more red to the purple. There's a whole range of colors, but we'd call it maroon in the 90s. This is a little bit more purple and black than the typical maroon, but I think anything in that spectrum is sort of where they're hovering. And this has been something really hot and super fun to play with in
Suzanne
color blocking and gets along with some many other colors.
Dietra
Yes.
Suzanne
I will say that this gets along with majority with greens, with blues, with yellows, golds, and it's kind of really well.
Dietra
That sophisticated thread that just makes it feel expensive. It's your handbag, it's your shoes.
Suzanne
Instead of adding black, you're adding this to add depth to your outfit and to your spaces. So I love this.
Dietra
Next up is wasabi green.
Suzanne
I'm here.
Dietra
Yes. Last year, what did we call this called?
Suzanne
Chartreuse. It's kind of been a covering thing over the last several years that we've introduced into a couple projects in small ways. I think even brat green was referred to for a second. But this is wasabi. It is unapologetically green. Acid green. It's so good. That's so great. And so, yeah, I think even in small little moments, we just. We're actually just doing a presentation for a client and we just did a welt in this on a blue stripe sofa. And it's everything. It highlights that whole. Whole profile, makes it look so high fashion. Love it.
Dietra
Love it.
Suzanne
And for the fifth one, persimmon.
Dietra
Yes. And persimmon was kind of known as a color of last year. When people looked back at 25, they were like, orange was the color. Persimmon is kind of that younger sister to red. That definitely makes the space feel younger, fashionable, almost more athletic. And it feels really original because not everybody's going to dare do it.
Suzanne
I'm going to give Chris credit to Marty supreme on this one and Timothee Chalamet for marking the hell out of that movie, because I feel like that also has had an influx on orange in fashion. I think there's been a play who Chicken and Egg. I don't know who started it, but it's reactive. That's good. It's really good. So. So those are what Pinterest has been kind of queuing us up for. What are the hottest trends in color or those five. And then we just kind of want to talk a little bit about color blocking. And again, a couple of the different combinations that we found successful in the work that we do. And. And our eyes are completely drawn to and our clients love also. Yeah, great. So anyway, and you'll notice a lot of these colors if you look at them on a color wheel. They do kind of neighbor on complementary. So when you do, we are going to show you some like red and blue in their base color. Different variations of that. But they do again, they play with each other on opposite ends of the color wheel, which is why they look so great together. They complement each other because they're complementary colors. Another one that we're going to show you is a little bit more of an analogous where we have blues and greens and golds. I will say golds look good with everything across the board. Gold is just again, the highlighter in any of these color blocking stories. So we have that. And then.
Dietra
And I feel if you add gold to maybe a fast fashion outfit, fine jewelry or something, it's gonna. Gold's gonna richen the story and make everything around it look more expensive in a fast fashion environment. And I feel your beautiful lamps and some of your accessories are going to make your scene look richer.
Suzanne
Yeah. I will say that when we're pulling together furniture, vignettes or anything for clients of the rug, we'll have the sofa, we'll have all the big players. It's not hidden yet. It's not clicking. Someone print off some lamps or something. What's the next layer? Print off that and then we'll see. And then all of a sudden, all those decisions were successful. But they needed the jewelry, they needed the gold.
Dietra
Yep.
Suzanne
So in a tree.
Dietra
In a tree.
Suzanne
That too. Anyway, these we're going to talk about reds and blues. I think we also do even dip into that kind of oxblood merlot color that they're calling that. That noir. What is it called?
Corey
Plum Noir.
Suzanne
Plum noir. Thank you. Okay. Anyway, so let's get into it. We're inspired by fashion and then how that incorporates into our spaces. Okay. Blue and red. I think this. When I was going through images of projects that we have shot professionally and projects that are hiding in our iPhones, this one, I think took the cake as far as quantity. And so we're seeing this, we're seeing it not only in prod on 2026, they had a lot of the blue and red introduced. And across the Runway, I think blue
Dietra
and red color blocking as a third color. For the color blocking, adding in yellow. These are your primary colors, you guys, this combination, obviously doing it in offshoots of the main shades. You can see in this first outfit, she's using this icy powder blue glove, not your American flag blue, with her plum noir, her khaki, and then her navy. Really beautiful. In the. In this middle slide, you can see that mustard turtleneck in the mix with the oxblood and the icy blue. And so using those, your primary colors in different offshoots is always successful. It's really good if you want to just use the two. The blue and the red are so, so good.
Suzanne
And then you see it over here too. Just again, the different shades of blues in combination with the suit, the pants, the bag, and then you throw on this red scarf, and it's everything.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
So. And again here on this last slide, you have that kind of camel color again, that kind of brings in the gold, the yellow. Right. That's complementary with, you know, the actual red and the navies and those deep colors. So anyway, just the mix, I think that's the fun thing about fashion, is the mix.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
More creative. You're here. Say it translates the same to a room. It's the mix that's so successful.
Dietra
Yeah. If you're stumbling to know what colors to combine, this is why we're showing you fashion right now, because this is an easy thing for you to pull, to get inspired on as you're trying to think about, you know, your bigger, broader room, which can feel intimidating at times as you're thinking about, how do I incorporate color? Fashion sometimes can be an easy cue to tell your brain what you're liking, and then you can use that as a gateway into solving for your room.
Suzanne
Here are some. Just additional examples of different tones of blue, from dark navy to periwinkle Italian blues. And same with the reds, from orange or persimmon reds to the oxbloods to that palm noir, all across the board, how well they work. And it is. I love how you said that we all get dressed in the morning. We can all look into our closet and see what are our common denominators, what are the things that we're continually drawn to. Those are huge takeaways, not only for you, but your partner, your kids to look at, what they feel pretty in and what stays in your closet long term and what you're excited about. Those are things that you should be looking at and taking cues for your spaces as you're getting ready to switch things up. So we're in our blue, red, our blue, red realm. Right. And so here are a couple of images where we have employed, again, this color scheme. Just. You want to take us through?
Dietra
Yes, definitely. So in our portfolio on our Grand Tour estate project, in the dining room, we have an icy blue rug with a really beautiful botanical print woven into it. And we've got red chairs with white frames. And I think this combination of the icy blue paired with the red is just so striking. You don't expect this combination. And so it just feels. It just feels so fresh. I think you'd expect to see a brown leather in the mix, maybe a wood frame, so it gets along with the table. But by doing these unexpected things and sort of isolating that red with a white frame made this feel really fashionable, interesting, energetic. And then another favorite example of mine, this is in our lovers Lane project in his office. The room is this really beautiful icy blue. And then we did this red, orange sort of club sofa in here. And the reaction between the blue and the red feels so young and energetic and just never boring. And then for the primary trifecta, he's got a burl wood side table, and it's giving that shade of yellow we talked about.
Suzanne
And.
Dietra
And doesn't it just feel so fresh?
Suzanne
It does. I want to say that this little. That rose tarlow lamp right there, that's a dark green.
Dietra
Oh. So again, it looks navy here. Yeah.
Suzanne
You do see these kind of neighboring shades of, again, depths of blue, depths of, you know, green and then. But it all works together. And this is color blocking.
Dietra
Yeah. At a primary level. Just going back to the very basics. I love that we started with red and blue and red, yellow and blue. You can just see how fresh this feels today.
Suzanne
Our next examples. This one is from our Desert Oaks project in Odessa, Texas. And we have a bright red door. Wayne scoding. This is in their pool baths, powder bath, too, off of a club room. And we started with this Gucci wallpaper that kind of had all these colors in. It had the golds, it had the reds, it had the blues. But last minute, we went red on the door and red on all the. Wayne scouting because we can. And we should, and we should be a little bit more energetic. And then when it came time to pick out, what do we do for the ceiling blue, that makes complete sense. We could have done it red. But the color blocking, anytime you can do that. I think on a ceiling is a really fun way to color block. I think in all of our Pinterest boards, we've all had the coastaling with the high gloss gold lacquer on the ceiling or the icy blue. We keep seeing being drawn to the ceiling. And oftentimes you can pull something that's kind of out of left field and have it be a big hero if you throw it up onto your ceiling or the color blocking. I love that in this next picture, this is in our Capitol Heights, and we did that very swanky red library. It's the red library. I love that. This is iconically our red library.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
Is in our Capitol Heights. And this is, I think, a part of the room that not many people see because the majority of it's red. But she had bought this fashion scarf, this Hermes scarf. And anyway, when she's. Do you think this one could work? These amazing tones, from navy to periwinkle to some of those brighter reds that completely makes the space feel so young. We framed a scarf, put it on that wall, and it's just the most fun surprise when you wrap that corner to see that on the wall. It's incredible.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
A really easy way to color block, too.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
And that's just why, again, we didn't add blue necessarily to the ceiling or to the upholstery. We did it with our art.
Dietra
You know what I love about this color? Combination of primary colors, or even red and blue? I feel men love it. I mean, do you love this?
Corey
Oh, yeah.
Dietra
Men love it, and women love it. And sometimes in interior design or working on a home for a couple, they both need to love it. And this is one of those palettes that anybody can get along with. I mean, as long as they like red or blue, but it doesn't lean too feminine or too masculine. And even though this blue is periwinkle or a lighter blue, men love it. They love it just as much.
Corey
Yeah.
Dietra
It's that North Carolina blue. What's that? Sports team.
Corey
Unc.
Dietra
Unc. Yeah.
Suzanne
Yeah.
Dietra
That's where Michael Jordan. Yeah. So I feel like men have this affinity toward it, and it's just. It's a color palette that never. You never lose with it.
Suzanne
And everyone looks good in it.
Dietra
Everyone looks good and looks great. Men and women agree on it. Yeah.
Suzanne
So I'm so glad. Brought that into the picture. Sometimes we do. We did the red library, and that went, like, true red. Really, really dark crimson. A lot of time just like a lipstick where we add, like, a little Bit of orange, just to not make it look so serious and make it look a little bit more playful. And so that's why probably more of our examples have that. Here's just a couple more. In our Highland Manor project that's just here around the corner in Utah, we did the theater and we did it in these tones of blue. She just wanted it to everybody to feel comfortable. Her husband, her kids, their friends. And so we did this two tone blue finish work treatment on all the walls. But then when it came time to add art, this would be really fun to add some pungent contrast with different colors. And so this is one of my favorite shots of these Japanese vintage stamps that have been blown up into these large scale pieces of art and framed really neat. So you have the gold, you have the red, you have the two tone blue, and I love it. And this is color blocking. Yeah, it's a great outfit, but it's just so in your ear, you can't help but stare at this piece. It just grabs me every time. And there's other pieces of art, but for some reason, those colors sitting next to each other just pull me in every single time.
Corey
Totally agree.
Suzanne
It's fantastic. Okay, and then this next slide is one I'm really excited about. This is our Boston brownstone on this next slide. And this is in his office. And he wanted it to be really dramatic, a little bit Annabelle's London. And so we have a lot of fun. You know, we have this high gloss blue croc happening on the ceiling. We have this blue that's saturated on all the paneling, on all the walls. We have hidden doors, we have hidden cubbies for, you know, for liquor, but also for watches and all the things. It'd be so much fun when you open these doors if they were plastered in this. Not a true red, but something a little bit more, you know, not on the nose. And so we did go with more of this kind of orangey, pungent color. And so every time you open up any of these doors, this is the color that you're hit with.
Dietra
You guys, those of you that are tuning in and you're able to see this slide, this is not on the portfolio yet. So this is a project in progress. We should be installing this in another month or so. So it's just fun to get a peek on a cell phone image of something that that's in the works. And if you're not able to see, this is a wall that's completely paneled in finish work. And within some of the panels you can pop open the doors and there's hidden shelves in there so that he can treat this like a bar. And inside of the wall, the blue paneled wall, is this beautiful reddish persimmon color. And it is so handsome and exciting and fashionable and British. It's so fun. So I just had to say how fun to see a sneak peek of a project before it's even finished. But this is one where the project we just showed you before the theater, we probably completed that closer to 2020. And this one on the right is, you know, 2026 when it'll be completed. And this color combination does not quit. It always feels cool and fresh and everlasting, I think.
Suzanne
So when you're asking for timeless interiors and you're afraid of color, you're not. These are color combinations that have stood the test of time. Red and blue, red and orange. With that, blue is so, so dynamic. So I love that you brought that up.
Dietra
Love it.
Suzanne
I know. Five years between and still so current. Okay, here's another picture of just again, all these other color combinations. This is that theater for our Highland Manor project. And she grabs me, and this one grabs me again, where you see the strong color blocks happening. And then we also did this color combination of the red, the blue, the pinks happening on the ceiling treatment on a wallpaper. So again, successful color blocking in combination. Here are a couple other behind the scenes things that are just sitting on my iPhone.
Dietra
Uhhuh.
Suzanne
This next one is from our Manchester. We do have this on our portfolio, but this is just one. I was like, what other projects have we done? This employed this trick with the color blocking. And again, in this laundry room, I think is one of mine and Jess are very favorites that we've ever done. And we have this really great blue chair. Again, British inspired. So color was not.
Dietra
The client was from England, and she wanted to really use all the British wallpapers and all the bold colors. And I think that's what's so fun about British in English design is they're not afraid to use these colors. And this was probably 20, 21 and 2 and 3 during this project. And it felt really fun to get to pull out the full. The big box of coloring crayons. Remember when you had the little one from kindergarten and then you graduate to
Suzanne
the big one of the 64?
Dietra
This was the 64 palette and wallpaper paper. And so this was fun. This is a laundry room with a dog bath in it. And we've got a really beautiful. The wallpaper is a William Morris, this
Suzanne
is Zack and Fox.
Dietra
Oh, Zack and Fox. On the walls. Painted trim. That's another trick that you guys can always try is painting your window casings and grids. If you've got them, your cabinetry is another one. And then the ceiling plane is definitely one to pull in.
Suzanne
And I think a lot of the portfolio pictures that you'll see on the website for Manchester don't show the ceiling really well. So that's why I know we did something really fun. And it is. It's. So this is one of the client's favorite spaces in the whole house. So I love how that turned out. And again, speaking of projects that aren't completed, this is actually in construction here in Utah. And this was a bar for a client. Again, employing that beautiful. This is an elevation. So this isn't even real life shot. This is our drawing and a little bit of AI help. But again, this bar that has. Again, it's all this really amazing blue. You have that burl island finished. So again, that kind of warmth, those goals happening and contributing to the space. And then we open up the doors. You see that red again? So I know you. We just showed you two current projects, but this is something I remember even going to market. And there was, gosh, 10, 15 years ago, and there was a line when you'd open up the drawer and it would be bright red. And you were not expecting that.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
But it was the biggest party. Yeah. I will tell you what.
Dietra
When you first discovered the Louboutin shoe in the 2010s, and when somebody picked up their foot and there was red on the. The bottom of it, What a statement. That was so cool. Yeah. It just never quits, you know?
Suzanne
It's so good.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
Okay, so that's one that we'll have. You'll. You can look forward to. I'm really excited about this bar space.
Dietra
Pink and green. I remember pink and green. My mom had a bathroom, I want to say, in the early 90s, late 80s. That was pink and green.
Suzanne
Polly. So cool. Yeah.
Dietra
Actually, do you know what? It was peach and green. But was it.
Suzanne
But it's called harvest peach. I.
Dietra
There's something about that combination that feels. I mean, right now we've got Runway pulled up. It just feels prepp. It feels fresh. It feels kind of 80s inspired. I dig it.
Suzanne
I'm so into it.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
Even when I was going to school back in 2001-2005, even then I was thinking they could always. Suzanne always used pink and green in
Dietra
every single project by Suzanne. Do you mean Suzanne Castler, or do you mean Suzanne?
Suzanne
I mean me. I'm speaking about myself in third person. That Suzanne always uses pink and green.
Dietra
I love it.
Suzanne
You know what? She wasn't wrong till. Do it.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
Yep.
Dietra
Let's show them some spaces and how we use pink and green.
Suzanne
Okay. Speaking of Suzanne. Anyway, speaking of third person. Suzanne. Shut up. Suzanne. When it came time to do my bathroom, I did it in this amazing mint green. It looks like the melting chocolates. And I was just so in love. I found the tile, all these things. And then when it came time to do my bedroom, I remember, like, showing Jess. I think I might go, like, brown. I think I might go brown, but it kind of. It shows off pink. And then I did pink draperies, and I did a pink ceiling and this corally door. And it is. Oh, it's like a magnet. Like, I cannot wait to get home at night.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
And I cannot wait to wake my. Wake up in the morning to be like, there you are again. You're so beautiful.
Dietra
So good.
Suzanne
But the combination of experiencing both of these colors back to back is such a fantastic move.
Dietra
It's that same opposite on the color wheel thing of red and green, but pink is obviously more secondary.
Corey
Yeah. They're both kind of just off of.
Dietra
So it's able to sort of play that color blocking trick.
Suzanne
Yep. And the gold, too. If I didn't have the gold in there, it would have been fine. But it takes it next level.
Dietra
It makes it feel so expensive and otherworldly. So glad.
Suzanne
And then the wood tones. Between the gold and the wood tones, that's a really natural way to start even color blocking with things that are probably already in your home. You know, just by painting your walls and then adding some of your pieces that you've had in there, incorporating a few new ones, you can come up with something. A cool outfit for your space really easily, which is fun. Okay. All right. Another pink and green that we love this.
Dietra
Yes. This is Capitol Heights. This is their powder bath. The Gucci herons. We probably did this in 2021. Finished.
Suzanne
Yeah, I think so.
Dietra
This is the green Gucci herons. And then we used pink as our trim color and our door color. And this is around the windows, the crown and the ceiling. And pink and green just feels so fresh. It's like fresh grass or like an herb. And then the pink is kind of more powdery.
Suzanne
Dusty.
Dietra
Huh.
Suzanne
It.
Dietra
The combination just feels so fashionable. I love how this space turned out.
Suzanne
I remember when we picked this out, it wasn't a literal. You may have been able to find it in some of the tones of the feathering or things like that, but it wasn't one of the literal. We could have done red. We could have done, you know, some of these dark, inkier colors, but it
Corey
wasn't the main color on the wallpaper.
Suzanne
It was definitely this thread that we had to kind of pull out, which
Dietra
I think Cory Cory's on to something. Because with color blocking, I do think you wanted to feel a little unexpected and not so formulaic. And the more that the secondary color is, the more special it feels and original it feels. And back to the red, blue, yellow thing. The more tweaked the color, the shades that you're using are, the more original it's going to feel. Not using the American flag red. Using the more orangey red. Right. Using.
Suzanne
Even going to the color that you think you'd pick, and then going down the ring or going up the ring and be like, oh, that makes me a little scared. Okay, I'll try it. Yeah, I'll sample it out. And the fun thing about this is that you are in a classical white paneled entry, and then you peekaboo into this hidden door. You don't even know the panel leads to Alice in Wonderland's fancy little powder room. And then you open up to this, and you're like, who are these people? This is the coolest thing. That's the experience that you get to have every day and that your friends and family get to have every day. It's so much fun.
Dietra
Design is so powerful.
Suzanne
It is. And I'm alive, I'm young, I'm happy. I would never change this.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
Ever. I love it so much. A couple more examples of pink greens. These are a couple other projects that haven't. They're not in our portfolio. These all just live secretly on our iPhones. But it's just. Again, it's wallpapers. It's incorporating colors from there just in really special ways. This first one is one in San Francisco, Hillsborough area. And again, it was for a little girl, and this wallpaper was just, like, so beautiful. But then just to really pull out the pink was magic.
Dietra
Yeah. It almost feels corally.
Suzanne
It is.
Dietra
Yeah. The tone of pink.
Suzanne
Yeah. I put up with some coral.
Dietra
Yes. Who said that?
Suzanne
Rachel Zoe. And it was her, right? It was on the Rachel Zoe Show.
Dietra
It might have been Brad Gretzky.
Suzanne
Yes, it was.
Dietra
Yes.
Suzanne
Oh, my gosh.
Dietra
And they were trying to put together an alpha for somebody. He was like, let's F it up with some coral. And I don't know if they use the coral necklace or what, but sometimes you do just need to F it up with some coral.
Suzanne
Yep. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, Bring it out. Bring out your favorite assets out of that wallpaper.
Dietra
Yes.
Corey
It's rad to see. All these I've never seen. So if you're listening to this, definitely at some point, watch it on YouTube or Spotify. Maybe even one day, we should just do an episode where it's like we're cracking open Susan's phone and going through all the cool photos.
Dietra
The X files.
Suzanne
Yeah, exactly. Oh, man. Good luck. Okay. And then this next one, this is a home that we did down in St. George that we also haven't photographed yet. I've told Jess this is a goal.
Dietra
2026 Covid was a real blackout because there was so much work to be had and done, and we've been so busy since. We haven't had time to go back and shoot these projects.
Suzanne
Are we. What was this project that was in St. George?
Dietra
They went into a black hole, but they're so beautiful, and I'm glad that we have cell phone images to share today.
Suzanne
Yeah. So this is just a laundry room. Again, hitting that fifth wall with a wallpaper, but then color drenching the cabinets, the walls with this green is so much fun.
Dietra
Amazing.
Suzanne
So, so, so good. Okay, now let's go to blue and green, which I think this color combination every. I feel like everybody can sign up for. It is the colors outside your window. Like, it is the color of grass, the color of the sky. Easy to sign up.
Dietra
These live in harmony so beautifully. And I love that you added. And a bit of yellow. Gold.
Suzanne
I know.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
Again, just that, like a little bit of acid into the green, you know?
Corey
Yeah.
Suzanne
Spice it up a little bit.
Corey
It also bring the green people and the blue people together.
Suzanne
Right?
Corey
Yeah. Because Mari's a blue or a green person. I'm a blue person. So. Yeah. This is where we meet in the middle.
Suzanne
Yeah, right. Yeah, exactly. I'm already green person.
Corey
Yeah.
Suzanne
Love you, Mari. Okay. Okay, so let's go. So when. I know we've used chartreuse in some projects. This is one of the first where we really introduced a little bit of that wasabi. And this is our Manchester. And again, we did a blue high gloss lacquered finish on the cabinetry and just color dressed the space.
Dietra
This is in her closet for those of you that can't see it.
Suzanne
You would be comfortable here, though, if he had to wish.
Corey
Yeah.
Dietra
Oh, my gosh. Yes. There's nothing too feminine about these shades. And I love that the blue leans a little bit more slate, if you will. It's got a real calming sort of aura about it. And then sharpen that thing up with some wasabi and you're like, woo. It is. This is really beautiful. And we're high gloss, which is really fun because this project was, you know, started in 2020 or 2021 and we weren't quite glossing everything yet. And it's just, she's our British client and it does just feel like such beautiful English design.
Suzanne
You probably feel the same way because you did your living room and your office high gloss. Yeah, I don't think I can go back. I know. I love living in just a big bucket of water. I freaking.
Dietra
So good.
Suzanne
So good.
Dietra
Yeah, I feel.
Suzanne
It feels cleaner.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
Everything. Yeah.
Corey
Stuff was too dry for too long.
Dietra
Yeah. You know what's interesting, you guys, this is a total tangent, but I know all of our friends here are going to be with us on this journey, but I don't think my mother in law listens to the podcast. So I'm just going to go ahead and say she said to Adam, make sure and tell Jesse that. And don't tell her. I told her. Just don't tell her it was me that said it.
Corey
We're just sharing it with you guys though, so.
Dietra
To powder her face because it's too shiny on camera. So right now, if you're watching me, this is too shiny. I was like, dietra doesn't know that right now. It's the glazed donut.
Suzanne
It's dewy.
Dietra
It's the glossy. Yeah, it's the dewy skin effect. It's the glossy. Lip glosses look younger. Yeah, you look fresher. The wall looks so good glossy. I totally have been powdering my nose more. Just so you know. Dieter, if you're tuning in, you can totally tell me this stuff. I just want to say, though, we're in a glossy era for skin care and makeup, for clothing, we have more sheen. Our walls have more sheen. This is the space that we're in right now.
Corey
Even music.
Dietra
Oh, interesting.
Corey
They use wet and dry a lot. And so wet is adding reverb to it and it's. Yeah. And then dry is obviously a really dry vocal with no effect on it. Things have been dry for a long time with the folky type of, you know, and now it's getting a little bit more sleek and a little wet. And so, yeah, it's kind of everything is on. The arts is moving that way, which is fun to see. It's cool.
Suzanne
I know. It's a fresh coat of paint. Clear coat, just glosses, schlacking it up.
Dietra
Love it.
Suzanne
So on. Again, I don't know if we said all the words in this blue closet. We did these two little drip sconces with these sharp. We did our own little fabric, and we sent it to the mill to make these great shades that are, again, that kind of acidic wasabi green. Is that what they called it?
Dietra
Right.
Suzanne
Anyway. And it's everything. That contrast is everything.
Dietra
Designers, those custom shades are such a power move, especially now that high decorating is in. You're going to want to find your custom shade, people.
Corey
It's hero on hero. And I think that's awesome, because not only are you getting the payoff of, you know, the entire room being remarkable, but then you have these little points that you can remark on as well.
Dietra
Two shades.
Suzanne
I have four shades exactly.
Corey
Yeah. Lucky for the same cost.
Dietra
I know.
Suzanne
Value, guys. Girl math. Okay, here's a couple other ones. This first one is from our Desert Oaks. So this is out in Odessa. And they. Again, in this house, you're in the middle of the desert, not a whole lot happening, but they wanted it to be such an experience. And in his office, again, he just wanted. He's. I want to make it almost black. It's this really tall space we had to throw in some shots of, again, a little acid everywhere. And so we did these amazing chairs or just this small little game table behind the main city area. And we chose to do it in this really acidic green. And it's everything. And the way that it speaks to this art. This got this piece on first dibs, these jaguars with all this grassy green and the color combination of the gold, the green with a contrast of that deep, inky wall. And then those chairs reaching up. Like, when you see it live and you walk into it like it is just, like, vibrating. It is so good.
Dietra
Breathtaking.
Suzanne
It's so good.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
Okay, and then so that's a little bit of just, again, like, seeing, like, that dark, deep blue, inky color with that green. And then in their son's room, again, everyone can sign up for blue and green. We did, again, these blue dressers with. We did a green on the doors and on all the casework with this really amazing horsehair wallpaper on the walls that kind of screams. I know, right? Yeah, we all have a crush on your wall, buddy.
Dietra
Yeah.
Suzanne
But it's just such a handsome. We did it. I don't even think I put it in here. But in the boys room, where we have the green bed on the blue walls, I get more comments on that, specifically from moms looking to redo their kids room. They're just like, I love what you did in the boys room because that's something. It's so long lasting. So that's a compliment because especially for kids, they are. They like Paw Patrol, then they like Spider man, then they like this, and then they like Peppa Pig, whatever. So to find something that is uniform, that still has that speaks some magic to them, I think is the goal. That is the goal. And so anyway, blue and green, y', all, blue and green. Okay, again, now we're going to hit a little bit of like blue green, but like a little bit more with the green and yellow, too. Tan Francis closet.
Dietra
Yeah. So good you've heard us talk about this space, I'm sure. But we took an attic and we transitioned this into a closet for him. This is in his last home, and we use this really great colon suns stripe, and it's a variated stripe. And it just moves over all the pitches in this space so beautifully. It makes it feel tented. And then we did this really great ochrey yellow area rug at one end of the attic where there's a window and created kind of a set of drawers and valet for him for all of his accessories and socks and, you know, all of the things that you'd want to tuck into drawers for him. A green triangular shaped ottoman. And just so handsome. So him so British and. Yeah, I think his favorite color was green, which was a starting point. And I just love how this space turned out.
Suzanne
One of the reasons why I thought that this was like an important one to put in here is that we talk about color blocking a lot when you're like looking at solid colors. So, like green, solid green to solid red to the orange sofa to the blue walls. But it's fun also, like, if you're a pattern person, you can kind of do color blocking with pattern. So you have a green stripe, you have this, again, traditional rug that's hand knotted and gooey and gold and all those tones, again, reacting to that green and they start to sing as solids. You know, these two families like having a good party. So.
Dietra
And pattern on pattern is a real play right now. And so the more you do it, the better you'll get at it. And this is the direction that the market is definitely in right now, which is so fun.
Suzanne
This is again, back behind the scenes from our Manchester project, in the office, we did green walls, but with the actual wood. I just wanted to show that the wood does shine like a golden tone, like a yellow. That warmth still does that, blocking that the literal color would do. So if you're not wanting to go full yell, add wood, add the burl, add the gold to a color, and you'll get that same effect, which is really fun.
Dietra
Or instead of the wood, add brass. Exactly right. Add it in a material. Yeah. So good. This next one I love. This is in our Capitol Heights project. This is in a little boy's bedroom, and this is just a beautiful combination of light blue in the wallpaper. We've got a beautiful green mohair chair with yellow welts. And then we paired it with a little yellow ottoman with horses on it. This is just so handsome. It feels young. It kind of feels primary, but still fresh. And I could see him being a teenager and still loving this and identifying with it. Yeah, Great color combo.
Suzanne
Again, behind the scenes, this is this living room in that same St. George. Again, a covet project. Right. We had this, like, incredible green, like, pastoral. Like, you feel like you're in a orchard almost on the wallpaper. But this yellow chair sitting on top of that green with that deep almost, that plum noir sofa is just so. It's so good, that combination. So again, other good color blocking inspo for you.
Corey
I feel like you get the green and pink in that chair. You're kind of pulling the pink out of that leather.
Dietra
I have to say, I have a yellow mohair chair from the same company as this one. It's from Oli Studio, and I swear to you, you put a yellow mohair chair in any scene, and it will instantly come alive. There's something about the shade of yellow. We have a pair of. Not a pair. We have a set of yellow dining chairs that are going to be coming out in yellow mohair. These are scene makers. They are absolutely going to change your space, and you'll feel like you're color blocking. I have one yellow mohair chair in my peacock living room, and it's doing all the work, just reacting to the peacock color. One chair.
Suzanne
It's everything.
Dietra
I'm telling you, if you need to change something about your scene, you might want to consider yellow.
Suzanne
Yep. Yeah, it really doesn't change. Totally lights it on fire. So the next couple slides. Again, these are from our Lovers Lane project, and she client loves green. And so with adding the golds and everything with her lighting, and we naturally start to get Some of this color blocking happening in their kitchen, your green cabinetry. But as I was searching, I'm like, that really does something where you do have that gold happening up on all these light fixtures, hitting with the green. And it's just again, I think they're just natural, easy choices, but they're so dynamic. So I love that in their kitchen. And then the powder room is just one of our favorites. This is a little angle that not many people see of this powder room where we do have this again, I call it the sea kelp wallpaper. That has these gold fractures in it like Japanese pottery. They're all hand painted, gold leafed. We have gold lighting. But what we did on their little Roman was this like chartreuse silk linen happening on it. And it is so, gosh, why didn't we get a better angle when we shot this project? But I just had to call some attention to that combination. When you feel that trim color with that fabric, it's everything. It's just this little peekaboo. You don't see it when you first look in there, but you turn the corner and just snap. These cats are so good at what they do. Not me, the client. They're so good at what they do. In Iron K Pop Demon Hunters, Paja
Dietra
Boy's Breakfast Meal and Hunt Tricks Meal have just dropped at McDonald's. They're calling this a battle for the fans.
Suzanne
What do you say to that, Rumi?
Rumi
It's not a battle.
Dietra
So glad the Saja boys could take
Suzanne
breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day.
Corey
It is an honor to share.
Dietra
No, it's our honor.
Corey
It is our larger honor.
Suzanne
No, really, stop. You can really feel the respect in this battle.
Dietra
Pick a meal to pick a side
Corey
and participate in McDonald's while supplies last.
Dietra
Our last one for you is our plum noir. That's that oxblood merlot color. That's so beautiful. We love combining purple or oxblood with red and we love it also with itself. Lavender, a lighter shade, and then again yellow. It's going to really bring this pop off. It's going to pop off and it's purple and yellow sit opposite on the color wheel. So they're going to give you that. That sort of chemical reaction to one another. So this first space we're going to show you is a dining room from House of Harrington. You can see how great these merlot walls look with brass popping off on the hardware, on the sideboard, on the lamp with the candlesticks. It's just all so rich and in the foreground, you can see this really beautiful. I think Schumacher cut velvet on the dining chair that has snakes in it. It all just feels so exotic and expensive and lovely. Obviously, Calcutta Viola being a real hero of the sort of merlot family. And so getting to able to use that more in projects throughout the years has been super fun, reactionary, super exotic
Suzanne
fun too, because this was a lighter purple on this. So this was kind of that purple on purple in different tones that was reacting really beautifully. Okay, this is again, this is another one of the projects that we're working on. This is our Boston brownstone. And this is the bathroom that we're all freaking out over.
Corey
That tub.
Suzanne
That tub. It's a custom color that they matched it to. And again, we wanted to kind of pull out that, like, deep, plum rich color happening in the viola tiles. And we did it. And it fills any fill classical about it. But then it's also just like this. I don't know, a little jab to the gut. What just happened to me? It's so good. So, so, so good.
Corey
It's like an electric shock.
Suzanne
I know.
Corey
Wakes you up.
Suzanne
Exactly. Also in that project is her project room, which is lacquered in this against kind of this plum raspberry color. And it is fantastic. I'm really excited to show you what we're putting on top of it. It's a little bit more stain in that purple on purple with lavenders happening. This is where she kind of want to stay in her project room because there's going to be all sorts of other things happening scene. But again, I couldn't not show you that high gloss jean. We went there. I can smell it still. It's amazing. It's so, so, so good. And then our very last slide is actually from one of our designers.
Dietra
Yeah, our Maddie Stewart, one of our senior designers here. She painted her powder bath in this beautiful merlot color. And we used our new in red on top of the oxblood. And I just have to say this combination of oxblood, merlot, plum, noir, whatever you want to call it with red is so shocking and unexpected and looks so great. And then we put art in here with the yellow sort of sharpening that up, a really beautiful orange red stacked with it. And I just think this feels so young and intentional and just on the nose. Designer. Smallest little pocket of a space, but really powerful with color. So anyway, those are a few of our color combinations that we're using right now in color blocking in interior design. And I would say to you, pick a color Pick your North Star. You all probably have a favorite. And then figure out what's opposite from it on the color wheel and then start to mess with shades of that and experiment with color blocking in your house. I think you're going to see things come alive for you. There's so many great examples on here, and it's energizing. I just love this work. Thanks so much for listening today, you guys. Our Home Furnishing design program is a complimentary design program. We've got real designers on standby that are going to be able to take your project in and work with it in AutoCAD and to get you the right size rug, furniture, whatever you're working with in your project. They speak shorthand, all things Alice Lane. And it's such a fun way to work on your project. I've asked them who's the best candidate for this? And they say, when somebody's ready, when they're ready to do new furniture, they're in the market. That's the best time to come. So this is a really special little zone of time that we're in right now. Our very best sale is just starting, which means everything sitewide is up to 25% off. You could hurry and get in with a home furnishing designer, and they could work on your space and you could purchase things during the very best sale. So if you're working on a project and you're ready to purchase furniture, Corey, what's the best way to use the program?
Corey
Go to alicelanehome.com under the Design Services tab. Go to Home Furnishing Design, fill out that form, and one of our designers will go back to you in about 24 hours.
Dietra
That's great. And also tell them how to leave a review. We would love it. We love your comments. We love anything that we can read from you. And we're trying to grow the podcast to be the number one interior design podcast in the world.
Corey
Yes.
Dietra
So how do they do it?
Corey
So on Apple, go to Search Dear Alice in the search bar. That'll take you to our show page. And then just below that main image or right above the reviews, say a little purple icon that says write a review. Click that, type away, and then, yeah, leave us a review. Just said we'd love to read them. We start every meeting with a good review. So, yeah, please do.
Dietra
Yes, we would love it. If you guys have questions, please send those to dear alicellislanehome.com and we will catch you guys next time. Spring just slid into your DMs grab that boho look for that rooftop dinner. Those sandals that can keep up with you. And hang some string lights to give your patio a glow up. Spring's calling, Ross.
Rumi
Work your magic.
Dietra
Hey, thanks for listening. If you like our show, please leave a five star rating.
Episode: Top 4 Color Blocking Combos That Always Work
Date: April 9, 2026
Hosts: Dietra, Suzanne, Corey
The April episode of Dear Alice dives deep into color blocking in interior design—a principle the hosts are keen to distinguish from fleeting trends. Drawing inspiration from recent runway shows and their own design projects, Dietra and Suzanne break down why color blocking is gaining momentum for 2026 and share practical, vivid examples. They discuss go-to, timeless color combinations, tips for getting started, and how color blocking works both in high fashion and in everyday homes. Listeners are guided through the “why” behind each color pairing, get encouragement to be bold, and leave with usable strategies to refresh their own spaces.
a. Icy Italian Blue ("Capri Blue")
b. Jade
c. Plum Noir (Oxblood/Merlot)
d. Wasabi Green (Chartreuse/Acid Green)
e. Persimmon
"I've never met a couple... that doesn't like blue. Everybody can get along on the blue train."
— Suzanne [03:11]
"If you want to just use the two: The blue and the red are so, so good."
— Dietra [09:45]
"It's a color palette that never... you never lose with it."
— Dietra [15:19]
"The more tweaked the color, the shades that you're using are, the more original it's going to feel. Not using the American flag red. Using the more orangey red..."
— Dietra [24:32]
"Gold is just again, the highlighter in any of these color blocking stories."
— Suzanne [07:46]
"The combination of experiencing both of these colors back to back is such a fantastic move."
— Suzanne [22:57]
"We're in a glossy era for skin care and makeup, for clothing, we have more sheen. Our walls have more sheen. This is the space that we're in right now."
— Dietra [29:36]
"Even going to the color that you think you'd pick, and then going down the ring or going up the ring and be like, oh, that makes me a little scared. Okay, I'll try it... you are in a classical white paneled entry, and then you peekaboo into this hidden door... And then you open up to this, and you're like, who are these people? This is the coolest thing."
— Suzanne [24:58]
"You put a yellow mohair chair in any scene, and it will instantly come alive. There's something about the shade of yellow... I have one yellow mohair chair in my peacock living room, and it's doing all the work, just reacting to the peacock color. One chair."
— Dietra [36:02]
Dietra, Suzanne, and Corey close by inviting listeners to:
"Design is so powerful. I'm alive, I'm young, I'm happy. I would never change this." – Suzanne [25:28]
Listeners are encouraged to leave a review and send questions to dearalice@alicelanehome.com.
Recap prepared for interior design enthusiasts seeking actionable inspiration and vivid examples of color blocking done right in real projects—without needing to listen to the full episode.