Colour Up your Home!

Look at your rooms differently to bring a fresh perspective to the space. Changing the scene, moving the furniture and painting the rooms are all great ways to achieve a different look. A coat of paint freshens up a room and is one of the least expensive ways to update your look. To start, have your fabrics ready. Select a paint colour from the fabric rather than trying to match a fabric to your colour. Pick one of the colours to use as your main colour, and then use other colours in the fabric for accents. Know what look you want to achieve. Are you going for casual, elegant, dramatic or country? Colours, fabrics, textures and furniture styles all play into how the room will feel.

Colours for your Ceiling:

Treat the ceiling as another wall and give it some character. For a simple, clean, ultra modern look, paint the ceiling (and walls) a crisp white. For a soft, elegant look, tint the ceiling paint with the wall colour. For a more intimate, cozy look, paint the ceiling a shade (or more) darker than the walls. Add some mouldings around the ceiling and ceiling medallions around the light fixture. Paint these a third shade of the wall colour to create an elegant and rich feel. Try wallpapering the ceiling with a paintable wall paper to add an old-world feel, or dramatic new effect.

Colours for your Walls:

Colours change in different lights. So, select the colour for your room in the room, not at the paint store. Look at the colour in different lights throughout the day so you get the feeling of what the colour will do. Try the colour with different light fixtures on as well. You can buy tester pots at most stores so you can paint a good size patch on the wall to see how the colour will change.

The easiest way to warm up a room is to use colour with a yellow or red undertones. Yellow is a happy colour. It lights up the space and makes it feel larger. Keep the strong yellow colour for accents, and use the soft yellows for sunny rooms. Red and orange are energetic colours and great for dining rooms, living rooms and gathering places. People tend to talk and eat more when orange is in a room. For a sophisticated hit of colour, paint only 1 wall in a deep red. The other walls could be soft ochre colours for a softening balance.

Chose blues, greens and purples to cool a room down. Blue is generally a restful, peaceful colour. Dark blues can seem overbearing and depressing. Try using accent colours from the warm colours to help lift the spirits. Greens are generally cool and therapeutic, so create a space that feels soothing and calm. Purples are considered to be exotic and royal colours. Dark purples are excellent for creating a dramatic mood in a room, while the lighter tints are relaxing and restful.