Ready to take a chance on color? Here are some tactics for increasing your likelihood of success.

Decided to add a color or colors to a room, but not sure where to start? Take a peek in your closet to get color ideas. The colors you pick to wear will generally translate into the colors you want to live with in your home. Take a general look and see if two or three colors are your favorites. Among those, choose pieces of clothing that have the colors you like best, and bring them out into the space you’re thinking of redecorating.

This may sound strange, but your next step is to lay out the clothes in various locations in your space. Does that corner need a burst of orange? Would the sofa look better with a red or green throw pillow? Move the fabrics around until you have a combination of colors that works for you.

The next step is using those clothes to create a color base for the room. Take the clothes to your closest paint store, and look for paint chips that come closest to matching the fabric colors. Tuck those chips in your purse or pocket – you now have color samples you can take with you to select fabrics, accessories, and other color elements in your room. And your clothes can now go back into your closet.

Using your paint chips as samples, start shopping. Do you need new draperies, accessories, rugs? Remember to balance colors across the room. They can create focal points or highlight a space, and color will always make a room more inviting and interesting.

Don’t be afraid to experiment and call us for help!

Understanding Color Part 3: Color Blending from Room to Room

Now that you have that dream home with a great room approach, are you feeling concerned about how to use color? One color can feel boring, but too many different colors in one space can cause color overload. The easiest way to handle this decorating challenge is to select three colors that work well together, and feature one of the three in each space: kitchen, dining room and family room.

Not sure which three colors to use? Start with the furniture you already have, and decide which colors you want to keep that will work in the space. The next place to visit to choose color options is an upholstery fabric store. You will find many patterns that feature your three colors together, and you may find one that you can use as a color tool. Make sure you set your colors against your flooring and paint choices, to make sure they all work together.

The next step involves determining which color will be the focal color in each space. Do light cabinets in your kitchen beg for a dark, rich contrast color? Could your dining table’s dark wood benefit from a bright color? Is the sofa anchoring your family room covered in a dark red that will be a perfect choice for one of your three colors? Once you locate your focal colors, use curtains, pillows, table linens and accessories to pull those colors across the entire great room’s space, so that areas are clearly defined, but everything links together.

If you missed Part 1, click here and if you missed Part 2, click here!

Understanding color part 2:


Warm vs. cool neutrals – which choice works best for your home.


One of the best ways to take a room in a cooler or warmer color direction is by bringing in cool or warm neutrals. Warm neutrals consist of tans, gold and beiges, as well as warm blacks. Cool neutrals include white, ivory, gray and silver. Blacks can come together as a cool neutral if the undertone is cool. Also, ivories that lean toward cream become warm neutrals. When you’re not sure if a neutral is warm or cool, look for the undertones: blue for cool and orange or yellow for warm.


Neutrals are like the sky in a landscape painting – giving you room to let the colors of your space stand apart, and letting the eye rest. If you want to take a chance with a monochromatic room in neutrals, think carefully about textures to add the variety and personality that color normally provides.


The term neutral sounds like the tones can be combined without thought, but clashing neutrals is possible. Compare all the neutrals with each other when developing a room’s color palette. A neutral flooring choice frees you to experiment with color in paint, furniture, accessories, and other easier to change decorating choices. Be sure to bring samples home when making the final decision, or bring a room’s color samples with you when making your selection. Choose the right neutral, and you are well on your way to creating a room that works for you.

Did you miss part 1? If so, click here to read part 1 and stay tuned for part 3!

Understanding Color Part 1: Warm vs. Cool Colors

For most of us, color is simply a matter of taste. You may be drawn to reds, blues, greens, or browns without questioning why. When you start decorating, it pays to consider colors a bit more deeply. Some colors almost seem to approach you in a space, drawing you toward them. Others appear to be calm, receding. One reason for this is that warm colors seem to stand out and approach you while cool colors have a more distant feel.

You may not have heard about warm or cool colors since art class in grade school. Here’s a quick catch-up. Warm colors are yellows, oranges, and related colors such as orange-reds, yellow-greens, and browns. These colors are termed warm because they seem like the colors of a sunny day. Cool colors, such as blues, purples, turquoises and some reds and pinks with a blue undertone, match the color palette of a rainy or foggy day.

As the “approachable” colors, warm hues draw the eye, and tend to seem inviting and invigorating. High energy rooms such as dining and family rooms can benefit from a warm color scheme. Cool colors are more calming, and invite quiet and reflection. Bedrooms work well with a cool color scheme, calming you down and possibly even helping you to sleep. This is one reason why yellow is not recommended for an infant’s room. The color is too distracting and energizing.

For most rooms, a combination of warm and cool tones works best. Warm colors can be overwhelming without a bit of cool color to reduce the color noise. However, a room containing only cool colors may appear to be unfriendly. Adding only a few warm colors can change a cool room immediately, because warm colors have a stronger visual impact than cooler ones.

When you’re ready to change the colors in a room, first determine whether you want it to be lively or peaceful, and choose your colors accordingly. Does the balance of warm and cool colors work right now? If so, stay on the same side of the color wheel when you make your adjustments. If the colors of a room aren’t working, consider the balance of cool vs. warm colors. Do you need to cool it down or warm it up? Make a few color experiments with fabrics and accessories you already have at home, to help you decide the changes you need to make.

Stay tuned from Part 2 and Part 3 coming soon!