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I’ve been there. The color swatch at the paint counter looks glorious — warm, subtle, cozy. However, when the color is on the wall, it glows like a piece of radioactive waste. Yikes…it’s not a pretty site.

My first real lesson with paint color was several years ago when my husband and I were building our first home. We picked what we thought was the perfect beige. After the paint job was finished, we excitedly walked into the house and did a disappointed double take. Our perfect beige was actually a perfect peach. That was an expensive lesson (we had the house repainted before we moved in) and the guy at the paint counter gave us some invaluable advice: try before you buy.

Since then, we always buy a quart of the color we like and a few similar colors and paint different parts of the room. It is amazing how different times of day and different types of lighting affect how color looks in a room. I’ve also found that sometimes, even though I love the color at first, after a few days of looking at my sample, it just doesn’t cut it. Following these simple rules, I rarely have a color snafu these days. Here are a few sites that have helped me. The first is House Beautiful Paint Brush — a nifty way to see rooms in different shades. Happy painting and regards!

http://www.housebeautiful.com/decorating/paint-colors

http://interiordec.about.com/od/interiorpainting/a/diy_choosepaint.htm

http://www.herhome.com/magazine/articles/2005/fall/color-me-confused.asp

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20021111_interiorpaint.htm

http://www.paint.org/index.htm

Welcome back readers, for the third and final installment of Feng Shui 101. Now that you’ve laid out your Ba-gua (feng shui floorplan) and have figured out which area of your life/space you want to work with, it’s time to start incorporating the feng shui elements.

Each area of the Ba-gua has an element to go with it. They are:
Water: career, life path
Earth: knowledge, health and relationships
Metal: creativity and children, helpful friends and guides
Wood: wealth and family

Each element also has coordinating colors. They are:
Water: blue, black
Earth: yellow, orange, apricot, pink, peach
Metal: lemon, gold, silver, white, magenta
Wood: green, turquoise
Fire: red, violet, lilac, lavender

To use the water element, you’ll want to incorporate both the elements and their colors into your space. For example, if you were focusing on the career space you would be using the water element. You could paint the room blue, using black as an accent. You could bring in blue and black throw pillows and blankets. The water element could be brought in by adding a small fountain, or a picture of a water scene. The possibilities are endless. For more ideas, http://video.about.com/fengshui/Color-and-Feng-Shui.htm offers some solid tips on how to use the feng shui colors and elements in your home.

And there you have it, an abbreviated look at feng shui. As I said before, there are many layers and levels to feng shui. If you are interested in learning more, check out the sites below. Happy decorating and regards!

http://fengshui.about.com/od/glossaryofterms/u/fengshui101.htm
http://shuitogo.com/fengshui/

Paint, faux finish, texture — regardless of your wall finishing choice, you still need the final touches. Without artwork, photography or some other kind of focal point, your room will lack the personality and uniqueness that makes your house home. While poking around for some ideas, I found the a great set of video clips here that cover quite a few ingenious methods for wall decorating. They are also cost effective, which is always a great perk. Tell me what you think. Happy decorating and regards!