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Painting the interior of the house can be fun for some and a disaster for others.

When choosing paint colours, it's important to spend some time deciding the right colour scheme.  If you are unsure what to choose we recommend you get professional advice. 

When you choose a good colour scheme for your home it will improve the value of your property & increase the happiness of everyone living there. 

At the other extreme, choosing the wrong colours for your home can reduce the perceived value of your property and be disappointing and stressful for the entire family.

Choosing colours that suit your lifestyle

If you will be living in the property, it's critical that you choose colours that reflect your style, colour preferences and lifestyle.  If you will be selling or renting the property you need to choose colours that will have the broadest appeal.

Some factors to consider are below:

• What is the size of your room? Larger rooms can afford to have bolder colours than smaller rooms. Bigger rooms have more light and can be made feel more warm & inviting when painted with darker colours.  Smaller rooms are normally better with light colours, as they increase the perceived size of the room
• Are there windows in the room? Larger windows will add to the lightness and brightness of the colour, so rooms with no windows tend to look better with softer tones.
• What works with your furniture and furnishings?  If you have existing items that you want to keep and showcase in your newly painted home then it's important the colours you select are designed to compliment any artwork, furnitures, curtains and accessories etc that you will be displaying in each room. 

• Colour tips

  As a general rule floor colours are darker than walls and ceilings are lighter than walls, as this formula tends to make rooms look larger.  Naturally you can choose anything including bold colours and textured paints, however, you need to be very clear about the effect you want to create when you pick feature colours & get professional advice to ensure the colours you are choosing for the areas you want to paint, will all work together to give you the home environment you're after.

 

Much time and energy goes into building a new home. It is exciting and stressful to choose the piece of land, select a plan, choose the right builder for the job, work with the financial institutions, and watch it all come together. In fact, sometimes people get so wrapped up in all of those decisions and projects that the fact that they will have to decorate their home almost gets lost in the maze.

From Wall Coverings to Floor Coverings

People get so caught up in the big stuff that they sometimes forget that the wall finish will have to be painted or covered and the floor boards will require some form of finishing. Whether you are a do-it-yourselfer that prefers to do your own decorating or you have a hand-picked decorator handling this for you, you will still need to select the motif that will best suit your family.

That is right. It is something that everyone that lives in the house will probably want to participate in on some level. This can be a whole new battlefield. Don’t fall into the temptation to let these decisions create strife in your family.

How to Avoid Decorating Debate Blow-Outs

• Try not to rush decorating decision. It is easy to feel pressured and push the members of your household to come to an agreement. You will find that allowing yourself and others sufficient time to meditate on the decorating decisions that involve them will diffuse a great number of arguments before they happen.
• While you may not feel it is necessary to involve children in many of the decisions regarding decorating your home, allowing them some input into their bedrooms and any other rooms that will be greatly devoted to them will allow them to feel important and a sense of ownership in the new home.
• Some people change their room colors regularly, while others keep things the same for years at a time. Assess the type of decorator that your family is and keep that in mind when decorating. For example, if you do not intend to change your bedroom walls in your children’s room for at least five years keep it generic enough so that when your son is fourteen years old, he won’t still have Winnie the Pooh on his walls.
• Keep in mind that your fixtures, from lights to plumbing, will accent your home. Choose carefully to keep the same feel throughout.

Do not allow the task of building your home to tear apart your family. Keep things in perspective and do not allow things that may be changed within a couple years anyway cause friction in your relationships. Realize that home building can be a stressful time. It can consume your thoughts every waking moment. Be sure to take time to do something fun every once in a while. It will help you keep your priorities in order, as well as remind you that your sanity is still intact.