Decorating,Design-TIPS-Adding Color

6.20.2010

Decorating,Design-TIPS-Adding Color

Decorating & Design-Adding Color

Choosing a color palette for your home is important, but where do you start? Here are some expert tips to help you out.

Start with the formal rooms
These areas include the entry hall, the dining room and the living room. Once you have chosen a palette for those rooms you can pull one color. Take that color and use it, possibly in a different shade or tone, in another room such as your bedroom.

Use the color of your clothes as a cue
People usually buy clothes in the colors that they like and feel they look good in, so use that. Use colors in rooms that look good on you. Not just on the walls but also in furniture and accents.

Decorate from dark to light
An easy way to make any space look great is to use dark color values close to and on the floor, medium values on the walls, and light values on the ceiling. This mirrors the way the external environment looks.

The color wheel
Generally, if you want to create a room of relaxation and informality or privacy, related colors work best. These are colors that are next to each other on the color wheel, say yellow and orange. To create a feeling of excitement and formality, great for entertaining, you should use complementary colors. These are colors opposite on the color wheel, such as blue and orange.

Dominant, secondary and accent colors
Use the 60-30-10 rule. Divide the colors of a space into the components of 60 percent dominant color, 30 percent secondary color and 10 percent accent color. This is a no fail equation. Typically the walls make up the most area, so use the dominant color. Then the upholstery uses the secondary color and the accessories, like throw pillows make up the accent.

One last tip
No matter what color scheme you go with, it's a good idea to put something black in every room. A picture frame, a lampshade, for example. Black helps to anchor all of the other colors in the room.