You’ve renewed your house like a skilled surgeon, fixing the underlying problems but protecting the individual character of each space. Yet it seems like there should be more. Colors are a unique tool in the toolbox of a renovator for creative ideas.
Did you know that depending on the crown molding’s depth and the walls, the ceiling might look either taller or lower? Or that one may utilize color to make one space a lively gathering place while turning another into a peaceful reading nook?
Open floor plans have made it common to integrate the kitchen, living room, and dining room into one enormous room. Color is used in these homes to demarcate spaces and provide points of interest in otherwise featureless rooms. The difficulty is in determining which hues to use and where to apply them. You may use color samples or applications to choose the optimal color contrast for your interior walls.
1. Choose Furniture Colors
Bring a comfort item (a throw pillow, favorite tie or scarf, piece of art, etc.) to the paint store. To get started, pick three colors from something around the house. Each sample strip has six different hues, so you’ll only need three of them to acquire an additional 15–18.
The next step is to select one of the three paint colors for the wall and use the other two on the fabric or furniture.
Find out what colors are in the room around you using the same three paper strips. Choose a fourth accent hue from the following options: Place a pillow, dish, or work of art in each room in the house that features the color. It serves as a connection between the various locales.
2. Choose a Stunning Ending
After deciding on a color scheme, think about the finish. Although flat paints offer superior stain resistance, satin, also known as eggshell, is preferable for walls because it is easy to clean and hides imperfections. It also considered that applying a semi-gloss or high-gloss finish would draw attention to the details of the door panels and molding. To improve the visual appeal of a wall, a finish may apply to the surface.
Following the advice of Doty Horn, you may get the appearance of corduroy or velvet on your walls by alternating between a flat or satin finish on one wall and a semi-gloss finish on the next. Use a matte finish on the walls and a semi-gloss on the ceiling to create a visually interesting contrast between the two surfaces. Gloss adds shine and draws more attention to the surface on it is applied. Ceilings that reflect more light give the impression of being higher. The greatest features of your design may be brought out by adding some color and brightness.
3. Analyzing Two Colors Side by Side
If you want to make a statement, try combining two contrasting colors in one setting. If you have blue walls in a room and want to attract attention to a built-in bookcase or nook, you might try painting it a greenish hue.
Of course, if the house’s architectural details are all painted the same color, it can do the trick, too. Since the Federal period, white and off-white have been the most popular colors for molding, windows, and doors.
4. Wainscoting Adds Depth
A wainscot offers a fantastic opportunity to play with light and shade in a space. If the wall adjacent to the wainscot colored, the eye will be drawn to it, but if the wainscot is dark, the watch will also draw to the higher walls.
To make it look like a wainscot when none is, you can paint the top third of the wall one color and the bottom third another. Add a piece of flat molding at the connection and paint it the same color as the bottom wall to further emphasize the wainscot illusion.
5. Try Out Some Vivid Colors
Benjamin Moore’s head of color and design, Doty Horn, suggests giving up on the traditional approach of painting a wall from angle to corner if you’re going for an effect that makes an impact. Work your way clockwise around the room, painting one-third of one wall and two-thirds of the adjacent wall. By doing so, an emphasis on architecture may be introduced where it otherwise might not exist.
