November 22, 2015
Color Me Beautiful – Choosing Hues for Your Home
As we all know, it’s easier to sell a house to someone when the walls are white or an off-white shade. By keeping the walls neutral, buyers will not be turned off by color combinations that don’t appeal to them. But a surprisingly large number of new home owners don’t even think to change the color of their walls once they move in! Many homes keep their white or beige walls for years and years, if the color is ever changed at all. However, choosing colors that inspire and excite you is one of the easiest ways to personalize and modernize your home. Trends in paint come and go, but there are always some great ideas you can use to give your home a little added zing. Try some of these on for size!
A Riveting Welcome – Design Your Front Door
You’ll see red doors often – they’re exciting, charming and promise a lovely surprise inside. One of the more traditional bright colors for an entryway, red is always a solid choice. If you live near the ocean or a lake, consider a steely gray-blue that picks up a water theme. Stylish neutrals are popular – look for a green-gray or olive, a brown or a terra-cotta.
Dress Up Your Foyer
Give your home some “wow and pow!” with a bright, happy color. Since there is usually a minimum of furniture in your foyer, you won’t have as many concerns with matching unusual shades of paint to your décor. Think cherry or tomato red with black accents, royal purple, bright turquoise blue, coral or sunshine yellow.
Eat Your Heart Out – Generate Kitchen Envy!
Go European with French blue or robin’s egg blue with touches of white or gray, or California style with a deep yellow and warm sienna color palette. A shower of citrus brightens your day – lime greens, lemon yellows and pops of vibrant orange guarantee a great start every morning! If you prefer a neutral shade, think driftwood with sand…a warm deep beige with accents of gray/brown/silver.
Common Areas Go Cozy or Tranquil
For living rooms, dens, dining rooms and family rooms, choose shades that help you wind down after long, busy days. If relaxing is important, pick calming colors such as soft blue, stone (a lovely mix of tan and gray), the gray of a slightly overcast sky, green/gray or even a soft seashell pink. If you want a cozy, inviting family-friendly area, think about buff, light evergreen, medium to harvest golds, deep matte reds, burnt oranges and light cocoa.
A Relaxing Bedroom
Cool or neutral shades promote easy sleep and make decorating easy. Think about light or silvery grays, a pale khaki or tender leaf green, sage, a barely-there lavender, interesting off-white shades or gentle blues that look like the sky. Avoid oranges, reds and bright, harsh yellows – these colors tend to put your body on hyper-alert.
Don’t Baby Your Children – Decorate for the Long Haul
Instead of the typical pale pastel shades common for babies, look to the future. If you don’t want to repaint after two or three years, choose more sophisticated youthful colors such as true lavender, marine blue, a warm light gold the color of a baby chick, a creamy biscuit shade, a deep, vibrant mint or bright leafy green. A true white is smart if your child loves to decorate his or her walls with personal artwork, posters or wall hangings.
Make a Small Room Expand
Choosing the right color can give a small room a larger look. Everyone knows white or pale blue/gray will do the job, but if you’re looking for some visual interest, try Delft blue, flannel gray, warm taupe, deep eggplant or chocolate brown. While everyone immediately thinks of light colors to expand a room, creating shadows and depth also gives the effect of endless space by blurring the boundaries of the walls.
If you haven’t experimented with paint before, you may be wondering how to decide which shades are best for you. Pale and proper? Bold and brash? Moderate and mellow? Use this link to take your “color personality test” and determine which direction you should take with your color choices. Remember, you can start small if you’re unsure of how much color you want in your home. Paint an accent wall in a room or two, or experiment in a powder room or laundry room first. Once you become more comfortable with using paint as a design tool, you’ll want to re-color your whole home!
