Mi-Ling Stone Poole –

Dear Mi-Ling: I’ve been living in my ranch style home for 20 years.

My problem is that I just can’t seem to get my home together. I have a problem deciding how to paint my great room -not sure where the different paint should start and end.

How do you go about picking colors that look really good together?  My style is sort of eclectic and somewhat earthy traditional.

HELP!

Ann B.

Dear Annie: Take a few deep breaths. You don’t have to recreate the entire space in a day. Take a room at a time.

Here are few tips to get your started.

1. Find an inspiration piece that will incorporate all of the colors for your design. A painting, a swatch of fabric or your favorite dress -once you have the colors, go to your local paint store and select one of the more neutral.
2. After you’ve selected your paint color pull some of the other colors from the inspiration piece to use as accent colors for your rug, drapes and other fabrics.
3. To define the space within your great room you can add crown modeling or just paint the entire space one color and accent with different colors in the adjoining rooms.
4. This should get you started with your design. Good luck with your eclectic, earthy-traditional décor.

Where do you find inspiration for your color scheme?