Jeannie Fraise absolutely loves color. She steered clear of white walls when decorating the San Francisco home she shares with her husband. Jeannie, who owns a home accessories store, Lotus Bleu, only had to look at what she’d been collecting for years to find inspiration.

The house is filled with all things crimson, including Chinese art and Vietnamese fabrics. Using paint, upholstery, restraint, and repetition, she struck a balance between lively and livable.

“I used bright colors, but I didn’t use too many,” she says. Before throwing color on the wall, Jeannie experiments with at least two color samples. She paints them on poster boards or directly on the walls in a few places, then observes how they look at different times of the day and in different light. For lighter colors she applies two coats of paint; with darker colors she starts with a tinted primer for better coverage.

Choosing a stunning red as the common thread, Jeannie then paired it with yellow, a vivid partner. “The key is to mix it up a bit and play colors off one another, rather than having them compete,” says Jeannie, who uses black to ground the strong hues.

For visual flow between rooms, Jeannie lets one color dominate in one space then switched the scheme in the next. In the living room, walls wear yellow, and red plays a secondary role in the furnishings. The roles reverse in the family room and kitchen, where red walls star and yellow appears in the golden tones of the wood cabinets. Fabrics tie furnishings together throughout the home. Though Jeannie combined three patterns in many rooms, each one is within her color scheme.

“Color sets the stage for a room. It adds drama and character,” says Jeannie. “If you’re timid about using color, choose an interesting wall color and pair it with key larger pieces like a sofa or rug in neutral tones. Bring the bold color back in with accessories such as pillows. Paint and accessories are the least expensive and the easiest to change or adapt."

IN THE FLOW

Jeannie finesses her palette to achieve different looks but keeps the flow from room to room. Here’s how.

Dining room: Golden yellow walls in the dining room are a shift from the pale yellow of the entry. “I like to subtly switch wall colors for contrast, and in this case for warmth,” Jeannie says. “Even if you’re doing neutrals you can vary things by using a soft beige or a greenish beige.”

Bedrooms: “For calming sleeping spaces, you need a soothing palette,” Jeannie says. In the mater bedroom, walls are beige, red turns a pinkish tint, blue replaces yellow for a surprise accent, and chocolate brown is the new black.

Living room: In the living room, toile fabric sets a traditional tone, yet its lively colors hint at things to come. “I used color more formally at the front of the house and more casually at the back of the house,” Jeanne says.