Decorating Junkies- Color

Color is the easy place to start in decorating. It is one of the most personal things you can do to any room. The right colors can improve our moods, stimulate the appetite, make a statement about who you are.
The biggest pitfall in choosing a color is we don't understand how that little paint chip is going to look spread out all over that room. Color is fickle. It changes according to so many different factors. How much sunlight the room gets, what time of day is the room usually used in, is there a large red sofa in the room that is going to make the beige turn to blushy pink? All understandable questions that the homeowner doesn't take into account for, until its painted and put back together.

Here are some of my hints for choosing the right color.
Always remember that red, yellow and blue intensify, once up. I have had customers breakdown crying, when turning into the driveway and they catch the first look at their newly painted "Butter Cream" house that looks like it stepped right out of Sesame Street. What may look yellow and creamy on the swatch has turned into Big Bird on the side of your home.

Test your colors- Invest in a quart of something before painting the whole room and deciding you hate it. Paint it on poster board, paint it on the wall behind pictures(for when the in-laws come over). Don't paint little 2" swatches either, paint 2 foot by 2 foot samples and don't place another new color right against that one. Spread them out so that when you look at them from another room, that color alone stands out. View the color in different lights. Morning, noon and night. A rainy day and a sunny day both should look good. The only people that have an opinion are you and your family and that sometimes is debatable. It doesn't matter that your best friend hates red or that your neighbor can't stand any vegetable color, as long as you love the color, GO FOR IT!!!!!! A good decorator will guide you to the right shade of something not give their personal opinion. If you don't like their choice, tell them, and if they don't pick another color pick another decorator.

Alot of times, I will see a color at a friend's house or a clients house and get the info on where the color came from. I then try a sample to see how I may use it in my home. What looks good there may or may not look good in my setting. Try it and you may like it.

Sheen of paint also changes the look of the color. I typically use flat, matte or at most, eggshell, on my walls. Flat isn't washable but is the easiest to touch up. The more sheen a paint has the more imperfections are highlighted on a wall. Matte is flat but washable and eggshell is scrubbable. This is based on Ben Moore's paint and I only paint with quality paint. The cheaper the paint the harder the painting will be. Why suffer?

Semi gloss goes on high abuse areas, trim, furniture, etc; Never on the WALLS!!!!! Flat on the ceiling, except for high humidity areas such as bathrooms, without vents or teenagers that take 2 hour showers, then you can use eggshell to prevent streaking.

Keep a compostion book in your glove compartment filled with all of those color swatches, ripped out pictures of your dream kitchen, the area rug you love, anything that helps you pull together color when the time comes. The brain can't remember color, so make it easy and keep good records. Even a piece of DMC floss can help you in picking out the bedroom color.

When choosing a color take a favorite blouse, a pillow sham or the mug you got from the beach and lay it down to see how those colors look together. Take home 3-5 paint chips and narrow it down by process of elimination. Then get the quart or 2 oz. sample if available and try it out.

Grab some paint chips and happy painting!!!!!!!!!!!