If you feel helpless when it comes to picking and blending colors, your answer could be as far away as your nearest pillow.  Here is a quick way to create a color scheme for your home with PICK - SEE -LMD .

PICK a Pattern: Starting with a pattern is the easiest way to create a color palette for your decor. Choose a pattern from any object you already have and love such as a pillow, picture or piece of furniture. This will be your color palette !

SEE 3 Colors: Select a light, medium and dark color from your pattern to be used as your foundation. You may want to go to a hardware store and select color chips from the paint department that match your pattern to carry with you in case you come across a great find and need to know if it matches.

LMD: Light, Medium and Dark - How you use these colors can affect the overall appearance of your room. 

• Light- Is the Background- this is usually easy to achieve since most rentals are equipped with light to off-white walls.
• Medium- Large furniture and windows - Since the color of these objects will blend with the above lighter selection, the medium furniture will ground the room and give it a foundation.
• Darker- Accessories. Since your eye is drawn to a darker more intense color you will be able to arrange you accessories in a manner to guide the eye flowing through your room.

PICK - SEE - LMD   Use it whenever you are trying to pull together a color coordinated room!

By Tammy Jo Schoppet

Choosing the right colors is the first step to great interior design.  It is not so easy to select the right color of paint or wallpaper or the right carpet color to deliver the desired results.  All too often, a color that looks ideal on a small paint sample erupts into a different color when you apply it to a wall.  A subdued light champagne yellow paint color turns into a screeching sour lemon yellow on the walls, an olive carpet winds up brown, and a very light tint of any paint color turns out white.   Interior design colors in an office space must also be mindful of the mood they will convey.  Some studies have shown that colors can play a significant role in how we feel and the energy we have.

Here are some factors influencing the use of color in space design:

• The time of day the area will be used the most
• The type of light it will receive
• The relation of colors surrounding it
• The size of the area
• The purpose of the space

Color and light go hand in hand in interior designing.  Each type of light bulb furnishes a different color accentuation.  Halogen is very close to the full spectrum of sunlight while incandescent lamps are on the warm, orange scale.  Fluorescent lamps are usually more blue (though some are called full-spectrum).  It is important to see your color choice in the lamps to be used.  Each will show the color in a different way.

Here are the three basic elements to color and interior design:

• Hue - the color itself - Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, etc.
• Value - the relative lightness or darkness of a color, whiteness or blackness.
• Intensity - the saturation or brightness of a color.

The mixture of these design elements induces psychological and emotional reactions.  Surrounding colors support various moods and activities, from resting and dreaming to socializing and working.  It's best to consider carefully the requirements of the space to create a successful interior design.

Colors fall into three general categories:

• Warm
• Cool
• Neutral

 The way we mix those colors along with attention to value, can enhance the use of color in interior design and communicate explicit messages.  Warm colors in interior design convey excitement and energy.  Cool colors are calming and relaxing.  Neutral colors are unifying and help us to focus better.  Different spaces within a home or office may need different colors depending on the purpose of the space.  Interior design colors in office design can be essential to the image and mood that is created thus helping productivity and enriching aesthetics.