Blue is one of the most popular favorite colors in the world. However, it often translates as masculine or like a baby boy’s nursery when used in home decor. Blue can appeal to both genders and you can even use it in a kitchen. Blue color schemes for a living room or any other space in the house can have mass appeal and you can even make the color look sophisticated.

Since blue is such a soothing color some may only use it in relaxing places like a bedroom or master bathroom. Blue can also be vibrant enough for an office of kitchen if you make it bold. Turquoise paint can really make a statement in the room; just make sure that it doesn’t become overwhelming. Paint the ceiling and any shutters in the space a bright white. Give it that Caribbean feel with rich dark wood furniture and floors. Then you just have to add an island touch with oversized faux palm trees and wicker furniture. For a brighter color you’ll need to use a lot of neutrals and bring in as much lighting as possible for balance.

When going with a deep color like teal walls or using navy paint you’ll need to consider balance. You’ll also need to prime properly before hand and plan on using several coats of paint to get a rich finish. Almost everything else in the room should be a neutral color so that the walls are the focal point without being overwhelming. This includes the window treatments, floors and furniture. Then you can bring in a few blue accent pieces like a throw pillow or some glass vases.

A slate living room can have a modern effect but you don’t want it to become dated too quickly. You may only replace your furniture once a decade so consider more neutral fabric choices like white, black or brown. Then you can paint the walls blue to pull out colors from the fireplace stone. You can also break up your living room set if you are short on space and substitute with a daring slate blue armchair that you can inexpensively replace later on.

Blue bedroom furniture is an unusual way to bring new life to old pieces. This look can be sophisticated or country. Paint a dresser with a distressed slate blue finish. The tone should have a lot of gray in it so the paint isn’t too bright. This is also a way to bring color into an apartment if you can’t paint the walls. Then you can just sand down the finish so it looks like an antique and change out more contemporary knobs for vintage glass pieces.

Blue color schemes can create a soothing or daring space in your home depending on how you want to feel in your space. You can use blue in traditional, contemporary or modern design. You might want to stick with blue on things like walls and wood furniture pieces because it’s easy to change out. The next people that own your home may be disappointed with blue bathroom tile. That doesn’t mean that you can’t bring in blue in a very livable way that you can easily change out when you want to move onto something else.

By: Sara Gilmore

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To learn much more about different blue color schemes visit Interior Decorating Colors. You’ll find this and much more, including the best color for living rooms to use.

Amongst the paint finishes used to create an antique or weathered look, the Tuscan finish is extremely popular. It is typically achieved using faux painting techniques, especially color washing, to create the illusion of texture and age. The look can also be recreated by introducing actual texture, with Venetian plastering, for example. Faux finishes that create the appearance of texture on a flat surface are a practical and economical choice for decorators seeking the atmosphere of Italy. As well as texture, the right color palette is also of paramount importance in the Tuscan look.

The Tuscan Look

The weathered or distressed Tuscan look is cozy, rustic and evocative. It summons up a balmy Mediterranean climate and rural or peasant homes, redolent with the patina of age, with a worn, lived-in feel. The homes that inspired the Tuscan look have an organic quality, and would have been plastered and painted using subtly colored, natural materials, many locally available.

Decorative details are typically stenciled onto walls as borders and have a home-grown, folk-art quality. Tiles and mosaics in complementary colors are also used. The versatile Tuscan paint finish is well-suited to informal living areas, dining rooms, kitchens and patios but can also be effective in more formal rooms.

Tuscan Colors

Traditional Tuscan d?cor relied on local materials and homemakers did not have the chemical-based and highly engineered paints and plasters available today. The look is therefore organic and earthy, with muted tones. The pigments that have been used throughout history for paints are colloquially known as ochre. They are typically metal oxides (principally iron, but also other metals such as manganese).

Iron oxide (iron ore) comes in many shades of red. The warm colors may range from bright red to a deep maroon or rusty red-brown. Allied hues are rich oranges, shades of terracotta, golden yellows and even varieties of pink or peach. These pigments are not only the basic color ingredients of paint, but can also be used to tint plaster.

Though these colors are the core of the Tuscan palette, other colors are also incorporated into the range. Muted blues and greens (shades of olive and sage) are also effective in recreating Tuscan finishes. The Tuscan look goes well with terracotta tiled floors.

Choosing Your Tuscan Palette

The natural colors in the Tuscan palette mix and match well, though there are further considerations. You can choose paints of different color intensity. Warmer colors may be required for a cold room and conversely, cooler colors for a bright, sunny space. Color washing requires a minimum of two colors, but further colors can be added to produce a more textured and varied effect.

Depending on how you apply the paint and the nature and range of the colors used, you can achieve a cloudy, airy finish or a denser, moodier feel. To complete the Tuscan paint finish, consider stenciled borders in similar muted tones. Foliage such as acanthus leaves or vines and grapes are motifs in keeping with the Tuscan theme. Faux mosaics and tiles in suitable colors provide another finishing touch.

By: Debra T Conrad

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Ready for more Tuscany in your home? Visit ThatPainterLady.com for more ideas and extra tips for faux painting finishes in golden yellow tuscan too.