The Color Wheel

Color is the most important part of interior decorating.

Everything we see has color and we need to be able to select color to enhance the space we want to decorate.

That entails choosing multiple colors, and can become overwhelming.

That is why we have broken down the colors to show their meanings, we profile

Color and Nature

Red

Orange

Sanding a hardwood floor

Sanding a hardwood floor can be done in home. Create your own beautiful, natural effect with a polished hardwood floor.

Is that old carpet getting you down? Is it faded, stain embedded or just plain old fashioned? Well, how about pulling it up? You may just find that beneath it you have the makings of a first rate polished hardwood floor. Such a surface can add a real sense of charm to your home – but only if it’s done right. Here’s how:

(1) After carefully removing the carpet, sweep up all of the remaining dirt and other debris from the floor. Set all protruding nails into the floor so they are flush.

(2) Hire a sanding machine, ideally a disk type one. Fit it with coarse sandpaper and do an initial sweep of the floor to remove the roughness.

(3) Repeat sanding with the coarse paper and then do a third sanding with fine sand paper. Obviously the more sanding done with a fine sand paper, the better the final finish will be.

(4) After about the third pass, buff the floor with steel wool using a steel wool buffing machine.

(5) Use an edger to get at corners and edges after each pass by with the sanding machine. If you don’t have an edge sander, you will have to sand these areas by hand.

(6) Give the floor a careful check to ensure that all blemishes, nicks and scratches have been removed.

(7) Make sure that the floor is perfectly clean. You are now ready to apply your stain. Choose an oil based pigment stain and apply it with a brush. Use a painter’s tack rag to pick up any debris you spot in your path. Make sure that you are applying the stain only to bare, clean wood. Try to do the job with an indoor temperature of around 70 degrees.

(8) After the first coat has thoroughly dried, buff the floor with steel wool and then apply your final coat.

Apart from using a stain you may, of course, choose to apply either a varnish, a polyurethane or a penetrating sealer to your floor. If varnishing proceed as above but apply a coating of floor wax on the finished product. Finish off with a machine buffer. If using polyurethane make sure you work along the grain of the wood. Buff with steel wool between coats. To apply a penetrating sealer use a mop. Wipe up any excess with a cloth. Buff with No.2 Steel Wool after the first application and then apply a second coating.

Take your time with this project. Be especially careful not to allow any dust or dirt to contaminate the finishing process. And for the best results don’t leave it too long between the sanding and finishing stages of the job. This will prevent changes in moisture conditions from affecting the grain.

The Color Orange

The Color Orange

Orange, the happy cheerful color. We often overlook using orange as we find it bright and bold and too brilliant to use in our homes.

But wait, where does peach and apricot come from? Yes, the color orange. They are a tint of orange. Now you can see that we do actually use orange a lot in our interiors.

It is a warm and happy color and useful for old people's homes and institutions as it is an anti depressant and decreases hostility and irritability as well as being cheerful and fun.

It is good for use in classrooms, or where large groups of people congregate as it improves social behavior.

Orange is a fantastic color to use as an accent. Throw around some bright orange cushions to brighten up a dull color scheme, add some orange flowers to a vase to enliven the room.

Use orange as a feature wall to create a focal point, add a purple vase on the table and you have a striking feature. Using color in small amounts is a good way to introduce strong hues into your home.

The Color Red

The Color Red

Red is the color of roses for valentines day, romance and lust, red is an exciting color, stimulating and exciting.

No wonder the extrovert that wears a red suit to a business meeting gets noticed, not only for their boldness in color choice, but the sense of power that it carries.

Red is brave and carries good luck, it is a very popular and important color in asian societies.
How do we use it in the home?

With caution if you want to use it in bulk, if not, scatter it everywhere! To make a room feel cosy you can use red for the walls, it will enclose the space, but it does make it more intimate.

Red can be broken up and diluted as such, as shown here by the addition of taupe and gold in the fabric pattern.

I wouldn't suggest red for a bedroom as it increases your respiratory rate, and what you usually want to do in your bedroom is lower your rate, relax and sleep. But you can use it as accents and that is where red really excels.

I have seen a few commercial schemes that have taken some design ideas from the 1960's, the rooms are pure white and have red leather sofas and red pendant light fittings, they look spectacular, red is the focus and it draws you in to sit down and then look up at the lights. Simple yet effective. You may not want to be so dramatic in your home, but red can be a great color for focal points or features.

A red wall around a fireplace immediately hints of cosy warmth, even if it is not lit. A red wall in the entry of your home suggests bold opulence. One area that red has probably not been thought of for is the dressing room, a private space in your home, red flatters the skin and you will look your best while you are putting on your makeup and getting dressed.