Making Neutrals Work

Ok, so you have heard on television that neutrals are the way to go when painting a room, especially if you are planning on selling sometime in the near future. So you went and bought some beige and went to work "neutralizing" your home. Did you run across a feeling of boredom? Did you feel you toned your home down to the point it could be used for a sleep center? Well what a lot of shows on television fail to mention is that neutrals work but to get them to "pop" requires, bold compliments in trim and accents.

So what is considered bold? Well, believe it or not something as drab as white is a sharp crisp contrast. Can white do it alone? Probably not. White is a good starting point to highlight the neutral, but now its gets interesting..accents. Accents are all decorative items either on the wall, floor or somewhere in between. What works well with white and beige? Better yet, what looks great and pulled together with those two rather subtle colors? Hows this for bold, dark browns, or even this, black! Yes, you read it right. Try dark browns and black accents. Now be sure not to over power the room with too much of a good thing. Balance of color is a key factor to remember. Accents should never be more than an accent.

Now, for the next shocker, I have been following the trends and I usually say never go with any trends, they will date your home. However, in painting walls, it is perfectly safe to do so since paint is an easy fix. The hot trend I see surfacing these days are, soft grays. Yep. Grays are the new beige in neutral paint colors and they also look good paired with crisp white and dark finishes. Not to mention the fact they go well with pewter, brushed nickle, and stainless steel. I am seeing this soft neutral showing up in bathrooms, kitchens, and bedrooms more than ever. It just goes to show, when it comes to making neutrals work, its more about what you accent them with, than it is about the actual shade of neutral you use.