It’s exciting to make the decision to decorate, or re-decorate a room or space in your home. But for many folks, the next step is not clear, and hiring an interior designer may not be in the budget. So the challenge is to find a way to complete your design project while keeping the stress level as low as the budget!

There are several decisions you should make at the onset of your project, and one of the most important is the color scheme for the space. Determining the color scheme before you make any purchases or other design decisions will benefit you in several ways.

First, an explanation of what is meant by ‘color scheme’. Your color scheme represents the primary and secondary colors you will be using in your design project. Most people find that up to three primary colors and a couple of secondary colors work well. By making this decision at the beginning of the project you will ensure consistency in your selections and purchases.

How do you go about deciding on on these colors? One of the most effective ways to make this decision is to look around your home and see what color selections you have made in the past. Walk through the rooms of your home and write down all of the colors you see. in no particular order. Now take a couple of minutes to re-write that list, organizing it into three categories: colors you really enjoy, colors that are okay, and colors you’d rather not see so much (you know, the results of those impulsive purchases of the past!).

For example, you may have listed moss green, buttercup yellow and light blue as the colors you really enjoy and have used in other areas of your home. Those colors make you happy. Your list of ‘okay’ colors included light brown and navy blue. Consider the space you are going to decorate/re-decorate, and decide which of those colors you want to use. You decide to use moss green and light blue as the predominant colors for your project with accents of navy blue, buttercup yellow and deep gold.

You have added a new color, or shade, to the color scheme by the inclusion of a deep gold. It will fit in nicely with the rest of the colors in your home as it is in the yellow/brown family.

You don’t have to, and most likely don’t want to use the exact same colors in every area of your home. There are some homes that use this technique very effectively, but unless you know how to accomplish it properly, your home could easily look quite uninteresting. So for most of us, using two or three primary colors throughout our home, with two or three secondary colors as accents, is the most successful way to home design.

Your design project will now have beautiful colors selected that are consistent with the colors found elsewhere in your home.

Candi Randolph is a Design Consultant and author of ‘Ten Simple Steps to Design Success’. For more great home decorating ideas please visit http://www.great-home-decorating.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Candi_Randolph

Depending on your personality, decorating can be an aspect of owning a log home that you enjoy or that you loathe. While one person delights in finding that perfect color or fabric, the next person has cold sweats just trying to match something to go with the deep browns inherent in a log cabin.

You can take the worry out of any decorating project, whether it be finding the right color scheme or picking the right furnishings to go with your log home, if you simply remember some critical elements of decorating.

Before embarking upon your decorating journey, it is first important to confirm that the wood in your log home is healthy. Water and any moisture buildup will destroy the structural integrity of your home. It is best to seek the advice of a local contractor or log home refinishing Services Company, who can help you to keep your log home healthy and well-cared for. Although you can attempt to apply finishes and stains to the wood to protect it as well, you certainly need the advice of a building professional specializing in log homes who can best assess the log content and stains and finishes that will best protect your home. They can then advise you on what products you yourself can apply to moisture-proof your log home. Now that you know that your home is strong and healthy, it is time to look at color schemes that benefit the log home.

To get started on pulling together those perfect colors, it is valuable to take time and look through magazines or books that offer color schemes that you admire. Then think about the wood and style in your home¾will these colors highlight the wood or would another color be better to bring out its true beauty? Don’t be afraid to explore new colors – shades of greens, blues, and purples are all colors that compliment the deep browns of the natural wood in log homes. A little education about how to use color to your benefit will help you in your decision making. Color creates moods, the use of serene blues, cheery yellows, or energetic reds and oranges are guaranteed to brighten your mood and the dark tones of a log home. The beauty of a log home deserves to be shown off to its best advantage. When choosing colors that will enhance the wood in your home, look for the hues in the wood itself to give the wood depth and complexity. It is also important to look at whether you are going for a high-contrast look, which will give drama, or if low contrast, which is softer and more casual, is more to your personal style.

If high contrast is the look that you seek, dark wood would be better paired with light colors so that the wood stands out in sharp relief. If the logs in your home are of a lighter wood, then the opposite would be true, showing up boldly against dark or strong colors. This type of contrast is good for showing off particular pieces of furniture, or bringing attention to other furnishings in the room. However, when using high contrast it is important to note that this design style often makes a room feel busier and will not blend in as much as if you were using low contrast. If you want to create a look that is rich and subtle, use low-contrast pairings. Warm neutral colors such as mushroom, beige, khaki, or taupe, bring out the warm, rich notes in log homes. The furnishings will show up nicely, but will not stand out as they would when using high contrast. Drama gives way to relaxation in this color pairing.

Here are some additional notes regarding colors that can be used to nice affect in log homes: · Green highlights the yellow tones in wood and gives a cool contrast · Bright blue brings out the orange tones in wood, but this is very high contrast and dramatic · Pale orange or rust showcases the orange in the wood, but these colors can mesh together to almost seem too similar if other furnishings do not give some contrast · Yellow, which does not enhance the color of wood, brings out the orange and yellow When choosing accessories for your new color scheme, look first at the pieces that you already own. What colors or fabrics for pillows would enhance the furniture you already have? What well-placed lighting might offset the blinds or drapes already used on your windows? At times furniture, drapes, and other furnishings are the exact elements that you want to change, but sometimes these are the things that you love in your present design and it would be wise and could save money and time working them into your log home’s new look.

And finally, when choosing your new color scheme, look inward. What are the colors that make you feel good? What fabrics make you think of home? If you look inside yourself and go with your own instinct, and not those of the latest fad, your new color scheme used in your log home will be the perfect fit for you.

Jaworski Coatings, Inc,
41375 Oberlin Elyria Rd.
Eylria, Ohio 44035

Toll Free Office 1-866-87-2114
Fax (440) 328-4539

welovepainting@gmail.com

http://www.Ohio-Log-Home-Restoration.com

http://www.LogHomeColors.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matthew_Jaworski

If you’re about to renovate your entire home, or just a single room, then your choice of color is an important consideration. Color has a tremendous impact on the overall feel of your home, and should also complement the style of home you’re creating.

After all, color affects our emotions as much as other aspects of home decor do, so it’s important to give it some reflection.

So let’s go through some top tips on color that will help you to achieve the result you want, and the overall feel that you’d like in your home.

Tip 1

Ensure that the colors chosen reflect the style of your home.

For example, if your preference is to have neutral and classic decor, then colors such as beige, cotton, or stone will suit best. These colors go with both neutral and bold decor.

If you like more natured themes, then lavender or soft greens will do well.

For more fiery tastes, reds, golds and dusky rose will provide the warmth you’re looking for.

The best way is to use a website or software that provides color simulations on walls to help you choose a color palette.

Tip 2

Use the 60:30:10 rule.

Most of the time, you’ll probably have the same color walls throughout the home, but if you choose to have a feature wall or two, ensure that the feature wall is about 30% of the room.

The remaining 10% is for a third, deeper color that can either be a feature wall or be from furniture.
If the proportions are higher, your room can look disjointed.

Tip 3

With wall decor that’s subtle in color, choose light colored walls.

Your wall decor should be a highlight, and not overpowered by the color behind it. This is why neutral colored walls such as beige and related colors are not only pleasing to most people, they compliment both light and richly colored wall decor.

On the other hand, richly colored wall decor will be complimented by either a light or richly colored background. But there’s one condition here. With a rich background, such as a red painted wall or red patterned wallpaper, it will work well as long as there’s some matching between these.

For example, if the wallpaper is red with hints of brown and gold, then if there’s a similar shade of red or brown in the wall decor, it will work.

Tip 4

Use your instinct, but also test it out.

One of the most important parts of this process is to get some samples of the wall paint and wallpaper and see if they go well with your home.

Something to be aware of is that the overall color scheme and style of your home may be ‘matched’ in different ways.

For example, if you have classic decor, it doesn’t mean that you have to have neutral colors, even though it’s a combination that’s easy to work with. You can instead have rightly colored red patterned wallpaper as mentioned.

In these situations, be sure that you love the rich color, as rich color is powerful and difficult to ignore. So see if you can find an entire room that has been decorated with this color, such as in a wallpaper showroom.

Tip 5

Make sure the color scheme or pattern matches the style of your internal architectural features.

Not only should you make sure you like a color, you should also see if it will match the style of architectural features such as the windows and architraves in your home.

For example, with the above scenario, a classic patterned rich wallpaper will go well with more ornate character features in the home, rather than ultra plain modern features. The exception to this, is if you use a modern ‘version’ of a classic pattern which will suit modern decor.

So ensure that you’re seeing the whole picture, and use your instinct and personal taste.

So there you have it.

You now know the top 5 tips when it comes to using color in your home. These 5 tips will help you choose the right color and patterns for your home to match your personal taste as well as your wall and home decor. So enjoy playing with color, and seeing the combinations of color and patterns with your test samples, to decorate your home just the way you envisioned it.

Tom Matherson is a writer for Worldwide Tapestries which offers a range of wall tapestry art and wall decor to transform any home. See this site for the latest designs in wall tapestries that you can use to enhance any room setting.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Matherson

This is an interior decorating project you can do. Your color palette is what makes the rooms in your home come together. Well designed homes always have a beautiful color palette that flows between rooms from the entrance to the living room, family room, kitchen, powder room, stairway, etc. This flow is the relationship created from one room to another. A color palette is not the same as a paint color. The palette incorporates various paint and room colors. Not every room needs to be the same color or shade thereof though they do need to relate to one another. Good interior design begins with a well thought out color palette.

Start with the colors you already like. What do you gravitate to? What colors are in your closet? What colors are in your garden? Think about how certain colors make you feel this will send you in the right direction. Be confident and don’t apologize. Your room and home colors should reflect you and your personality, not your neighborhood design trend.

Maybe there is a particular color or combination of colors you like. Look at a paint deck or around your house and note all the different colors of these favorites that appeal to you. Now you have a starting point to which you can add other colors.

Study your environment. Do you live in the woods with windows that look on to the many different shades of green leaves or a fifth floor condo with the view of the urban building landscape? Determine how important your view is and if you want to make it part of your interior space. This can give you a clue to selecting colors. If the view is important to you consider your window as blocks of existing color you need to coordinate with.

Consider adjoining rooms or areas you can see from the room you are working on. In most cases, you need to make a visually coordinated connection with any adjoining space. Pull aside any existing furniture items, artwork, area rugs that you are not changing as these may give you a color clues for a particular room. Artwork and area rugs are great places to create a color palate from because it is already there.

Tools to create your color palette:

o Determine what colors you like
o Colors from environment
o Adjoining rooms
o Existing furnishings

Your interior color palette is the coordination of the colors you like. How you coordinate the colors is important. The following example is how a favorite color of combination is royal blue and light grass green work in a home.

The rooms on each side of the living room are open to or visible from it. Guests would enter the great room first and then go left or right to the other rooms. In this example the public rooms on the main floor are (from left to right) a kitchen, dining room, great room, and TV room. As we start in the kitchen all of the cabinets are royal blue with a neutral countertop. There is a multi-color tile backsplash above the stove (lime green, lavender, orange, yellow, pink, blue/green and royal blue). The kitchen which is open to the dining room share the same white walls (in different materials) and ceiling. The same neutral light bamboo floor flows from these areas flows into the great room. The blue glass light fixture in the dining room is the only dominant fixed color. With white walls and ceiling, light green is the dominant color in the great room furniture with major accents of royal blue followed by other colors (pink, orange, lavender and shades of blues and greens). On the right, the TV room is primarily a neutral color (same on walls, ceiling, floor and furniture) with the next largest color being a vivid pink with small amounts of lime green. These colors appear on back cushions and pillows on the sofa, one chair and in the artwork.

From this example you can understand how colors flow and relate from one room to another. The colors aren’t the same in each room but they come from one palette: royal blue and light grass green. Green is the one color in different shades and intensities which appears in each room. Though it doesn’t appear in fixed form in the dining room it appears in various table linens, dinnerware and accessories.

Our homes are about relationships, the relationships of the inhabitants, the room functions and the visual relationships that create warmth and comfort to all those who enter. The décor in each room in your home should tell its’ own individual story, however the color palette is what creates flow and harmony. To create a “home” all of the individual stories become related by color and sometimes a theme.

Lisa M. Smith is an interior designer and owner of Interior Design Factory, Ltd. She specializes in creating beautiful and inviting residential interiors that are timeless and look collected, not like a showroom. Real design for real people. She produces individualized results using creative solutions and often designs furniture, cabinetry and lighting specific to her customers needs to create interiors that are liveable and tell a story. Good design is for everyone and available in every budget.

Interior Design Factory also has commercial clients who are looking for the same attention to detail as residential clients but to create interiors to position them for future success with a more watchful eye towards budget and design being a good investment.

Hire an Interior Designer Now for only $14.95. Click on website to ask your personal design question. You can even send pictures. Get design advice and answers just for you!

http://www.InteriorDesignFactory.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_M_Smith