When designing a room how do you figure out what colors to use?

Follow the Pro's

I often look at the web pages of furniture companies to get good ideas. They are usually targeting a more "mainstream" customer, so they tend to use colors that appeal to larger group of people. Additionally, you can get some quick and easy decorating ideas to accent your room which can maximize the impact of your color choice, either by toning it down, or bringing it out. Good luck, have fun. Color is a great decorating too because of it's versatility and low cost.

Use Comfortable Colors

Put the colors that make you feel comfortable.

Consider the principles of design

Here are some questions you can ask yourself about the room before you decide on colours:

What is the aspect of the room?

Understanding the aspect of the room is vital before you decide on colours - if the room gets a lot of natural light (facing South in the Northern hemisphere or facing North in the southern Hemisphere) then it is OK to use cooler colours (blues and greens), but if the room receives very little natural light (faces opposite to above) then warmer colours are the best choice (pinks, reds, oranges and yellows)

Are there any aspect of the room size or shape that you want to change?

It is vital to remember that any colour applied to even a single wall can have amajor effect on how that wall appears - there are two sets of guielines that apply here:

1. Warm colours advance and cool colours recede

The effect of painting a wall or ceiling a warm colour eg pink is to make the wall seem closer than it actually is - hence it's not a good idea to paint a low ceiling pink - it will seem even lower!
Similarly a room thatyou paint blue will appear larger than it really is.

2. Pale colours recede, strong colours advance
The effect of painting a wall or ceiling a strong colour is that it will appear much closer than a neutral colour; similarly painting a wall or ceiling a pale colour will usually make it appear further away than a neutral colour will.

3. Combinations of these two rules need some careful thinking through!

It is logical therefore that painting a wall or ceiling a pale pink will make it appear closer than a neutral colour, but not anywhere near as close as painting it a hot pink; similarly painting a wall a pale blue will make it seem the maximum distance away - this is sky blue and how it works!

So now you can pick your colour!

So when thinking about what colour to paint a wall or ceiling, here are steps to follow:
1. Consider the aspect - do you need a warm or cool colour?
2. Consider the distance effect of colours - how do you want to change the shape of the room?
3. Then, having decided what colours make good sense for the room, from these colours pick what you feel most comfortable with - you can't go wrong!

Another Answer:

I really like the answer above, but I thought I should throw this out there, it's a good resource with the basics of choosing your color and finding accent colors:

www.homedecorators.com/Decorating_Ideas/Room_Planning/136/

best of luck!
MB

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