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" If you ever spent more time agonizing over the difference between &amp;quot;Sunshine Yellow&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;Daylight Yellow&amp;quot; than you have with your family in a given week, we feel your pain. Choosing a color isn&amp;#039;t a decision to take lightly, as it sets a room&amp;#039;s mood and impacts how your\u00A0furniture looks. Don&amp;#039;t do these, say the pros: Mistake #1: Painting a ceiling flat white. The biggest wall in a room is the one most of us don&amp;#039;t even think about. &amp;quot;I never paint a ceiling dead white because all white paint has a bit of gray in it, and it takes the room down,&amp;quot; designer\u00A0Athalie Derse says. Her suggestion: Choose a\u00A0cream shade instead.\u00A0(And we suggest hiring a pro for this job.) Mistake #2: Going too matchy-matchy. It&amp;#039;s tempting to keep things easy and just\u00A0bring\u00A0a fabric swatch to the paint counter.\u00A0Not so fast.\u00A0&amp;quot;You never want to match your walls to a color in one of your fabrics,&amp;quot; designer Sallie Giordano says.\u00A0&amp;quot;It will be too strong. Find a grayed-out version of the color.&amp;quot;\u00A0 Mistake #3: Leaving out\u00A0&amp;quot;palate cleansing&amp;quot; elements.\u00A0 Once you fall in love with a color, it&amp;#039;s easy to go overboard.\u00A0&amp;quot;The biggest mistake people make when they&amp;#039;re trying to be colorful and exciting is to forget that you need to balance it with neutrals,&amp;quot; says designer\u00A0Todd Klein. Architectural elements in white or simply a few gray throws can\u00A0give your eye a place to rest. Mistake #4: Playing it too &amp;quot;safe.&amp;quot;\u00A0 Conversely, if you go with a\u00A0palette of neutrals, don&amp;#039;t forget to add a few stronger colors.\u00A0&amp;quot;One of the biggest mistakes people make with neutrals is not using enough contrast,&amp;quot; designer\u00A0Betsy Brown says.\u00A0&amp;quot;You have to interject elements that add intense personality. Make it gutsy, or else it&amp;#039;s boring.&amp;quot;\u00A0 Mistake #5: Using wildly different color schemes from room to room. You know it when you see it: The neutral\u00A0living room says &amp;quot;relaxed, coastal chic,&amp;quot; then the vivid\u00A0bathroom goes &amp;quot;1920&amp;#039;s decadence.&amp;quot;\u00A0\u00A0&amp;quot;Even when I don&amp;#039;t use the same colors everywhere, I still like the rooms to feel connected,&amp;quot;\u00A0Mona Ross Berman says. &amp;quot;The bedroom should never feel like it&amp;#039;s in a completely different house from the living room \u2013 the whole house has to make sense as one.&amp;quot;\u00A0 Mistake #6: And using the same color palette everywhere, too.\u00A0 Faithfully sticking to your favorite hues in every room can create an &amp;quot;uptight&amp;quot; vibe. \u00A0&amp;quot;You need to know when to pull back,&amp;quot; says Tom Scheerer.\u00A0&amp;quot;A two-color scheme can be great, but there has to be some relief, or it comes across as too pat and makes everything seem stiff.&amp;quot;\u00A0 Mistake #7: Forgetting the impact finish makes. For instance, an eggshell finish can take the intensity out of a rich hue\u00A0\u2014 for better or worse.\u00A0&amp;quot;Darker colors in general can read very flat, so use a high-luster finish,&amp;quot; designer\u00A0Meg Braff says. If you decide to go this route, do\u00A0your homework first.\u00A0&amp;quot;Good prep is key to any high-luster paint finish, so skim-coating the walls really helps.\u00A0You can get a deep, rich gloss without going to the expense of lacquering.&amp;quot;\u00A0 Mistake #8: Selecting a one-dimensional hue. This is another pitfall that often comes up with more dramatic choices.\u00A0&amp;quot;Colors that have no depth are oddly fluorescent,&amp;quot; Suzanne Kasler says.\u00A0&amp;quot;They will leap out at you, rather than pull you in. It&amp;#039;s a subtle difference, but failure to recognize it is what sometimes makes people afraid of using color.&amp;quot; So that might be why &amp;quot;Creamsicle&amp;quot; ended up looking &amp;quot;Construction Cone Orange&amp;quot; on the wall. Mistake #9: Pressuring yourself to find \u2014 and stick with \u2014 a forever color. With all the hassle of painting, it&amp;#039;s understandable to keep falling back to the\u00A0same look you&amp;#039;ve always had in your homes. But like personal style, our rooms can change over time.\u00A0&amp;quot;You have to trust yourself, but you don&amp;#039;t have to commit to color all at once \u2014 you can play with it as the rooms evolve,&amp;quot; says Ashley Whittaker.\u00A0 "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.housebeautiful.com/room-decorating/colors/advice/a1310/color-home-decorating-mistakes/>