Interior Style: How to Use Color Throughout Your Home

By Lesley Riva

Book Overview

Color is interior design's hardest-working tool.It's the one element that can alter our mood, influence the way we see space, camouflage imperfections, give us an instant taste of drama or serenity. Paint is the easiest, most effective, and most inexpensive way of achieving those effects -- the quickest, most powerful way to transform any room. But sifting through hundreds or thousands of color chips in the paint store can be daunting. You can start with your favorite colors, or copy a scheme you saw at a neighbor's house, or play it safe and stay with the same color you already have, but that doesn't always guarantee decorating success. In Interior Style , the experts at Benjamin Moore share more than 100 years of know-how and advice on what does generate success. Chapter by chapter, color family by color family, Interior Style explains how anyone can master the art of using color. Rich photographs of interiors take the guesswork our of choosing a palette and pairing colors because each is matched to specific Benjamin Moore paints. Interior Style explores the properties of color; how it behaves in both natural and artificial light; how colors look next to one another -- within a room, from room to room, or in conjunction with furnishings; how to incorporate neutrals, whites and off-whites without becoming bland; how to use extreme, bold colors without being overpowered; how any other color palette can be used in your home. Plus, in a special how-to section Benjamin Moore's technical experts share their practical know-how.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060756020
• ISBN13: 9780060756024
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
• Length: 143 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 9.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Gives you actual paint colors to try

This book helped me pick the perfect blue for my living room after I had failed 4 times before. Its a gorgeous watery blue-green called "Woodlawn Blue". The pictures are lovely and EVERY picture tells you the paint colors that were used on the walls and trim (and ceiling if appropriate). All of the colors are Benjamin Moore (it's a Benjamin Moore book). Candice Olson, my favorite designer, uses Benjamin Moore paint in her designs. You just have to be careful because some of the pictures may not represent the paint exactly - there are always variations in the color due to lighting. Once you find one you like, get a sample and try it in your room. Home Depot has 8 oz samples for only $3 - cheaper than the BM ones which are only 2 ounces. What I do is get the chips from the BM store and have them matched for a sample at HD. The book also has a great section at the beginning where it lists color families and variations within each family and a list of colors that fall into each category. Its great if you know the general color you're looking for like "gray-brown" and you know you don't want certain undertones like "yellow-brown". It also helps you to coordinate colors through the different rooms of your home. I recommend this to anyone who has trouble picking paint colors or obsesses about paint color.