How you want to feel in your home generally determines the way it looks. Choosing a style that is appropriate for your home is a personal choice. Your home’s decor will reveal to visitors just who you are. Do you want to feel relaxed, pensive or energized upon entering? Answering that basic question will help you make all the decisions regarding color, fabrics, furniture style and lighting. Every item selected, bought and placed has some meaning. Even items that have been inherited or given as gifts are significant in the creation of your home. Of all the components of a room, of course, color is one of the most important.
Neutral colors are extremely popular because they act as backdrops for furnishing and accent pieces to stand out. Within this group, white, off-white, beige, gray and taupe all act to support other colors that you want to be featured. The idea is to wrap the room in neutrals and then be strategic in bringing other colors and items into the mix. This is the best approach if you want to play it safe.
Using one color throughout an entire room is a way to use color as a unifying element. For example, a pale yellow room with matching walls, drapes and upholstery can make a bright room act as a neutral. For the bold and daring, even red, when used as prescribed above, is considered by some as a backdrop or, dare I say, a neutral. Of course, red is not a relaxing color but rather one that energizes or creates a romantic mood when used in libraries or dining rooms.
Go with the flow. Throughout a home, colors should carry from one room to another for a cohesive look. This doesn’t mean that all the rooms should have the same color, but at least one color should weave from room to room, especially in rooms that are visible from another.
It is possible to create multicolored combinations to give your home a wow factor. Most people tend to paint a room in just one color, and there is nothing wrong with that. To give your room a splash of another color, try painting just one wall. It could be the bed wall or the wall behind your sofa or even a wall that has a fireplace or television as an accent. This is a simple way to show off your paint savvy.
Another paint technique that can jazz a room up or make up for missing architecture is to add stripes in a vertical or horizontal manner. Don’t worry; it won’t end up looking like a circus tent or beach cabana once you hang your art. All you need is some well-installed painter’s tape and a good roller. Besides the visual interest it gives a room, it can make the room look taller or wider, depending on the width of the stripes. If you have good taping skills, you may want to combine vertical and horizontal stripes for a plaid or color-block effect.
Joseph Pubillones is the owner of Joseph Pubillones Interiors, an award-winning interior design firm based in Palm Beach, Florida. His website is www.josephpubillones.com. To find out more about Joseph Pubillones or to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
