Spicing up your life, home with color

You've been in your apartment or house for a while, and the walls are beginning to show their age.

You're ready to try something new, but you aren't sure where to start on your path for a new décor.

Leslie Harrington, president of a national color-consulting firm, said adding color to a room can help change the feel and atmosphere in a room.

Harrington said there are two ways to approach adding color to your home.

First, she said, you can look at colors which already exist in your room - such as in your dinnerware pattern for a dinning area, or in a collectable item on display.

"You can even use a tea towel, if you love the color combinations," she said. "Look at what individual colors you [already] have, and add to them."

The second method Harrington advises her clients to try, is to determine how you want to feel in a particular room.

Every color has an emotional connection, explained Harrington. It can help emphasize the purpose and use of the room. It can help determine how people will behave in a particular room.

For example, she said a warm color brings with it an aspect of activity, while cooler colors promote a relaxed feeling.

Once you pick a color, Harrington said, you'll need to determine which hue or shade you will use to decorate your room.

"If you pick blue, there are hundreds of blues to use," Harrington said. "Some blues are more energetic, other are more somber. [The color] runs a high - low energy gamut."

Mixing red colors with blue makes the resulting color warmer and promotes energy. Mixing green with the blue makes the color cooler and more subdued.

Harrington said many people chose to decorate a kitchen with the color yellow, because it tends to have a "fresh, clean" feeling associated with it.

Accent colors, depending upon how they are used, can either draw attention to something or disguise something.

"You can go from the dramatic to the fairly subtle," Harrington said. "Either is a function of contrast or change in color."

Regardless of the method, Harrington said home owners need to make sure the colors used represent their personality.

When deciding to add color to a room, Harrington encourages people to paint a two-foot by three-foot swatch on poster board or some other portable item.

She then suggests observing how the swatch looks in different rooms under a variety of lighting conditions.

A color you first intended to be placed in your living room may instead look better in another room.

Painting a swatch of color on a wall can cause unforeseen problems, even if you paint over it with the same color.

Every layer of paint adds definition and texture to a wall. The swatch could leave an impression which shows up even after it is covered.

"It may change the sheen or the texture of the [final] paint," Harrington said.

Current decorating trends may surprise most homeowners. Harrington has found that many of her clients are choosing to use white as a primary color.

The white color may not be "old fashioned" white, but rather have a pearl essence sheen.

Harrington said it's about using white and its energy as a color, rather than as the absence of color, in a neutral setting.

Still not sure how to start? Harrington recommends consulting with a design professional, such as those licensed by the American Society of Interior Designers.

She said some designers will work with a client during a one to two hour consultation to help them determine which colors work best for the space.

Spending a little extra money to obtain an objective opinion by a design professional can pay off in the long run.

"They can help you take it to the next level," Harrington said.

In the end, Harrington recommends those working on a budget to start in the room which receives the most attention, and then make changes room by room.

"You may start in the kitchen, and then realize the dinning room doesn't look so great," she said.