Choosing Interior Color Combinations

Interior color is the most economical way of transforming a room into style. To most, choosing  a color can be a bit daunting especially if you are stuck having no idea on how to go about it. Walls create a big difference to the appearance of a room. Choosing the right color is a bit tricky but a well chosen one plus its accent colors can be very rewarding. There is no doubt that it can draw attention to interior detail flaws. 

 It is important that you know the relationships of these colors and how they are created. Warm colors are made with red, yellow, orange and a combination of these which makes us think of sunlight and warmth. On the other hand, cold colors give us an opposite effect of warm colors. As a general rule, the more blue, the colder the color is. Cold colors are made with blue, violet, green and a combination of these.

COLOR WHEEL

COLOR SCHEME

Analogous - A color scheme closely related to each other. These are colors that are next to each other in the color wheel. They usually match well and can exude a serene and comfortable feel. If you opt for this color combination, make sure to make one color dominant to provide focus and use the other colors as accents.

Achromatic - It is a scheme possessing no hue; using only black, white and gray. It is a neutral color and can be combined with any color as accent to the room. This color is often used in kitchens and bathrooms but can also be used in living rooms. This scheme has a strong contrast. 

Complimentary - These colors are opposite from each other in the color wheel. A certain skill is required in placing these colors into the interior to achieve a harmonious balance. The high contrast of complimentary colors gives a vibrant appearance especially in full saturation.

Monochromatic - This is created by using any shade, tint or tone of one color from the color wheel. This can give a very restful and relaxing atmosphere. For smaller spaces a light monochromatic color scheme really enhances the appearance of a room.

Split Complimentary - is created by selecting one color from the color wheel, then use one color either side of its complementary color (blue, green and red). This often provides a more pleasing color scheme than a true complementary as it is still a strong contrast but not as intense. 

But of course, you can always create your own color combination but make sure that they are not of the same vibrant intensities as these may become a sore in the eye. You just have to be creative. White can be combined with other colors; which can give an elegant effect to the atmosphere. You can use black and white and add a color as an accent to make it interesting. There is actually no hard rules when it comes to color combination. Just don't over do it and you'll be fine. 

Black and White accented with Purple

Blue and Yellow

Blue and White

Arranging Your Furniture

Working with small spaces is truly challenging yet equally exciting as well. Getting the right pieces for your room is essential   but arranging them in consideration to the limited space you have is another thing. Of course, all of us would want to create a comfortable and cozy home. Though it is not easy but surely you can also depend on your furniture and how you set them up.

Start placing large furniture first before fitting in the smaller ones like coffee table, corner table and others. Having a focal point is a good idea as you would be able to arrange your pieces of furniture around it. In a regular home, a television set is the most common focal point of the living room. However, you need not limit yourself to the common ones. A coffee table  for that matter can be one too! But it should all depend on your lifestyle, preference and interest. Allow enough leg room from the sofa to the coffee or center table. Locate them though within easy reach of every seat and combine them with similar scale. 

Remember, your home is your retreat so you have to make it as comfortable as possible. It is important to consider space saving furniture that are comfy and functional as well. Expensive furniture need not be a prerequisite for a beautiful home although you can depend on its durability and resilience. Symmetrical arrangement work best for formal rooms; asymmetrical will give a more casual look.

Check how other rooms in the house interconnect each other. Think about the flow of traffic not only through the room but also in relation to the location of the other rooms. Make sure the way is clear. Do not place large items where they might stop doors from opening or closing fully. The room will just look small & cramped. Leave windows free from any large and tall items of furniture to allow light and air through the room. You surely wouldn't want to suffocate members of the household and your guests too! More so, outlets must not be blocked for easy access.

Interior Space Planning

This refers to layout on interiors, furniture arrangement considerations, work patterns and flow of traffic through a room and throughout the home.

Planning ahead is the most efficient way in decorating an area. You may need to refer to the floor plan of your house and draw sketches of a particular room you want to decorate, rearange or repair instead of actually moving everything from one place to another. Create a list of your existing furnitures and that includes shelves, lighting fixtures and what not. Rearrange those pieces on your sketched floor plan. Make sure not to block potential areas that would allow traffic flow from one room to another. Taking time to conider these things before beginning your project will pay off when you step back after hanging the last picture and see a beautiful, well balanced space. You may experience challenges in the process. However, if you are serious redesigning your home by yourself, it is important to take note that you must not be in a hurry. If buying a new set of sofa is a part of your plan, take time to shop around and make sure to get something that is not too large for a small area. Therefore, it is always advisable to measure the space and get the dimensions of each individual piece you intend to buy. Though buying furniture should be the last part of decorating your house, space planning is the absolute critical first step. 

Once you are done with rearranging those furnitures in your sketches, you are now ready to move forward and start planning on colors.

Make a Room Appear Bigger and Spacious

Not all can afford the luxury of having a big house. Majority have regular houses with regular sized and often even with small sized rooms. Seeing your place is of limited space, the first thing you have to work on would be the color scheme. Monochromatic scheme (different shades of the same color) would be the best choice.

Paint your room with light airy color. Dark colors make a room look small and cramped while light colors create an illusion of space.  Stay neutral. They are very easy to work with and can be a great choice if you are unsure of what color to select. To wow the room, accent colors can be used as complimentary colors. They can be used in throw pillows, curtain trimmings; use in small quantities to lift or give a wow factor to your color scheme.

You would probably want to consider an area rug of sorts. This can add ambiance and serve as the focal point of your room. What kind of rug should you invest in? You may want to select something that would give a lively and dynamic effect to the entire room. If you want it to be under a furniture such as a coffee table or center piece make sure that the rug should be slightly larger than the area of the item that covers it.

Sketch a floor plan of your room. Create several sketches and arrange the furniture. Sometimes you can make a room look spacious just by how you arrange your furniture.

Make use of your walls and install simple designed shelves to avoid cluttering up your room. Paint shelves with the same color of your walls to hide it. Avoid too many home decors hanging your walls. Too many of them make your walls look cluttered, thus making your room appear smaller. Organize and keep your room clean. The less clutters you have the more space you'll be able to enjoy.

Poorly lit room will give an illusion of smallness whereas a room with a lot of natural or even artifical light will appear to be spacious. The more light to the room, the better. You may also want to invest with spotlights to highlight objects.

Installing mirrors in a wall can visually double the size of the room. 

Basic Guide for Redecorating Your Home

Who wouldn't want to live in a stylish home? Most of us dream to make our home stylish but budget always seem to get in the way. Hiring professionals to do it for us is always out of the question. But guess what? Even if you are on a budget, you can still plan your home well. You can be a designer of your own home with some of the tips and ideas I'm going to share to you. Whether you'd want to decorate a single room or your own house, you will find this useful and helpful.

Sure there are a lot of marketing ideas and products in the market today but only those with high paying income can afford to have those pieces. You can wow yourself by simply window shopping but you end up a bit frustrated wishing you can make your home even just a bit like it. You get stuck and you do not know how you would do it without having much to spend.

Go home. Relax and picture how you'd want to transform your home to something that would really make you achieve your dream room or express your very unique taste. 

Identify your style and what you like to do to your home. There are a lot of ways to simply add life to your room. It is just a matter of a bit planning, reorganizing and maximizing that small space. Most of us are inspired with magazine home articles or maybe a house of a friend or a relative you recently visited. Most often that not we are instantly attracted to colors or decorating styles which are not within your budget. There is nothing wrong with that and what I am trying to point out here is that you can actually carry it out throughout your home that will fit your lifestyle.

COLOR ADDS LIFE TO YOUR HOME

This is something definite - colors can add life to your home. Carefully choosing the color would definitely transform your home dramatically; creating a soothing mood not just to you but everyone who would be in it. The key here is the color scheme. Choosing paint color can be very challenging but I would suggest to start with your favorite. You can go to house paint stores and ask for color swatches; they are free. You'd be surprise to find that there are a wide array of colors you can choose from. From there, you can start selecting that would fit to your liking. I am not just talking about how you would want to paint your walls but you can also use the sample colors on the swatch to decide what color of furniture pieces would fit the color of your wall.

EXISTING PIECES OF FURNITURE

So you think, it is expensive to buy furniture pieces rather than the paint. That can be handled. You have a set of furniture you would want to keep. That is fine. You can actually do it the other way around. You can select a paint color for your walls that would match your existing furniture set. With the color swatches in hand, you can, more or less, visualize how the paint color would match your furniture. 

COLOR SCHEME

You would want to paint your walls lighter in color if your sofa set is darker and vice versa. Should you have a printed fabric, you can use the background color of that fabric to decide what to paint your walls. Select the brightest color of the fabric for the accessories and accents such as throw pillows and curtains. This would give you a proper color coordination within the room.

PAINT FINISH

Rooms with a small space requires a light color. Dark colors would make the room appear more smaller. The lightest of shade will do the trick. Matte or flat finishes hide wall imperfections, however, glossy finish will reflect more light.