Few home improvement projects can be as far reaching for the money and time invested as a paint job. Paint, in addition to creating easy to maintain, easy to clean walls, has the ability to create ambience, mood, style and optical illusions as to size. Knowing some of the basics of color theory can help you make choices that you will not only be able to live with, but will be able to enjoy for several years. Colors that are light in tone, such as white, light yellow, pale green, ivory, and similar colors help make a room feel larger.
To further increase the illusion of more space, choose colors that are similar in value (intensity) for furnishings, window coverings and walls. This may seem like a ticket to a boring room, but it doesn’t need to be boring. While the furnishings, walls, window coverings and flooring may be light colors and in the same range, adding richly colored small accessories can make the room visually interesting. A fusion of styles borrowed from vintage homes and from the trends of recent years enables homeowners to exercise their personality and color preferences more than ever before. The colors you choose have a lot to do with celebrating your home as an extension of yourself and your lifestyle. Modern homes may have rooms with different moods and styles, unlike the homes of the ‘80s when one color theme dominated every wall in a home.
Bold color can be overwhelming if it is overused, however if used to contrast the sleek clean lines of silver and black furnishings, or in a child’s room, color can be striking and adventurous. Geometric shapes are popular with children, and stimulating colors chosen in consultation with a child can encourage the child to take a greater interest in their room, providing a sense of identity and theoretically increasing the child’s interest in keeping their room tidy.
Purples and violets identified by Benjamin Moore as sophisticated and daring sent shivers up the spine of my realtor when I listed my home a year ago. Despite his protests, people viewing the home complimented me on the room. I painted the living room window wall Smartie® purple and the other walls a soft grey-green. The window curtain panels were denim blue as was the sofa. The valance was a soft ivory background with a denim blue and purple floral print. The leaves in the print were a deeper hue of the grey-green walls. Silk lilacs in a grey-green ceramic vase and carefully selected artwork were the finishing touches. When it was completed, all the colors pulled together to make a stunning room.
The trick is to use each color at least three times. Colors drawn from nature remain a perennial favorite for home decorators, and while the shade and hue may change, colors like greens and browns are warm, relaxing and soothing. Benjamin Moore suggests yellow and lime green to create a bright and sunny atmosphere; gold and bronze are rich and friendly; olive is sombre and quiet; grey-green calms, and blue is refreshing and tranquil. While white or off-white can be boring, it is the new approach to decorating in a neutral scheme that brings a fresh new appeal to an old idea.
White is compatible with a minimalist approach when used with sharply designed retro or modern furnishings. The neutral scheme enables the eye to focus on the unique lines of the furnishings as opposed to the lines being lost when the eye is drawn by color.
Additional character can be brought into an all white-tones room by utilizing varying levels of glossy to flat finishes. Texture can add intrigue by including chenille, or a variety of created textures in the furnishings. Color allows the celebration of personality, the creation of mood and the expression of style.
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