Using Color and Pattern

Keep these simple rules in mind when choosing color:

1. The most important thing in picking colors is that they make you feel good in the rooms they are being used in.

2. Use color to play up architectural elements. Color can also be used to downplay other areas that you don’t want to bring attention to, such as various angles in a wall and ceiling. In that case, you can paint the wall and ceiling the same color, blending the odd angles.

3. Dark colors can make a room feel cozy.

4. Flat finishes tend to not show off imperfections in a wall, as a semi-gloss would.

5. Painting walls and ceilings the same color (or a shade lighter/darker) also helps rooms look bigger in that the eye is on a continuous journey of the room, rather than stopping at where the wall color ends and the ceiling begins.

Once you think you’ve decided on a color (or colors) that you are considering it is best to see the color in your own home, in the room it will be used in. Each paint manufacturer now offers sample pots of their paints, and they range in price from $2.00 to $5.00. Well worth the investment.

Some other color tips:

Ceiling too high? Use a color that is a shade or two darker than the wall color.

Ceiling too low? Use a color that is a shade or two lighter than the wall color.

If you want to make a room seem larger, use light, cool colors (such as blue and green)

If you want to make a room seem smaller, use dark, warm colors (such as red, and yellow)

Kathy Passarette is a Certified Interior Decorator, Affiliate member of the Interior Design Society and Charter Member of the Society of Decorating Professionals. She is the owner of Creative Home Expressions located on Long Island, New York. You can contact Kathy through her website at http://www.creativehomeexpressions.com