Pep up your room with color

Does your room feel drab and uninspired? Plain gray walls are common in modern homes; while you could spice them up with a fresh coat of paint, adding too much color can be dangerous.

According to the 1961 Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book (one of our favorite Eames-era guides), "A little bit of bright color may look alluring, but on your walls it will just jump at you. The larger the amount, the more intense it will seem.... You're probably be more comfortable and 'at home' with your color scheme if you select soft neutrals or grayed tones for the largest areas in your home -- the walls and the floor."

Where bold, vivid color can best be used is in accent pieces, such as your lighting fixtures. This can add life to your room and help to pull a color scheme together. Bold colors will sharply contrast with the gray wall, emphasizing your lighting as a focal point; if you use them in a pendant over your dining table, your family and guests will be subconsciously pulled to gather around it.

If your room is sunless or the primary source of light during the day is your pendant fixture, add warmth with red and orange; these suggest "the friendliness of a campfire, the warmth of the sun, the natural 'belonging' or rich soil and rock and sand... these colors will give you the same comfortable feeling of warmth and friendliness." If, on the other hand, your room is already sunny, you may want to cool it down with blue and green, the color of water and trees. In either case, don't be afraid to be bold!