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Planning
a coordinating color scheme for every room of
your home may seem rather overwhelming. But
in fact, it’s not very different than developing
a color scheme for an individual room.
The same basic techniques apply, with just a
few additional things to consider. |
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Even if you’ve
lived in your house for some time,
do an assessment of the whole place.
Make a note of your impressions
in each room—the light it receives
during the day, architectural features
that could be brought out, things
you may want to hide.
Think about how the existing carpeting,
flooring and woodwork will affect
your color choices, and whether
there are finishes (a stone fireplace
or brick interior wall, for example)
that you want to keep. |
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Examine what you have
to work with, in terms of your existing decor.
If your furniture or carpets are colorful, consider
building your new décor around these items.
If your furniture or carpet is neutral, you
have a clean slate to do whatever you’d like.
It is especially important to consider your
carpet or tiled floors during color scheme planning,
as these are more difficult to change than wood
floors, which can be stained and varnished to
a new color using quality BEHR products should
you choose to do so. |
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Decide
how adventurous you want your scheme to be.
You have several choices. |
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A monochromatic
scheme (one color,
but in many shades and different hues, from
dark to light), is harmonious and flows well.
An analogous scheme
(using the adjacent colors on the color wheel),
gives you the opportunity for more exciting
highlights.
A complementary
scheme (using the
colors opposite each other on the color wheel)
allows more flexibility for accent and highlight
colors, but must be carefully managed so it’s
not jarring. |
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Start with the
largest and most visible space in
the house, and decide on a color
palette for that.
Next, look at the areas visible
from that space, such as through
doorways or halls, and decide how
you want to treat them. Choose colors
for the walls first, then select
the trim and accent colors. Keep
working from room to room, until
you’ve planned the whole house. |
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You can
also paint the main room first and live with
it for a few days. This way, you can be absolutely
sure you are comfortable with your initial color
choice before you proceed with the rest of the
house.
Let the mood and use of each room drive the
colors you select, not the other way around.
In rooms that are normally closed—bathrooms,
for example—you can plan for some fun surprises
and complete changes of tone. |
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If you’re thinking
about faux finishes or other decorative
techniques (see Having
Fun with Faux), start with subtle
variations of color, and include
some plain, painted spaces so the
effect is not overwhelming. In large
rooms, you should probably restrict
decorative finish use to accents
or maybe just a single wall.
By starting in one room and moving
to the next, each time considering
the previous colors chosen, you
can create a blended and stylish
décor scheme throughout the whole
home. |
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Try the ColorSmart™ by BEHR interactive program to experiment with thousands of different color combinations and see how they look in actual room settings.
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