If the room receives a lot of sunlight, select cool colors to balance the feel and with a room that doesn’t receive much light select a warm color.

You can color match almost anything, take a sample of the item you want to match to your paint store and get them to analyse it, and they can sort out the corresponding paint.

Remember the scale that you are working with. You are generally selecting from small swatches, they will look quite different in larger pieces.

A paint swatch will look darker when painted on the wall.

Metallic paints add a different dimension to color, used with halogen lighting they add sparkle to a room.

If you are using a chair rail in a room, is is easier on the eye if the color below is darker than the color above, it grounds the scheme.

Always visualize your ideas in 3D, and view the samples as you would see them, for example view the carpet on the floor, not a table, the wallpaper – hold it up against the wall don’t look at it on the table horizontally.

If you have decided to theme your space, ensure that you have done your homework and researched the period. Then make sure that the fabrics, wallpapers, fabrics, furniture, lights etc can be sourced to enable your theme to be successful.

Use patterns more than once in a room. If selecting numerous patterns, ensure that there is something that ties them together for example a color or design.

If using accent colors / patterns make sure that you use them more than once so they harmonise with the room.

Try and have a dominant color for the main theme and accent the other colors around the room.

If selecting a monochromatic scheme, ensure that you select items with texture or your design will look flat and boring.

It is important to keep balance in a room, therefore never group a color or pattern in one area only, and distribute it around the room in varying proportions.

Remember that cool colors recede and warm colors advance. Dark colors look heavy and enclosing, light colors make the space appear larger and lighter.

If you want to “ground’ your scheme, select a dark flooring.

Author:
Lee Brown
Permission by goarticles.com