Sky and Citron

Aqua and orange isn't a combo I see around too much (I grew up in the 80's, not the 60's!), but I am really digging it in this Nantucket guesthouse bedroom (painted Benjamin Moore's "Lido Green") that was featured in House Beautiful. I love the way the designer John Willey described how it manages to feel so peaceful:

Don't take this the wrong way, but that room reminds me of 1960s Howard Johnson's colors — that wonderfully intense orange and aqua — but modernized a bit. It's such a terrific vintage palette and I have to admit, I love orange. The reason this pretty Florida-orange orange is calming is that it's printed on a natural beige ground instead of white. It tones down the intensity, makes it less bright, less Marimekko, more bedroomy.