The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

How To Remodel Basements And Attics

As a rule the complementary colors should cover considerably less total area than the dominant color. Harmony also can be achieved in certain rooms by using two or more complementary colors. When windows of the room face southeast, south and southwest, bright sunlight enters both summer and winter. Such a room calls for the use of cool colors, blues and greens, to produce a restful effect. Of course, it still is possible to use complementary colors in such rooms. Your paint dealer will have some detailed color charts at hand from which you can make pleasing selections of colors for rooms with varying exposures.

Changing room atmosphere

When the room is situated so as to necessitate a monochromatic color scheme, gaiety and sparkle can be added by selecting complementary colors to accent room details. Sometimes a color scheme can be worked out by using the color of the living-room sofa as a starting point. The entire decorating scheme is then built up with this unit as the nucleus.

If it is desirable to emphasize interesting room details such as a fire-place, stairway or built-in, they can be "spotlighted" with a complementary color. Often the complementary color applied to the interior of a bookcase or built-in cabinet gives just the right degree of emphasis.

Color for adjoining rooms

When adjoining rooms are connected by a wide passageway, or arch- way, using the same color scheme in both rooms will produce an illusion of much greater spaciousness.

When variety is desirable, complementary colors often can be used to advantage. Where rooms are separated by single doors of standard sizes, it is rarely advisable to use exactly the same color scheme in both of the rooms.

Light reflectivity

The amount of illumination in a room depends on the ability of walls and ceilings to reflect light. Pure white is a common selection for ceilings as it is a complementary to almost any color on walls. However, experienced decorators favor a tinted white, or off-white, for ceiling treatment in rooms which require the maximum reflectivity. The sources of light, both daylight and artificial, must be considered in planning the decorative scheme, especially in rooms having south and north exposures, to get the full benefit of the colors.

SOME PAINTING HINTS

While modern paints have taken the word skill out of painting for both Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner, many beginners blithely apply one coat over another without giving too much thought to the importance of proper surface preparation and the right paint for the job. Such mistakes as applying enamel over one coat of flat paint, or over a waxed or old calcimined surface have been made by many amateur painters with unhappy results.