Top Ten Design Tips: Number 2

#2  Color Creates Mood.  The most affordable thing that one can do to freshen up a space is with color. It can create unexpected impact, make a space larger, cozy up a retreat or facelift a boring environment. Keep in mind a few important details about color.

• Active colors include yellow, orange and red. These hues work well in social and entertaining rooms. They make a positive, inspiring statement with their energetic and upbeat attitude. Reds and oranges excite and invigorate. Lemon and golden yellows spark creativity and are excellent choices for home offices and kitchens. Our very favorite colors for sun drenched backgrounds are: Benjamin Moore: Oklahoma Wheat and also Kansas Grain.

• Passive colors are from the cool side of the color wheel. Blue, green and purple stay quietly in the background to calm and restore. Use them in rooms primarily designed for resting and rejuvenating—bathrooms and bedrooms, for example.  Also consider the direction of the light that is coming into the space.  Cooler tones work especially well when a room’s orientation is due west.

• Neutral colors are the diplomats of decorating. They blend, combine and incorporate, bridging together different rooms and colors. Darker neutrals tone down other colors while crisp white intensifies them. “Neutral” neutrals, those mid-town colors that are hard to name without two or more words to describe them are quite effective when used with very flat, very matt finishes as opposed to satin or shiney ones.