Effective Color Choices For Home Decorating

Beverly Clarke, Author


Each one of us would like to make our home look comfortable and inviting. The fact that colors have a psychologoical effect on us, is widely known. They can be soothing, can uplift our spirits or can, on occassion, make us feel a high level of stress. Some of the most difficult decisions in decorating have to do with selecting colors. If you decide to follow trends, your home may look trendy in one season and absolutely outdated in the next, so your best decision is to select more classic colors that would work for you now as well as in the future.

Begin by reviewing the colors that you already have and decide if you are comfortable enough to keep what you currently have, or if you want to make a change. Consider the function of each room. Identify the colors that make you feel a certain way and select them for a room in which you'd like to experience that feeling. Your instincts about your comfort level with a particular color, are usually right when you are in the color selection process, so trust them.

As an example, the master bedroom is one of the most important rooms in a home. sage green and sky blue are good color choices for a room in which you will relax since they will induce tranquility and peacefulness. For evoking a sensuous feel in a room, select the color red and for drama, chocolate brown is a good choice.

Since the kitchen is most often the gathering place for family and friends you want it to create a feeling of well-being and good cheer which can be accomplished by using bright colors. Yellow has been the most popular in and the color most associated with the kitchen. However, the shade of yellow that suits the room is an important selection. Each color comes in many shades. The purer and lighter the shade the more there is a feeling of freshness and happiness. The murkier the shade, the more a mood of danger or illness is induced.

Choosing to use complementary colors between rooms that are near each other is an important decorating decision. Also keep in mind that, warm colors make for spaces that are cozy and comfortable, whereas cool tones will open up a room making it feel more large and spacious.

Be sure that you purchase a small sample container of each of the paint colors you choose in order to try them out on the walls of your home. People who buy several gallons of a paint color before they have sampled it on the wall, often are disappointed when it is applied in the room.

It is also important to select the appropriate level of sheen for the walls. In order to facilitate easy cleanup in kitchens and bathrooms, select a satin or an eggshell finish. If you like the effect of a flat paint finish, go ahead and choose it in other rooms.

If you are not comfortable making decisions about paint colors, you can contact an interior design professional who can consult with you on an hourly fee. The place in which you spend the most amount of time is your home. The decisions you make now, will affect you for many years to come, so selecting carefully is indeed, a requirement.


Beverly Clarke, herself a designer, owns a successful trade showroom with her husband Barry which caters exclusively to professional designers and their clients.  Although located in Florida, Town Country and Casual is available to professional designers both locally and nationwide.  Access their design resources and high-end furniture lines by dropping by the showroom, or visiting them online.

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