You’re dreaming about the beautiful room makeovers you’ve seen on TV. The one’s where a talented designer comes in and transforms the room into a stunning show piece complete with painted walls and well placed accessories. Remembering the wonderful tears of joy shed by the happy home owners, you go straight to the paint store and look at all the color samples.

Then you become totally overwhelmed. You recall an episode of ‘Trading Spaces’ were the neighbors painted each others rooms in some sickening color and the friendship was destroyed forever. Suddenly images of horrified tearful homeowners come flooding in. They would do anything to get their boring white walls back! You’re not a designer. You panic. You back away from the paint swatches and decide instead to go shoe shopping for that adorable little dress you bought last week.

You feel better already.  Thinking of your new dress brings a smile to your face. You recall how good it felt when you tried it on in the dressing room. It’s so cute. And you love the color! You can hardly wait for an excuse to wear it. Now for the perfect shoes to finish the look…

Hold on there fashion girl. What if you could capture that same happy feeling you have about your new dress and apply it to your room? What if you could be that excited about your house? You can! I’m here to tell you that if you can put an outfit together, you can put a room together. You know more about color than you give yourself credit for.

You don’t have any trouble choosing just the right shoes to go with an outfit. You easily mix and match tops and bottoms to create great new looks. You barely even think about it when you grab a box of hair color knowing that it will perfectly offset your eyes and skin tone. A peak in your makeup bag shows all the luscious shades of eye shadows and lip sticks that you have happily experimented with. Not to mention your undeniably great taste in jewelry. You’re no stranger to color or style!

So let’s start with what you know. Go to your closet and pull out 4 or 5 of your very favorite outfits. Lay them all out; complete with shoes, hand bag, accessories…everything. Now step back and take a look at what you’ve done. Notice the easy mix of color, texture and bling. Why do you like these outfits so much? What kind of colors are you drawn to?  Are they warm or cool colors?

Notice the purpose of each outfit, be it work, play or evening wear. Rooms are like that. What is the purpose of your room? Do you want to create a sultry (evening gown) master bed room, a hard wearing (blue jeans) easy care family room or a fun playroom (sundress)? Ask yourself a few key questions. Are you going to use your existing furniture or get new? Either way, what are the dominant fabric colors of the furniture (bottoms)? Are the wood tones dark or light (leather shoes and belts)? What color are your curtains and throw pillows (tops)? Is there any brushed metal or sparkly glass in the room (jewelry)?  Do you have wall to wall carpet (sweater or pea coat), hard wood (sleek leather jacket), or linoleum (rain coat) floors?

Try putting an outfit together using the dominate colors that you intend to have in your room. Don’t forget to match the outfit to the occasion. Is it a formal affair or backyard BBQ? What kind of fabrics, textures and colors are you using?

Walls are simply a back drop for everything else that goes in your space. Just like the foundation makeup you put on before you apply eye shadow. Now go back to the paint store and get those free color swatches. Grab every color from dark to light that you are even remotely interested in. Take them home and compare them to the ‘room’ outfit you have created. Think of them like foundation makeup or skin tones, just a back drop to your favorite outfit. Now you’re in familiar territory!