Of course, samples of tile, stone, wood, and paint that seem to blend perfectly when spread out on a showroom table inevitably look different at home in varying natural and artificial lighting. "It's a jigsaw puzzle," Smith says. "What makes it work are the good lighting, the good paint, and all of those elements and colors blended together."
More than the size or shape of a room, the amount of natural light and the kind of artificial light used can impact color choices. For example, a kitchen in soft blues and greens may look great in morning light, but the colors can turn dull under incandescent light. "Daylight enhances lively colors, but the absence of daylight, in my opinion, calls for warmer, softer color schemes," says Kennedy, who often recommends color-corrected fluorescent lighting. "There are blues that can go very cool and look great with white, or there are blues that can be a wonderful complement to warm, rustic pine. The most successful rooms do have that balance, that blending of the warm and the cool."
Consulting with a designer can help you customize a room's palette, open up new resources, and solve potential problems. For example, as your eyes age, colors don't seem as bright. A pro's eye can keep your changing vision from compromising your design vision. Or, if you have a flow-through kitchen -- one open to a family room or great-room -- you may need help coordinating the colors inside the kitchen with those beyond to avoid jarring or stopping the eye.
"Trendy colors can be risky," says Kristin Okeley, certified kitchen designer (CKD) and member of the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA). "So it's important to combine those trendy colors with other more timeless colors to help create a balance between what the client may want now and how the space can be manipulated later to stay up-to-date."
Tip: Mix vivid and neutral carefully.
If you go bright with the cabinets, keep the surrounding walls white, or vice versa.
