Incorporating Color in Your Home
One thing that strikes fear in the heart of many homeowners is color. Well, maybe not fear but the very thought of painting the walls anything other than white or beige can be an overwhelming concept.
How do I choose the right color?
What if it looks awful?
Can I paint the walls one color and the ceiling another?
Can I add color without painting?
Adding color to your Mountain View home doesn’t have to mean painting walls vibrant shades or having every room a different hue. There a number of ways to utilize color to add warmth and individuality to your home that won’t have you pouring over paint chips in your local home improvement store and anxiously biting your nails.
Pick a palette
Choose colors that you are comfortable with, whether they are bright or muted. Work within that palette, finding a variety of shades that all work well together and can be used as primary, secondary and accent colors throughout your house. Most paint or home improvement stores provide color palettes, making this process a fairly simple one.
Mixed neutrals
There is nothing wrong with neutrals. Beige, whites, creams, grays-all can add individuality and interest to every room.
Metallics
Add a touch of metallic through the use of furnishings, mirrors, lamps and other accessories. They will add depth to the palette you’ve chosen without coming across as an entirely new hue. Gold, bronze and copper are warm and rich while silver and pewter tend more toward the cool side of colors.
Choose a Family
If you’re feeling a little more adventurous and want to add more colors to the palette you’ve chosen, pick colors that fall within a single saturation family. For example, pastels or jewel tones both have the same level of richness, which keeps the palette intact but adds more interest.
Patterns
Using patterns is a great way to bring in color as well as interest and creativity. If you walls are a basic, neutral color, add some pop with patterned rugs, blankets, window treatments, artwork and pillows. You can even mix and match patterns. Floral and stripes, plaids and animal prints…all have a place and can be combined to suit your personal style.
Pillows
Speaking of pillows, they are a fantastically noncommittal way to bring color to a room. They are simple to mix and match as well as easy to replace and rearrange anytime the mood strikes.
Glass
Tinted glass objects offer a way to add striking, translucent color to a space. Vases, jars, lamps, all come in a variety of hues and can be used alone or in groupings to provide a subtle hint of color.
Artwork
Art is another wonderful way to add color to a space. When most everything in a room is neutral and the main color focal point is a piece of art, it creates distinctly simple drama and beauty. You can also use artwork as inspiration by pulling key colors you love from the painting or photograph to use as accents in the form of (you guessed it) pillows, glass or flowers.
Flowers
And last but not least, flowers are another wonderful way to add the beauty of nature as well as a variety of color to every room in your home. Just as with pillows, flowers and plants are a noncommittal way to introduce color. They can offer a way to bring the seasons into your home on a regular basis, allowing you to chose whatever blooms best fit your mood at the moment.
Work With Color is a great website that gives you a better understanding of color in general, including terms like hue and saturation. Kelly Moore also has an online color studio, which provides instant inspiration, allowing you to peruse and choose colors from the comfort of your own home.
Color can be used in a variety of ways in the home and doesn’t necessarily have to involve a serious commitment. If going big and bold makes you nervous, stick with muted tones in a single color palette and add bits of interest through objects, artwork, plants and patterns.
