Home Decorating Paint Schemes

Insights to Inspiration

• You'll often find the best inspiration for a room’s wall color in your existing furnishings and decor. Upholstery patterns crafted by expert designers provide perfect examples of coordinating colors. Closely examine your wall art and choose two or three dominant hues from a large painting or print; then choose paint one or two shades lighter than those hues. Repeat a few of the primary colors found in a room’s area rug for a cohesive look throughout the space.

Creating a Mood

• Consider the room’s function when choosing a paint scheme. Warm colors help energize areas of high activity such as kitchens, dining rooms, home offices, and recreational spaces such as game rooms. Cool hues are typically chosen for areas of rest or relaxation, such as bathrooms and bedrooms. Flexible living room spaces can go either way, depending on the home. Some living rooms are very formal, similar to a parlor, and others serve as a comfortable family gathering place. Neutral color schemes work with either type of setting, creating very sophisticated looks in upscale rooms or providing a warm, comfortable atmosphere in a casual room. However, warm or cool colors can be used interchangeably anywhere in the home; color choice always boils down to personal preference. A high-energy red can be effectively used as an accent wall in a bedroom or can be toned down in a muted shade to cover more wall space without being overwhelming. Fine tuning the colors in a room lets you use practically any hue in any space.

Harmonious Hues

• Balanced paint colors create a pleasing, harmonious look in a room. Color harmony should continue from one room to the next, creating a cohesive unity throughout your home. The use of basic color theory and the color wheel help you easily pick out a harmonious color scheme. Monochromatic color schemes use varying shades of a single hue and work particularly well with neutral colors. Analogous schemes combine three colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel. Complementary schemes combine colors opposite each other on the color wheel and work effectively with colors of high intensity and saturation.

Decorative Techniques

• Decorative painting techniques allow you to add depth, dimension and texture to walls. Layered color glazes produce faux finishes that resemble aged plaster, stucco or marble, using a variety of application techniques such as sponging and ragging. Some paint lines offer specialty paint products that produce finishes such as burnished metals, metallic patinas, brushed suede, linen, crackle effects, sandstone and granite. You can use powder additives with regular paint to create a stone-like finish. Stock up on a few practice boards when attempting a new decorative painting technique. It often takes some trial and error to master a decorative finish; a couple of practice boards can save the first wall you paint from standing out as a learning experience.