Valentine’s Day is a holiday with a color all its own—red, of course! While you are decorating your home with those crimson hearts, scarlet candles and other Valentine’s decorations, it’s a good time to ask yourself if some new color could make your home more heart-warming.
After all, when it comes to color, I advise my clients to follow their heart. As an interior decorator, my color philosophy revolves around the fact that sometimes color preferences are not always the same as your favorite colors. But when planning a new color scheme, generally your heart’s color desires should rule supreme. And, as most people have discovered, creating a color palette can be a challenging process. But it doesn’t have to be if you apply my color tips below.My Five Easy Steps for Developing a Color Scheme:1. Decide where your best opportunities are for using color. Will painting one wall in an accent color give your room the spark you desire? Or perhaps a soft blending of similar hues will give your new room the effect for which you’re aiming?2. Take a critical look at your room’s architectural features. Do you want them to stand out and take center stage or be minimized? For instance, perhaps you have bookshelves in a painted finish flanking a room’s fireplace. Adding an accent color to just the back walls of your bookcase might add the perfect punch of drama.3. Try to define how your space is being used. Will it need to function for reading, relaxing, game playing, watching TV? An important consideration in selecting your new color scheme is how you actually use and enjoy the space. For example, light colors can be peaceful, vivid colors energizing, and darker tones can be cozy and inviting.4. Analyze your room’s lighting. How much natural light does your room receive? Consider the fact that a room with a lot of artificial light will need to be treated differently than one that’s bathed in natural light. Also note from which direction the light enters the room, and what time of day this room is typically used. This can dramatically change the way the color looks in each space.5. Last, but not least, it’s critical that you take into account your room’s relationship to the other rooms in your home. Color continuity and flow and key to creating the overall look that is most comfortable to live with on a day-to-day basis.February is the month to fall in love with color. If you need a little professional help pulling it all together, an interior decorator can help insure that your new color palette is the overall look your heart desires for your home or business environment.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
