Splash On Some Colour

Splash on some colour!
Painting Tips
Sometimes lighting and shadows can make choosing a paint color a little tricky. Try these tips for getting it just right!
1. Look to your favorite home-decorating magazines and tear out color schemes and ideas that appeal to you and take with you when shopping for paint.
2. Know that color is usually more intense on walls than it seems on a sample card. Play it safe and go a shade or two lighter.
3. Yellow and rosy tones give a room a warm feeling. Greens, blues and grays give a cooler tone.
4. Avoid snow-white except in ultramodern, minimalist environments, because it will seem too harsh, giving a sterile, operating-room effect. It's better to go with a white that contains a hint of peach, beige or pink.
5. Keep bold color schemes for areas such as bathrooms and dining rooms where you don’t spend as much time. That way if you tire quickly, changing it won’t be as large of a project!
6. Take fabric with you if you're matching it, either a swatch,
pillow or curtain panel for example.
7. Start small, buying just a quart or so of paint, and then paint a section of wall with a paintbrush or roller, or test the color on a good-size (perhaps 3 feet square) plywood or wallboard scrap, or on a piece of cardboard; set it against the walls in the room as the light changes (including artificial light) and evaluate
it for a few days.
8. Test a two-tone scheme, such as wainscoting in one color and walls in another, by painting two boards or painting one board in both colors.  Repeat the test, tinkering with colors in small amounts until you're satisfied. While th¬e cost for sampling various paints can add up, it is still better than applying the wrong color to an entire room and having to repaint!