Designer Tips for Decorating with Blue

According to one Airbus A321 in JetBlue’s fleet, “The Bluer, The Better.”

Hundreds of the carrier’s jets are emblazoned with names that are clever sayings or puns on the word “blue.” It makes you smile; blue makes everyone smile. It’s the world’s most popular color.

“What is blue? It’s the sky, the water; people don’t even realize it’s nature,” says Beth Read Pusser, owner of Oodles of Wallpaper. Blue is so popular that Pusser’s design shop has an entire “Blue Wall” of bins comprising samples of fabrics and wallpapers running the gamut of blue hues.

Los Angeles–based interior designer Peter Dunham uses blue to connect the eye to the outdoors. “It can be misty or bright, moody or clear, or a mix of shades, which I call building up a symphony. Blue is the ultimate neutral,” he says.

Whether on walls, ceilings, cabinetry; on furniture or upholstery or accents such as pillows, lamps, and porcelain—blue is always blue. It retains its integrity no matter how you mix it. Unlike other colors, all blues can harmonize with one another. Blue, a primary color, has a short wavelength, giving it higher energy versus colors with longer wavelengths, such as red. It resides between violet and green on the color wheel, its opposite, complementary color being orange.

The word “blue” derives from an early Germanic blaewaz and Old French blo/bleu. The ancient Egyptians were obsessed with lapis and turquoise. But the ancient Greeks didn’t even have a name for it.

Today, ironically, blue is synonymous with Greece. The iconic blue domes and whitewashed buildings of Santorini and the islands draw huge crowds. What most tourists don’t realize is that this color scheme was mandated by the Greek government to the islands following the end of the monarchy and military junta in 1967. The azure of the Greek flag painted on buildings was meant to inspire patriotism and strengthen national identity. But in Greek and other ancient cultures, blue has deeper meaning: it wards off the evil eye and its negative energies of jealousy, envy, and misfortune. The blue evil eye talisman offers protection, calmness, and good luck. This is also why brides have traditionally worn “something blue.”

Keith Meacham, cofounder of Reed Smythe & Co. in Nashville, has painted the ceiling of her family home’s porch “a giant blue to ward off evil spirits.” Additionally, there are two blue interior rooms. “My bedroom is painted the palest robin’s-egg blue, and my husband’s study the moodiest dark blue with green undertones that make the room feel warm and embracing,” she says. The designer loves to set a blue-and-white table, noting the combination “stands the test of time.”

At David Francis Furniture in Vero Beach, co-owner Catherine Blüm says, “Blue continues to be one of our most sought-after color families. From the airy calm of Seaside Blue to the depth of Indigo, these tones offer endless versatility—coastal, modern, or classic. Heirloom and Azul have been especially popular this year.”

When a client meets with Susan Schuyler Smith of Spectrum Interiors and asks for blue, it triggers a process. “Everybody’s idea of blue is different. We have to narrow it down. Most people look good in blue; they’ll ask for the blue they look good in,” she explains, adding that most men prefer Oxford blue, like their shirts.

It’s true of Schuyler Smith’s own husband, who likes blue so much he named their black Labrador retriever “Blue.” When they got a black rescue cat, he named it “Little Blue.” Their boat was christened Old Blue.

And when they had an airplane, it was called Air Blue.