Have you ever found yourself walking through a room in your home (one you've most likely walked through thousands of times) when you suddenly just stop, look around and think - or if your like me you talk to yourself out loud - "God this room is boring". Well it happens, we get so busy with every day life and so used to our environment that sometimes months even years can go by with the rooms in our homes looking exactly the same.
Not to worry, there is a fairly easy and relatively inexpensive way to bring new life to any room in your home, try adding a new paint color. So where to start, well choosing a new color scheme can feel a bit overwhelming therefore before you run out to your local home improvement store and find yourself standing in front of a wall filled with endless color strips - this is when you become glassy eyed and feel like it's just one giant color blob - there are several things to take into consideration.
Is this a total redo of the entire room - new furniture, drapes, flooring - or simply just changing the paint color? The rule of thumb for a total redo is to determine the paint for your walls after you've established the color scheme in that particular room, reason being paint is one of the least-expensive decorating
elements in a room and can be easily altered and changed as needed. This simply means choose your fabrics first as it's much easier to pull a color from the sofa, bed linen or window treatments than to paint first then try and match the rest of the room.
You may also want to think about the room itself, what it’s used for and
what type of mood you’d like to create. Color does affect the
atmosphere in a room, which in turn affects your mood. There are five categories that paint colors fall into Warm, Pacifying, Blues, Neutrals and Activating, below I've provided a description of each category and how they affect mood.
- Warm Colors: For some, a warm and cozy red room makes an ideal gathering spot. Others would
trade the intensity of red for a blush of rose with the same tonic
effect. In dining areas amber, peach or coral spark appetites and
electrify the conversation; lemon, jasmine, and golden yellows unleash
creative juices in studios and home offices.
- Pacifying Colors: Blue, green, and purple stay reservedly in the background,
cooling, calming, and re-energizing weary spirits. Put them in rooms
for resting and refueling. Pale, serene greens slip quietly into a
living room, bedroom, or reading room, hushing it with a whisper. Medium
greens connect to nature, grounding and freshening the spirits of a
home office, family room, or spa. Deep greens comfort a library,
bedroom, or sitting room.
- Blues & Purples: These can work meditative wonders, they tend to wash a room in coolness and unstructured serenity. Strong blues bring a feeling of responsibility and contentment were as pale purple-blues prompt reflection and dreaming.
- Neutrals: These are the browns, beige's, grays and white perfect for kitchens or baths, they become the bridge for other colors in different rooms. White, another neutral hue, brings out openness, airiness, and an
expansive spirit. It generously welcomes other colors into a room,
framing them and showing them off to their best advantage.
- Activating Colors: Yellow, orange and red encourage warming, cheering and inspiring conversation in varying degrees. Red, the intense one of this group, sparks emotions
forcefully. Orange applies less pressure, and yellow merely suggests. If
these extroverted colors please you, put them to work in the activity
rooms of your house. Ruby, raspberry, or brick reds pack a punch in
entries or halls.
Of course all the above information aside, what it really comes down to is what you like after all as I've always said it's your home do what ever expresses your personality best. Stick with something similar to what you currently have - that's me, I'm a neutral, particularly in the brown and beige category call me boring but that's what I love and I'm sticking to it - or go for something more bold. Just remember if you find it's not right, change it after all it's only paint.
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