FOR many people, fall means new beginnings. That can inglide a new look tor your home. If vou're thinking about freshen ing vour digs with a lick of new paint, bur vou aren't sure what colours to choose — turn to nature. According to the Color Marketing Group, the international colour fore caster, natural hues continue te domi- nate —- building on colour schemes from past seasons and adding special metallic tinishes. “People are moving away from man- made colours to the vellows, blues, browns and ereens that remind them of the outdoors,” noted Kevin Skelly, a member of the Color Marketing Group and marketing services manager at PARA Paints. Yellow tones are stronger and richer, while blues are increasing in popularity because of their connection to water. Green remains a key colour duc to its strong environmental tie and brown is also gaining appeal, intended to be used in a comforting, rather than overpower- ing, way. “Any of these choices can be layered with metallic paints to create a shim- mering effect on walls or surfaces,” added Skelly, noting that faux finishing techniques to add depth, or a pearl- like look, are also in style. To help choose your new colours, PARA offered the following tips: B Ensure continuity. When one room in your home is visible from another, you can create a harmonious effect by repeating key colours. For example, you may start with a basic colour in the hall- way and then repeat it as an accent colour in adjacent rooms. B Don’t sweat it —- cover it, Too many doors, off-centre windows, ugly radia- tors? All of these architectural “flaws” can be made to disappear by painting them the same colour as your walls. @ Use colour to fix a problem room. If photo PARA P Paints A new coat of paint can change the way you fee! about a room in your home. This season, colour schemes have gone back to nature. the ceiling in your roont is too high, you can visually lower it by selecting a deep colour. Conversely, you can raise a low ceiling by painting it white or a much lighter colour than the walls. Or, if your room is small, try “enlarging” it by painting the walls and ceiling the same light colour from the cool family. Remember, cool colours like blues, Wue-greens and purples will make your room appear larger, while warm colours Sike yellows and browns will make it seem smaller. B Take time to test. Before getting started, invest in a small can of paint and use either a piece of bristol board — which can be held against a wall — ora section of the area to be painted, to test your colour. If you intend to use two coats, be sure to test with a double coat, Or, if you plan to incorporate more than one colour, draw a rough plan of your rooms and “colour” them in with paint to make sure vour choices are balanced. View the test area at different times of the day, making, sure to test in both daylight and artificial light. @ Be creative. Layering or intermixing 2 metallic paint with your choice of colours will add a shimmer er lustre to your rooms. You can also try one of the many faux finishing or special effects techniques to give texture to your walls, and add drama to your furniture. The end result may be a metallic, colour wash, crackle finish, marbled, rag rolled, sponged or stencilled look, among many others. B Rely on support when needed. Paint specialists at your local paint store are happy to help with both colour and product ideas. They are always up-to- date on current trends and tips, so take advantage of their knowledge and seck their advice whenever you need it. Friday, August 20, 1999 — North Shore News — 73 Consider patterns: relative to room size — From page 72 relates ta the size of the ream, You wouldn't want te use atiay pattern ina large room and conversely, a bold design probably would nor do well in small space. If vow're tired of an ordi nary coot overhead, consider papering the ceiling of a room to make it more inti: mate, or visually raise a space by choosing a striped pattern on the wally to emphasize a vertical tecling. Tools you'll need: A wallpaper tray is used for wetting prepasted strips. Smoothing brushes come in varying nap lengths: short for vinvt paper, long for fragile wallcoverings. The trimming tool holds the wallpaper while trim- ming. Either a paste brush or pairt roller is used for ap atte wihesives. A «cits > or razor knife is used for trimming paper. A seam roller presses down seams Where strips meet. A wallpaper table provides a flat surtace. The bubble stick or level is used to check plumb lines How much do you need? Measure the height of cach wall from the baseboard to the ceiling line and then measure the perimeter of the room. Multiply these nwo num- bers to get the area in square tect. Next, divide this figure by BO square feet, which is the area a doubic roll —- regard- less of width — will cover. This inchudes an Mlowance for trimming and waste, but depeading on the repeat, waste will vary, Large patterns usually will have more waste. Give yourself’ a comfort level and buy an extra roll. Colours can vary slightly trom one roll to another, so match Jot numbers on cach roli to be sure the paper came from the same press run. Write down the dye-lor number for future reference because if you need more rolls, it’s important to order trom the same dye lotto avoid slight: colour differ- ences. What's underneath: Most wallpaper can be stripped fairly easily by using a chemical stripping product and simple tools. Strippable wallpapers can be pulled away trom the wall by hand, Ie..ing litde or no film residue Peelable wallpapers can be removed, but may leave 2 thin paper layer on the wall, which can usually be removed with soap and hot water. Check the back of the sample or the wallpaper pack- age for its stripability rating. Make sure to choose a steippable product so future redecorating is easier. We're building Larchwood so you can see before you buy. Of course the sooner you buy, the greater the choice. And the opportunity to customize at the Intracorp Design Studio. Which is why we suggest you make your move today. INTRACORP PLACES TO CAtLi HOME www.intracorp.ca Three-level townhomes from $438,900 incl. gst. Show home open 12 noon to 5 pm daily (except Friday). 5490 Larch Street, Vancouver. (604) 261- 1473.