Before choosing your colour scheme there are several considerations to be taken in account. If you are fortunate enough to be decorating a large, well lit room, with a southerly aspect, you will be free to experiment with almost any colour scheme you may have in mind. On the other hand, if the room is on the small side the use of warm colours will make it look smaller still. The effect can be quite cosy, but also claustrophobic. Aim at increasing the sense of space as much as possible. This involves using dull, cool colours on most of the larger surfaces like walls, ceilings and floors. The sense of space can be further increased if you incorporate the colours used in the small room into a larger, neighbouring room.
This will prevent the small room from seeming to be cut off from the rest of your home. The pattern of the curtains in the small room might well be used for the wallpaper in the next room. If you paint one wall in a darker colour than the others, it will have the effect of opening up the room. Don’t choose a colour that contrasts too strongly with the others. The effect may be to diminish the room size. A room may be dark either because the window is small or because it faces north.
The use of dark colours over large areas of such a room will tend to accentuate the darkness. If the room is used mostly in the evening, find out if the colours you choose will look very different in the shop compared to your home. Shop lighting is deliberately chosen for display purposes, and is usually much brighter than domestic illumination. It is best to concentrate on light colours, as these will brighten the room considerably. If your room is quite high, paint the ceiling in a dark shade. This will have the effect of lowering the ceiling. Don’t use this method if your room is of an average height, as the result will be to ‘lower’ the room to an uncomfortable extent.