Paint color sample swatches can be overwhelming. Take time to create a color plan and choosing all of your paint, textile and surface colors will be easier.

There is nothing wrong with white walls. Let’s just get that out there. Though white isn’t a “color” on the color wheel, it certainly is a paint color, and one that many people love. But if the only reason you have white walls is because you’re afraid of color, you may have a touch of chromophobia or “fear of colors”.

Or maybe you just have a fear of making expensive mistakes with paint color. That’s more often the case.

Although paint is often touted as a cheap and easy interior design fix, in reality painting your home can be a big and messy project. With paint prices between $20 – $60 per gallon, plus the cost of application, color mistakes add up fast.

And now is where I usually say, “Which is why you need a color consultant.”  But not everybody can afford or find the right color consultant.

So, what should you do if  you are determined to create your own paint color plan? Here are some color choosing tips if you’re looking to freshen a room with color:

• Take time collecting samples of colors you love. Look outside of paint store swatches to the ordinary things in your life that you enjoy. The color of your morning latte may be your best soothing warm brown color.
• Assemble your samples of the colors you love with samples of the colors in your room that you have to live with, like that ugly tile or flooring you can’t afford to replace.
• Now, using a paint store fan deck, look for a way to bridge the colors you love with the colors you are stuck with. A “bridge” color is my way to describe a color that is a version of what you love, that will work with what you have.
• Give yourself time with your color choices before you ask for anyone elses opinion.
• Life is short, live with the colors you love.  (And that includes white!)

www.CristinaAcosta.com

And, all of those tidy spaces make it much easier to change the wall color when I get the urge!

Here’s a peak at the piece I wrote for Latina Style magazine titled, Clearing Spaces:

Dear Cristina,

During the winter my family and I were stuck in our house more than usual. Now that we have time to relax, I’m looking at a lot of clutter and mess and it’s making me loca. I don’t have any money to remodel, but I want a fresh start on a budget that’s mostly going to be hard work rather than cash. Where should I begin?
Ana Louisa P.

Have you ever moved and noticed that after you unpacked your things and put them in your new home, you saw your belongings in a new light? The process of moving is all about preparing for a change. You probably had a garage sale or giveaway before you left your old house, taking a look at your things with the view, “Do I really need this?”

The good news is that you don’t have to move to get a new view of the same old stuff in your life. The easiest way to focus your vision is to clear out the clutter. Without the distraction of clutter you’ll be able to see what you have to start with so you can determine the best way to begin a big change.
This change won’t have to cost you a dime, though you will have to work hard. You may even make some money if you sell your discarded items.

Working from where you are and with what you have can bring about amazing results, whether we’re talking about fitness, emotional growth or home décor. You always have more than you think – just not in the way you usually think about it.

Focusing on what you really like and want to continue to live with won’t stop at your home décor. Even more surprising is that changing your home on the cheap can be a creatively challenging project that will not only result in a “new” way to live in your home, you’ll discover talents you didn’t know you had. You’ll quickly realize that refining your focus will extend to other areas of your life, maybe even including your work and personal relations. . . . READ MORE

The yellow loft roofs the dining area and juts into the space of the living room of this home. The shape as well as the color act as a bridge between the red dining room walls and the green living room walls.

One thing leads to another. That’s as true in life as it is for interior design. It’s especially true if you’ve ever started remodeling or redecorating just one room of a home, then stood back when it was done only to realize that other areas of the house need updating.

And in the same sense, one color leads to another as you walk through any building. Creating a paint color scheme blending good color design with the architecture of your home is like putting together a 3-D puzzle. One part of that puzzle changes and everything changes. And change can be complicated.

It’s easy to think about home color as mostly about the walls, but the reality is that the walls, floors, ceiling, trims and decor are all design elements that combine within the open spaces of the home. Now add to that the thousands of choices you have in most any tile, furniture, lighting and paint store and the puzzle pieces of design that seemed so easy to sort are now in danger of becoming a pile of confusing shapes and colors.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by color, you’re not alone. Putting together entire interior design color schemes can be a lot to think about. But, mixing colors around your home gets a little simpler if you think about those color combinations as a master color plan.

Creating a master color plan is what I do for my clients. They choose the paint colors they like and I help them make those choices (or similar choices) work with the rest of their home decor as well as the architecture of the home.

Here are a few tips I share with color consulting clients to help them organize their interior paint colors:

• Identify the colors in your home that you aren’t going to change, such as the flooring, kitchen cabinetry, window coverings, countertops, etc., and be sure that the paint colors you choose complement the colors of those things.
• Look at the paint colors in natural light and at night under artificial light to be sure the color looks good 24/7.
• Sample your color choices in several places of the room so that you can see the effect of light on the paint color.

www.CristinaAcosta.com