Create Space Blending Decor Color into the Walls

by Jessica Ackerman
(www.walldecorandhomeaccents.com)

Especially in smaller rooms, the use of color can be used effectively to make a room look more spacious. Although lighter shades are traditionally preferred when trying to create the illusion of space, there are other techniques you can use to visually create space in your home. When choosing your wall color, it is important to take the overall color of the rest of the room's decor into consideration. Rooms tend to look larger when wall colors blend in gracefully with the other colors used in the room.

Color Tricks to Fool the Eye

When using color to create the illusion of size in a room, remember that light colors tend to add size to a room, while darker colors pull walls in and make a room look smaller. Overall, light neutral shades are often the best choice for smaller room. However, this technique doesn't always work, especially if you have dark furniture and decorating accessories in the room.

When you combine light walls with dark furnishings, your eyes will be pulled inward towards the center of the room by the more intense colors of the furniture, which will make the room seem smaller. While the best choice for a small room is often a light wall shade with coordinating light furniture, you can also create a similar effect even if you have darker furnishings. Try painting one wall in the room a darker shade, and placing dark colored furniture pieces against that wall. The furniture will blend into the wall color, which will tend to visually move the wall back. Then, you can create space by painting the other three walls in a coordinating lighter shade.

Blending Shelving into the Wall Color

Shelves can be a great way of adding more storage space to a room, which can be especially helpful in a smaller room. Shelves should be painted the same color as the wall if you are trying to blend them in and create the illusion of more space. By using the same color, the only thing you will notice are the items you are displaying on the shelves. This will help the shelves blend into the wall, and they will not seem to protrude into the room as much, thus creating the illusion of more space.

Blending Carpet Colors with Wall Colors

You can also create a more streamlined look in a room by coordinating your wall and flooring colors. Although you might not want to use the same color for your walls and carpeting, choosing light neutrals for both can really help increase the size of your room.

When the carpeting blends in well with the walls, there isn't a noticeable edge around the bottom of the room to make a room seem smaller. Your eyes will travel smoothly from the carpeting to the walls, making the room seem more spacious. If you have darker colored hardwood floors, adding a light colored area rug to one end of the room can also help the flooring blend in with the walls, creating the illusion of space.

Senior staff writer Jessica Ackerman of WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, writes award-winning "How To" articles on wall mount wine rack and large wall vases.

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