Color is the quickest, cheapest way to get a bang for your buck.  It is one of the most personal things you can do to a room.  The right color can improve our mood, stimulate the appetite, make a statement about who you are.  The biggest pitfall in choosing a color is understanding how that little paint chip is going to look spread out all over that room.  Color is fickle.  It changes according to so many different factors.  How much sunlight the room gets, what time of the day is the room usually used in, is there a large red sofa in the room that is going to make the beige turn a blushy pink?  All understandable questions that the homeowner doesn’t take into account, until its painted and the room put back together.
   
Here are some hints for choosing the right color.  Always remember that red, yellow and blue intensify, once up.  I had a customer call crying, uncontrollably, who had pulled into the driveway to view her newly painted “butter cream” house that now looks to have come straight from Sesame Street.  What may have looked like a soft, warm yellow on her paint chip, has now turned into the Big Bird of the neighborhood.

Test your colors. 

Invest in a quart of something before painting the whole room and deciding you hate it.  Paint it on poster board, paint it on the wall behind a picture(for when the in-laws stop over).  Don’t paint little smears of paint all over the room and expect to determine how it will look.  Paint big 2’x2’ samples and don’t place them side by side.  Spread them out so that when you look at them from another room, that color stands alone.  View the color in different lights.  Morning, noon and night as well as sunny and rainy days.  The only people who should have an opinion are you and your family and that to is debatable.  It doesn’t matter that your best friend hates red or that your neighbor doesn’t like any vegetable color, as long as you love the color, GO FOR IT!!!
   
A good decorator will guide you to the right shade and not give you their personal opinion of the color.  I dislike PINK intensely, but have done beautiful rooms in this color and they turn out wonderful.  If you don’t like their choice, tell them, and if they don’t pick another color, pick another decorator. 
   
A lot of times I will see a color at a client’s house and get the info on where the color came from.  I then try a sample to see how I may use it in my home.  What looks good there may or may not look good in my setting.  Try it and you may like it. 
   
Sheen of paint also changes the look of a color.  I typically use flat, matte or eggshell on my walls.  Flat is washable but not scrubbable and touches up great.  The more sheen a paint has the more imperfections are highlighted on a wall.  Matte is flat but scrubbable.  Eggshell is scrubbable and has a angular sheen.  This is according to Benjamin Moore paints and I only paint with quality paint.  The cheaper the paint the harder the painting will be and why suffer?  Semigloss goes on high abuse areas, trim, furniture, etc;  Never on the walls!!!  Flat on the ceiling, except for high humidity areas, such as bathrooms to prevent water streaks.
   
Keep a composition book in your glove compartment filled with all of those color swatches, ripped out pictures of your dream room, the area rug you love and anything else that helps you choose a color when its time.  The brain can’t remember color, so make it easy and keep good records.  Even a piece of DMC floss or a pebble from the beach can help to find your new bedroom color.  Take home 3 paint sample and narrow it down by process of elimination.  Then, if still in doubt, buy that quart or a 2 oz sample and make a big swatch.  You should have your newly painted room in no time.

Grab some paint chips and happy painting!!!