Photo courtesy of Laure Joliet

A Brilliant San Francisco Designer on How to Work Color into a Space

In partnership with our friends at

Interior designer Chloe Warner works with color in a daring way that somehow manages to feel both cool and subtle. “I have the entire Farrow & Ball assortment committed to memory,” admits Warner, who leans on the uniquely saturated paint colors for projects big and small. “Every commission starts with photos, fonts, scraps of paper, a paint chip, anything that puts us and the client on the same page visually,” she says. Warner’s Bay Area firm, Redmond Aldrich Design, balances a distinctly modern, youthful energy with a sense of lived-in tradition in projects that range from a luxe penthouse and the gorgeous, women-run Ayla Beauty in San Francisco to an Airstream trailer in Montana.

As you might imagine, she’s incredible with both paint and (the occasional, well-chosen) pattern. Her best resource, she says, is Farrow & Ball, the British paint and wallpaper brand famous for its irreverent, visually arresting aesthetic. Warner loves that the paints are eco-friendly and water-based, too. “Paint is such an easy way to infuse emotion into a space,” she says. “And with Farrow & Ball, even if you dip your toes in something a little more daring, like Calamine (a murky pink—like the lotion) or Studio Green (a deep, dark green that sometimes looks black, amazing for cabinetry), you can feel confident it’s going to be tasteful and beautiful.” Warner gave us some supremely useful decorating and painting tips—and we’re super inspired.