Choosing A Color For A Room Makeover

By Author: Glenn Farrier
Total Articles: 123
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Color and pattern are the backbone of a room’s design. There are infinite combinations, and ways to mix or match to achieve a look that suits your style, taste and personality. All it takes to get started is a favorite color, a fabric swatch you particularly like, a single piece of furniture that you must have or a decorative accessory. In Interior Design this is called your inspiration piece. You can design a room or your whole home around the inspiration piece that you have chosen.

The Color Scheme:

Of course, regardless of what you choose as an inspiration, you will have to choose a color scheme. The colors can be bold, calm, complimentary or contrasting. There are a million ways to combine color, as well as just as many ways to accent with color. Today, the most popular base color for walls is usually a light beige or tan. While this is an excellent color and compliments almost any accent color, it can be rather boring. Unless you need a generic color because you are trying to sell your home, it may be better to let your personality shine through. Another trend today is to paint the entire home in this very ...
... generic color; some consider this to be very classy, others would say very boring.

How About Variety?

There is no reason why every room in your home cannot be a distinctly different color and design. As long as you have definite division between rooms, such as an actual doorway, then there is no need for all rooms to be alike. Some color schemes work better in some rooms than others, depending on the purpose of the room.

Example 1: A dining room can be a rich warm red or brown, which makes for a cozy and intimate dining environment. However, would you really want that color in your working kitchen area? It might seem depressing in a work area.

Example 2: The bedroom should be designed with relaxation in mind. There are two ways to go about this. Cool and calm colors such as pale green and pale blue create a relaxing environment for resting. Alternatively, navy blue, dark brown or even black can reduce light reflection and give you a dark and comfortable place to sleep. On the other hand, bold red, orange or purple is too busy and is not going to give you the restful environment you want for sleep.

In the end, the color you choose should reflect your personality and the type of room in which it will be used. Usually lighter colors are more versatile as base colors. If you have a bold fabric swatch that you just have to use for drapes, then pick your other room colors from the least bold colors in the design. Your room will be a perfect reflection of you.

Paula Morris-Dungan attended Art Institute of Pittsburg for Residential Space Planning and Interior Design. She spends her spare time remodeling and designing the interior of her 80+ year old house. She is a full-time freelance writer who writes for blogs and a discount fabric store about various topics including paint, upholstery fabric, interior design.