Feel Confident With Your Color Choices

    

 

   Some of us feel confident using color and make the right color choices because of studying color theory, the use of color, and its impact.  Some of us are completely in the dark and don’t know where to begin to paint or decorate our homes.  You don’t have to take courses in color theory to make good choices in your home decorating, but first,  you do need to recognize what colors and styles you love.  

 

   Don’t believe that all interior decorators know better than you do.  There are exceptionally wonderful decorators, but I have seen some poor color choices by some so-called decorators, too.   A perfect example is a friend who hired a decorator to help her choose blinds for her family room.  This friend had a big sofa with bold autumn colors in a bold floral pattern.  In that pattern was a small amount of a vivid teal. That is what color the decorator sold her to use for her blinds.   No longer was the fireplace a focal point!  When you walked into the room the first thing that caught your eye was that large, bold teal blind covering the window on the adjacent wall! 

 

   Obviously,  teal would have been a good choice for an accent color.  A picture with teal in it, vases, knick-knacks, an upholstered chair, and pillows of teal scattered around the room, would have been a good use of that bold color.  Think of your room as a picture.  Your use of accent color should take your eyes on a journey through the entire ‘picture’.

 

   Vertical blinds do have a valid purpose, but most of the time, blending into the background is a much better choice.  A color matching the walls would have simply made that blind visibly go away.  I do not particularly care for the look of switch plates and receptacle plates.  Wanting these to go away visually, I paint them the same color as the wall and add a couple of coats of polyurethane.  I don’t paint the switches, just the plates.

 

   A long time ago, I was watching a decorating show on choosing colors and decorating styles. It was suggested that if you have no clue what colors and styles really speak to you, open your magazines and begin cutting out and saving the pictures of rooms that you love.  If you clip a picture of a living room, but you only like certain elements, color, style, or feeling, make note of that.

 

   The magazine idea is a great one but today we have Pinterest!  Make a board for color inspiration and pin only the colors that you love.  Make another for bedrooms you love.  Create one for favorite kitchens, living rooms, etc.  Make notes on your pins as you go.  You get the picture!  Maybe you have already done this!  

 

   Now utilize that information!  After doing this for a week, or even a month, or more, go back and take a look at what you have chosen.  There should be a common thread. Are all of the pictures muted, tone on tone and restful to the eye? Are the walls of your favorite rooms painted white and pops of bright color accenting the accessories?  Have you chosen mostly shabby chic?  Is it an earthy log cabin feel you have selected over and over again?   It should begin to be evident in the pictures you have chosen, exactly what calls to you.

 

   Now it’s a matter of going with what you knew in your subconscious all along. Armed with your choices on your boards, you should have a clearer idea of what you want to create in your own home.  Now that you have a feel for the colors you want, read my posts on the foolproof way to choose paint and no fear paint selection.  If you have a question on color, please leave a comment at the bottom of this page!

 

   You, too, can do this!  Feel confident with your color choices!