It seems that everybody wants to add some sort of bold color to their design palate these days but not everybody knows how to do it in a way they can actually live with.  If you are like me, and love the idea of strong hues but are afraid to turn your home into what San Francisco interior designer, Steven Miller, calls "an angry fruit salad", try incorporating those bold colors with neutrals.

Contrary to popular belief, neutrals don’t begin and end with beige. Decorator, Stephen Shubel says, "If you’re afraid of color, start with a neutral background and make the room shine by layering color". An example of this being, black, mushroom, smoke and a bunch of other muted tones, because all stand up to the wildest colors, creating a welcoming, and distinct combination. By combining today’s emerging colors like emerald, chartreuse, and purple, with neutrals, you’ve created a way to add the color you want to an environment you can live in.

Earthy textures such as shells, leather and bird feathers, also work as neutrals because not only do they add depth but they relax the high contrasts.  Holly at Decor8 says, "think once living things, lovingly preserved"; this is sure to create a glamorous mix of knockout color with laid-back neutrals.