Room Color IdeasAn appreciation of color is a matter of training seeing beyond the obvious combinations and appreciating the effect one color may have on another. It is a curious fact that almost all hotels are furnished in red. The reason is that hotels are generally furnished by men, and men prefer red to the gentler, subtler colors; they do not grasp the effect one color may have on another. Yet there is a reason for using strong color in the right place. Suggest a piece of gray and mulberry linen for curtains. Immediately the combination is criticized for being somber, dull, dead. But in conjunction with this use bright lemon yellow in small areas, and at once the depth of the color is brought out of the mulberry and the gray takes its place as the background color, a foil to the others. In the same way a dull combination of blue and brown will be redeemed by the use of bright spots of clear fresh green. Brilliant colors are used in a room exactly as a painter puts the finishing touches of high lights in a picture. They have a magical touch, but, like all magical things, must be used with the utmost care and restraint. Fortunately, a greater appreciation of the value of strong color is evident every year. Next Page: Room Color Treatment. | 