For many people, choosing colors for their homes is a very scary process. Think about how many people’s homes that you’ve visited and the walls are still “Builder Beige” because they’ve been afraid to make a wrong decision. Do you live a beige lifestyle, or is your life full of color and excitement? Or would you like it to be? It’s been proven that color has a direct effect on our moods, so adding a little to your life might make a world of difference.
Here are some tips to start you in the right direction to find the perfect hue:
1. Ask Sherwin Williams or an expert at your local paint or home improvement store. Color is their life so they can help steer you in the right direction. I personally love Sherwin Williams because of their color palettes that they put together that give me fool-proof coordinates in a family of colors. Be sure to check out their new Concepts in Color - great fresh new colors with brochures that show the colors in an actual room.
2. Be inspired by your surroundings. When I lived in Arizona I fell in love with the desert colors so when I was ready to paint my family room I took my swatches outside to match up the colors that I had fallen in love with in nature. Technology is a wonderful thing (sometimes!) and many stores now have a machine that can match up teh color of almost anything that you can bring into them.
3. Start Small. Before you paint an entire room in a color pin some paint swatches up on a wall in the room and see how the lighting in the room affects them during different times of the day. The perfect blue in the store may become the imperfect violet with your lighting on your walls. When you’ve narrowed down the choices, buy a pint of a sample of the colors you’ve chosen, paint a 2ft by 2 ft section of wall if possible and take a day or two to live with the results. Many times I’ve thought I wanted to go light, but when I see the color up and view how it playes with the colors in my carpets or furniture I decide to go a shade or two richer.
Keep in mind as well that you don’t have to paint an entire room - sometimes an accent wall is all that it takes to give you the look that you’ve been wanting. Paint is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to remodel your home and your life, and can add thousands of dollars of value if you are selling to a potential buyer who is as afraid as you were of color.
One of my favorite builders of all that I’ve worked with in the United States is @Home Builders in Rochester, NY. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been working with builder David Riedman for over 10 years! Time flies, but when looking back at some of the model homes that I have merchandised for him in the past I realized that one of the reasons this builder continues to be so successful is because he understands timeless design and style, and builds homes that will never looked dated or “trendy”.
When designing your home whether it’s a model home or your personal home it’s important to really think through decisions you make that will become investments -kitchen cabinets and appliances, large furniture items, bath fixtures, and other materials that are expensive or difficult to change out. Bedding, accessories, wall colors and area rugs are places you can have some fun with current trends but change things out when your tastes or needs change.
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