Pick Colors You Like

Choose colors you like, not necessarily the colors of current fashion. Forget such rules as: "Blue and green should never be used together." Use your eyes, not your fears. Select from samples, and you will find many combinations that are pleasing.

Before you decorate, collect color samples of wallpaper, paint, upholstery, and carpeting. Have samples of every color you intend to use. Study possible combinations carefully. Take your time. If you still like a particular combination after a day or two, you may want to use it. If you wish to use a new and daring color on a large area such as a wall, and are unsure about it, try painting a large piece of paper - a square yard or more in size with the color, and let it dry as a test area. Or, paint the smallest end of the room and let it dry. This will enable you to better judge how the color will look in large amounts. Similarly, large samples of carpeting, drapery, and upholstery materials are much easier to judge than smaller samples.

Do not be drab in order to be practical. Bright colors do not show soil anymore than neutral colors of the same value. Many present-day materials are amazingly soil resistant. Generally, limit yourself to three or four principal colors in a room. This limitation will require you to repeat each color throughout the room, helping to achieve unity.

It is much easier to harmonize the color of walls and draperies with a carpet than to match a carpet to the walls and draperies. For a spacious look, use drapery material of the same value (lightness or darkness), but not necessarily of the identical color, as the walls. Various colors of woods harmonize and add interest. All wood in a room need not be identical.

Published by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
Reprinted with permission, HouseNet, Inc.

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