Dan's Papers - June 5, 2009 - Create a Home with Color

There's no doubt that color is emotional. We've all heard the expression "green with envy" or "feeling blue". Color has the power to energize, inspire, comfort and excite us. Every color of the rainbow evokes a different response in humans. Just as warm colors can raise the temperature of a room, cool ones can drop it a few degrees. Decorators know that red is a passionate color. It's a great choice to use in a dining room because it actually increases one's appetite. Dining rooms bring together loved ones for food, wine and long conversations. Warm dramatic colors are a good choice for this room. Blue, on the other hand, has a calming effect and is suitable for bedrooms; it lends a sense of serenity and repose. Oceanic hues are ideal for making a bathroom, bedroom or study a quiet oasis. Add sandy colored beige to this palette and you warm things up a bit!

When it comes to decorating there are no hard and fast rules. One's home is an expression of personal taste, especially when it comes to color! I incorporate all the elements of a room when deciding a color scheme - fabrics, artwork, furniture, carpets, etc. I consider the architectural layout of the house. Today's open floor plans make it more essential than ever to coordinate one room to another with color. If you paint your kitchen center island a rusty red, incorporate this same hue somewhere in the adjoining dining room. Add a red carpet or floral arrangement with the same warm color. Color can come from sources other than fabric and paint.

Begin your quest to find the perfect color for your room by bringing a color wheel and swatches of your fabrics into the space and choose two or three possible colors. This must be done in the room you're painting, not the paint store! The amount of natural light, northern exposure, southern exposure, incandescent ceiling lights, etc, can dramatically change a color. When you think you have found a few colors that you like, compare them to each other. Neutral beige can look "green" when you put it next to beige with red hues. Once you have narrowed the choice to two or three possible colors, purchase a "sample pot". All the major paint manufacturers now have 4 oz. sample pots in a wide array of colors. (If a color you have chosen is not available, then just purchase a quart of that color in an eggshell finish.) Then go to your local craft store and get a few 2' by 2' squares of foam and paint each piece one of the colors. Prop them against the wall in the room and view them at different times of the day. You may get lucky and find the new "sample chips" paint manufacturers are producing. It's well worth the time and small expense to get it right.