Use Color to solve an architectural challenge.
Color is frequently your best tool when the architecture of your space is less than perfect. Here are just a few examples of architectural challenges that can be softened with color choices.
1) CEILINGS: If the ceiling is too low, paint it white or several shades lighter than the wall color. If it is too high, and you want a cozier feeling, paint it the same or slightly deeper than the wall color.
2) WALLS ARE CHOPPED UP WITH TOO MAY DOORS: Paint the doors and trim the same colors as the walls to help them disappear.
3) THE ROOM IS TOO DARK: Use receding colors on the walls such as strong, brights or light colors. But do not use soft, pale colors which will not "read" in a dark room
4) THE ROOM IS FILLED WITH SOUTHERN EXPOSURE WINDOWS AND IS TOO HOT:
Use cooler colors (such as blues and greens) and trim with fresh white trims. These rooms have the option of the softer colors.
5) THE ROOM IS TOO LONG & NARROW: Paint only one of the shorter walls a deeper or brighter color to bring it forward. Of the two shorter walls, choose the one that is most important for this accent color.
6) EMPHASIZE HANDSOME DETAILS: By painting details such as a fireplace and/or moldings or nicely proportioned windows and doors a contrast color to emphasize them.
One of the first things I make note of, when visiting a client's home for the first time, are the architectural assets and the challenges of the room. Then together, we can develop a color plan that emphasizes the strong points of the space, and de-emphasizes the less than perfect.
The evolution of furniture from utilitarian to artful is often a key to the manners, mores and means of other times and places. In that spirit and just for fun, here are “romance” stories about some of those pieces picked up over thirty five years of studying and practicing interior design. Are they true? I don’t know for sure but if not, I’m sure at the very least they contain seeds of truth in the development of traditional furniture styles and, as I said, just for fun……. Read More fun stories here.