Colorful Furniture and Decor: Color Schemes and Painting Help from Paint Manufacturers

Spring is just around the corner. One of the signs--the latest issues of home décor magazines showing a preponderance of spring colors. Lighter, brighter, and more pastel colors abound on the covers and inside pages of Woman's Day special interest magazines such as Budget Decorating and Decorating in Style, as well as House Beautiful, Country Living, Coastal Living, and Better Homes & Gardens.

As Spring approaches, home owners and renters contemplate ways to make their homes look more spring-like. Redecorating lifts spirits in anticipation of the approaching warmer weather of Spring and Summer.

Decorating is a joy to decorating aficionados. However, obstacles in the form of money, time, and family rear their heads. So, what's a decorating aficionado to do?

Planning is the key. Pick a color scheme, buy your decorating items, check your calendar and pencil in times available. If family members complain about the changes and the mess involved in redecorating, try to involve them in decisions about color schemes and/or choose times when they are absent.

To assist customers in picking a paint color, many paint manufacturers now offer brochures depicting various color schemes. Brochures can be found in the paint department at stores like Lowes, Menards, and Home Depot or on-line at Sherwin Williams, Behr, Valspar, Dupont, Benjamin Moor, etc. Paint manufacturers also offer on-line guides for calculating the amount of paint you will need based on a room size. Much time can be saved by purchasing a good quality paint that covers with one or two coats.

Once a color scheme has been selected, figure out how long it will take to paint a room. Don't feel overwhelmed if unable to finish in one day. When painting a whole room, budget time by spending an hour a day, or a couple of hours on weekends spread out over three or four weekends. Faux painting takes a little longer, so be sure to factor in extra time for that. A professional painter can usually paint a room in a day or two.

To save money on future redecorating, choose paint and floor colors in neutral tones. Neutral doesn't necessarily mean white or beige; pastels can also be used as neutrals. Neutral color schemes makes changing décor easy for any season. Changing an area rug, wall art (or just changing the frames), toss pillows and repainting furniture creates a whole new decor. Or, painting just the area around kitchens cabinets a brighter color can bring the indoors inside. These small improvements result in a fresher, brighter, more spring-like look without spending a lot of money or time. This will also keep the complaining down from family members.

As stated earlier, another method of dealing with family members resistant to change is to decorate when everyone is out of the house. For instance, if you plan to paint, get your supplies at least a day before. The next day, get up early and begin masking areas off, then begin painting. An hour before everyone is due home, clean up the mess and put everything away.

Children tend to be more adaptable to change than adults, so if redoing a child's room, involve them in the process. Ask them what color they would like the room to be, show them samples of rooms they might like. But, don't overwhelm them with 20 different rooms. Narrow it down to five at the most.

Those who live in a rural area, may find traveling to a larger metro area to shop for items to redecorate a home inconvenient. If that is the case, many of your favorite stores offer on-line shopping and even home delivery services.

http://www.behr.com

http://www.valspar.com/

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/do_it_yourself/paint_colors/index.jsp

http://www.benjaminmoore.com/

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