Tips for Choosing Paint Color
by Karen Masek

Have you ever gone into a paint store with colors in mind to paint the walls of a room in your home or office? Let's say you wanted to paint it soft green to match the pretty throw pillows that you have on your couch. You get to the paint store and YIKES! You look at the swatches and there are so many variations of the color green. Your head starts to spin and now you can't quite remember if it was a green with a touch of blue or a green with a touch of yellow.

Tip: Take the throw pillow with you. The paint store won't mind. They want the sale and this way there won't be any mistakes on what you want. Also remember that a wall is a large space and a color on a small throw pillow may not look so good on a large wall. Or you may find that after you get the paint on the wall that you just don't like it as much as you thought you would.

Tip: I put the item of the color - let it be a pillow, towel, rug or vase up against the wall that I want to paint. I look at it for a couple of days imagining the wall in that color. You will be amazed that after a couple of days of looking at it you may change your mind and want to choose another color. Better to catch it this way then after you spend the money and time to paint your wall.

Tip: If you have a high ceiling and you want to make it look lower, paint the ceiling a darker shade of the wall color. This will give it the illusion of being lower. If you have a low ceiling and you want to make it look higher. Paint the ceiling a lighter shade of the wall color or a white/off white. This will give the illusion of it being higher.

Interior decoration can be a lot of fun. After painting the room you can now accent it with many colors. Remember just because you paint the room green doesn't mean that you have to accent it with only greens and browns. Throw in a coral, a blue, or other colors to liven up the room. Experiment with color. You will be amazed how throwing in a bold colored throw pillow can liven up a dreary room.

Karen Masek is an internet entrepreneur who currently has an online store which she designed, built and maintains. "A Gift Rack" and can be found at www.agiftrack.com

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