The Creative, Bold & Colourful Home of Paola Roder

Today’s home tour is like no other I’ve featured before. Bold, colourful and full of pattern, it’s the perfect representation of how, when you have the confidence to, you can make your home a true reflection of your personality and style. This fabulous home belongs to the super lovely Paola Roder and her husband who won our @Greathomestaketime over on Instagram.

The Creative, Bold & Colourful Home of Paola Roder

When I feature a home, I always ask for a little bit of background to those that live there. There’s a good reason for this. A well thought out home isn’t just about the layout or what colour to paint your walls, it’s also about the people that live there. It’s about injecting some of your own personality into it. So when Paola told me about herself, I could instantly see how her home reflected all areas of her life and how true to herself she has been when it comes to deciding on how to decorate her home.

What makes a home great, if not more intriguing and unique, is staying true to yourself about what you love and what makes you happy. Paola has hit the mark on all fronts. It’s beautifully curated and has a sense of fun about it. It’s a home that excites the senses to the point that you can’t help but stop and stare just you can take it all in.

Forget trends or what you think others may like when decorating your homes as these will leave you feeling less connected to your spaces and it won’t feel like your home.

The Interior Editor

The Creative, Bold & Colourful Home of Paola Roder

About Paola

Paola Roder was born and raised in Cali, Colombia, South America where she went to an Art School (Conservatory Antonio Maria Valencia) and graduated as a Graphic Designer. She went onto become an award-winning designer and has worked with some high-end designers where she gained a huge amount of experience that has provided her with an endless love of bold colour and pattern and my personal favourite, texture.

Her passion for art and design is truly reflected in every area of her amazing home. Of course, Paola’s wealth of experience in terms of understanding how colour, texture and patterns work from her design background, does mean she has the advantage over most. That said, there’s always some inspiring aspect that we can take away for ourselves, (myself included) when looking around other peoples homes.

Paola retired 7 years ago from working in graphic design due to the pressures of the job. But her amazing skill set and love of design is most definitely alive when it comes to her home.

Believe it or not a year ago I was working with dogs, yes dogs (dogs and their world is another one of my passions). I had a pet walking and sitting business in Philadelphia. Last year my husband got promoted at his job and was moved to Atlanta and and we started looking for a house exactly 6 months ago.

Paola Roder

The House…

After looking at about 50 properties, Paola and her husband fell in love with the house they’re currently living in. And it’s easy to see why. The architectural details such as the double height ceiling in the family room and large windows fill this split level open plan space with an abundance of natural light.

Everything about this house was amazing, the architecture, the interior design of the house, the functionality, the distribution of the space, the flow, the details, everything about the house was unbelievable it felt that the house was meant for us to live in. I remember my husband saying: “my father would have loved this house.” My husband’s father was also a Graphic Designer (he used to design cars for GM). And like me he appreciated a good piece of art, whether a home, a car or the art itself.

Paola Roder

Paola and her husbands home is located in golf and country club community in the Suburbs of Atlanta. Most of the homes in the neighbourhood are traditional with some great touches of contemporary architecture. Construction is generally siding or stucco, with the occasional brick home. Much of the neighbourhood has been updated or completely remodelled. This has resulted in some of the most beautiful interiors and Paola’s is one of those. Having been completely remodelled top to bottom their home now resembles the time of Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture.

Paola’s Style

Vibrant and energising are just two descriptives I would use to describe how Paola’s home feels. Her use of bold colour and pattern literally lift the spirits. It has me wondering how introducing colour and pattern (even in smaller doses) can have a positive effect on our wellbeing.

My style is a mix of my experience as a Graphic Designer, my South American and Colombian culture, traveling and my love for art.

Paola Roder

Art

One of the women that follows Paola on Instagram told her, “Your house is like an Art Gallery but in a good way.” I have to say that I agree.

Each space is well defined and has been allowed to shine in its own right. What I like to call negative space has been created between each installation (so to speak). Allowing you to take in specific details and without it feeling overwhelming. An important point to consider when it comes to a bolder colour palette and/or pattern.

Pop Art is one of Paola’s favorite movements and there are references to this everywhere your eye falls.

I have been in the Andy Warhol Museum twice. The beauty of Pop Art is that it includes imagery from popular and mass culture such as advertising, comic books and mundane cultural objects. The house has a lot of Pop Art. I really like bright and bold colours. I like to make one room different from the other but cohesive within.

Paola Roder

Paola’s style and decor choices are intentional, much like an art installation. In Paola’s words…

“Installation art is a term generally used to describe artwork located in three-dimensional interior space as the word “install” means putting something inside of something else making the guest and viewers be in the space while interacting with it.”

Making An Entrance…

I wrote a post here on how our entrance hallways are pretty much like the opening chapter to a book. And just like any beginnings, first impressions count. They are quite simply visual pathways and should connect with other areas of our homes through your decor choices. Paola has achieved this and more.

The phone Paola has at the entrance of her home adds a sensory piece to her wall art that pops beautifully against the sunny yellow walls. You can’t help but smile.

The corner of the entrance hall houses what Paola likes to call a “From the Past” installation. The phone was free at a state sale and the cassette is an old German language class with the diskette being something they found during their move. Paola has preserved these as works of art on her entrance hall. They certainly make you stop and stare and I love how older found pieces can work as artwork. Each bearing reference to the past whilst still being decorative in their form as well as preserving a little piece of history/story.

In fact, Paola, has designed her home with all of our senses in mind. Tactile 3d installations such as the phone encourage you to want to investigate with touch.

Cinematography

I enjoy going to museums a lot and I love cinematography. I have seen so many movies from classics to independent films, European films, American and South American films I just love and enjoy great movies!

Paola Roder

Music

Music is part of my life as well and I can not live without it. My favorite types are alternative rock and classic rock.

Great homes really do take time when you consider Paola’s Rock and Roll Wall of Fame that she has created in her dining area has taken years. Paola sought out back of stamp sheets from the US Postal Office from their music collection. How cool is that! Whilst the records were found in an old suitcase in a basement. They’re 45 RPM vinyl records that don’t actually match the pictures in terms of the artist but Paola has sorted them by colour to with the picture next to it. Not that you or I would have known. Personally, I think they make a fabulous unique and interesting feature in their own right.

The murals you see in Paola’s dining area were painted by herself and took their inspiration from the artist Camille Walala and Lakwena.

I like people to come to my house and enjoy every piece that it is displayed. I like my guest to interact with the space and make it part of them.

Paola Roder

I enjoy reading as well. My favourite genre is mystery but Iʼm open to any good book or any type of literature. I love travelling and learning about people, culture, food, and traditions.

Paola Roder

Creativity…

Wallpaper has become increasingly popular in interiors in recent years and I love Paola’s interpretation of this trend. Rather than buy, Paola has created her own unique murals instead. It’s enabled her to incorporate the decor graphic symbols that she has used elsewhere in her home. The overall effect is one of cohesiveness from one space to another.

What really strikes me the most in life is creativity. Uniqueness, one of a kind things, standing out from the crowd even if for some that means being weird. However, for others like myself it is being really who you are!

Paola Roder

It’s All In The Detail…

I’ve said this before, but having meaningful pieces no matter how large or small really makes a difference in how you look at your home. They resonate more with us when there’s a connection.

Paola’s love of bold graphic lines, stripes and circles can be seen almost everywhere in her home. She even painted the chevron pattern on this vase in her living room using one frog tape at a time!

Using Colour & Pattern

The white walls set the backdrop to splashes of bold colour and graphic pattern. Paola has skillfully used art and colour and pattern to draw the eye. They determine and help define focal areas within her open plan space below.

TIP: To create a cohesive feel and look to your homes, repeat colour/s and/or pattern choices. Paola’s bold primary colour palette is seen throughout her home as is the repetitive use of bold monochrome chevron/striped patterns. Each element helps to create flow from one space to another and prevents them from feeling and looking disjointed.

Colour is such a powerful tool as it’s one of the first things we see when we enter a room. It can be easy to get carried away, or you may not know where to even start. Ensure you set out a colour palette that you are happy to introduce to other areas of your home, especially if you have open plan spaces.

You can do this in less than dramatic ways from tableware, linens, cushions and decorative objects. The trick is to not overwhelm any particular area but to choose one or two stronger patterns that you can carry through as Paola has done with her family room through to the dining area. You can, if you’re feeling brave, add more subtle patterns into the mix to create more interest.

On a final note…

Paola has had the confidence to create a home that depicts her personality and style. It’s more than just a home it’s an extension of the people that live there and I personally can’t stop looking at it. You can check out more of Paola’s amazing home here on Instagram and why not go give her a follow so you can keep up to date with her colourful home.

Apart from taking inspiration from this amazing home itself, I hope you’ll take away with you a new found confidence and the courage to create a home that reflects who you are as a person too.

Don’t forget, you can be in for a chance to have your home featured. Head on over to @Greathomestaketime on Instagram and follow all our hosts to be in with a chance to win.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!

Maria xx

All photographs taken by : @karenpaganoflorence