If you finally found your dream home, but are a bit disappointed with the shape of some of the rooms within the home, you can take advantage of color to make them appear more attractive. Color can be used to change the shape of a room, to create a mood, hide flaws within the room, or to create the illusion of space.  Learning how to use color within a room will go a long way towards creating a room that you will enjoy to the fullest.    

Make a Room Appear Larger
Cool, light colors can make a room appear to be larger and create a roomier atmosphere.  Paint all surfaces in colors that are within the same color family and match the upholstery in the room to the floor covering.  You can add interesting contrast by using textured paint or wallpaper to give the room a more distinguished feel since everything else will be so light in color.  

Make a Room Look Smaller
Some rooms are just too big to have a personal feel to them.  Make a larger room look smaller with medium tones and warm neutral color.  Wainscoting along the walls or the installation of paneling can shrink the look of the room while adding cozy warmth.  Use paint that contrasts with your panel work, and match or contrast the molding in the room to coordinate with your furnishings. You might also choose larger molding along the top and bottom of the room to create an illusion of a smaller room.  

                                    Higher
Make Ceilings Look               or

                                                       Lower

If your ceilings are rather low, the use of color can make them appear taller.  Use bright white paint on the low ceiling or color that is at minimum a shade lighter than your wall coloring to make the ceiling look higher, and keep the colors of your floor covering on the light side as well.  Inversely, if your ceilings are too high, you can bring the ceiling color down at least a foot or so onto the wall coloring.  Although this sounds odd, you really won't notice the difference on a ceiling that is ten or twelve foot high – the line is not visible.  But it will make a twelve foot ceiling appear to be around eight feet tall.

 
Changing Dimensions with Illusion
You can also visually shorten the length of a room that has a rectangular long shape.  To do this, paint or wall paper the walls of the room in dark, warm colors that make the walls seem to recede.  On the other end of the spectrum, if your walls are too short, you can use light, cool colors to make them appear to taller.  If a room is too wide, warm, deep colors on long walls and lighter cool colors on short walls can make the room appear to be narrower.  Get rid of the look of a dropped acoustical tile ceiling by painting it the same color as your wall, which will give the illusion that the ceiling has disappeared.  

Veronica Smith with AmericanArtisanArt.com has developed an interest in expanding the use of art wall sculptures as well as contemporary metal wall art.

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