Are you tired of feeling bored by your wall colors? Did you have the perfect color, but now your room feels dated? Or, maybe you just need a change, but you keep thinking to yourself that you don't know how you'd pick the right color scheme. If so, it's time to think about how you'll find your inspiration. By following just a few simple steps, you can rejuvenate your sense of style and choose the perfect wall color.
Six (6) Steps to Find Your Inspiration and Choose the Perfect Wall Color:
1) Start small - You don't have to repaint the entire house in one day, or even one week's time. Starting small will keep you from getting overwhelmed. Start by choosing one room that you would like to change first.
2) One of the best ways to inspire new decorating ideas is to look at pictures. Buy a few magazines. You don't have to feel restricted to home and garden magazines; think about architectural magazines and books, too. Consider anything that has a variety of pictures.
3) Use your gut reaction when you flip through pages, and mark the pages that have color schemes that appeal to you. When you finish, go back through the pages you marked and decide which color schemes still appeal to you. Sure, you'll change your mind a few times, but that's the beauty of brainstorming. Inevitably, you'll narrow your selection in the process.
4) Once you've found a suitable selection of colors that interest you, take your pictures to the local paint store and choose a sampling of color swatches. You'll notice, you're not actually buying anything at this point. It might be exciting to think you're ready, but hold off on those emotions. You don't want to paint the walls just yet. Color schemes can really be surprising. When you see colors in different textures and light, the effect can change. So, collect all the sample swatches you want, and then take them back to the room you're planning to paint.
5) After you return to your room, compare the color swatches and narrow your selection further. Make sure you look at all of the colors in both daylight and artificial light. Remember, lighting and texture can have a dramatic effect on the appearance of color.
6) Once you've seen the colors in the room, you still may be torn between two or three options. Or, you may just feel like you'd like to try a couple of colors on the wall before you make your final decision and paint the entire room. If so, purchase small quarts of paint. Paint a section of one wall, using each of your colors. Seeing the actual colors side by side, combined with your lighting and wall textures, will help you to finalize your decision.
Now that you've used your newfound inspiration to find the perfect wall color, you're ready to prime, paint, and leave your boring walls behind.
About the Author:
Amy L. Milligan founded bluedango based upon the principle that our surroundings greatly impact us and reflect to others who we are. With an educational background in the behavioral sciences and environmental design, she combined her academic experience with 11 years of experience in consulting and executive management to create bluedango.com as an extension of that principle. The company offers home decor accessories designed by international artisans and produced according to fair trade standards.
See Amy's top picks for choosing the right color scheme. Bluedango's bookstore has more interior decorating ideas.
Friday
Sunday
A Jack Of All Trades
I admit that I use to be a Jack of All Trades and a Master of None, until I had a private moment to reflect on my life. I discovered the only thing that I can say I am unusually talented in and went to school for most of my life, was writing. Everything from business letters to poems, I enjoy writing. It is my escape.
Over the years I have learned that to possess a single talent like writing and to only use it on special occassions, such as taking out your best dishware for holidays, is detrimental to your spirit. A person needs to exercise his or her talent or they will gradually lose it. What's even more deadly to the talent you possess is to distract yourself in other trades; therefore, becoming the Jack of All Trades and the Master of None.
Many different talents are a blessing and a curse. People notice you can do multiple tasks so they assume you want to be a part of everything they throw your way. "Hey come with me to this meeting, you would be great for this business." They think about how they can use your talents to make them money and further their own visions. Meanwhile, your talents are left sitting on a shelf collecting dust. I am guilty of this, spending too many years helping others achieve their goals to the best of my abilities and procrastinating on my own.
So what is the one talent that you truly possess? What do you feel you have mastered (and we are not talking about degrees)? Now is the time to fall back in love with it. I challenge you to eat, drink and sleep on it. Tell me about it.
by Nicholl McGuire
Over the years I have learned that to possess a single talent like writing and to only use it on special occassions, such as taking out your best dishware for holidays, is detrimental to your spirit. A person needs to exercise his or her talent or they will gradually lose it. What's even more deadly to the talent you possess is to distract yourself in other trades; therefore, becoming the Jack of All Trades and the Master of None.
Many different talents are a blessing and a curse. People notice you can do multiple tasks so they assume you want to be a part of everything they throw your way. "Hey come with me to this meeting, you would be great for this business." They think about how they can use your talents to make them money and further their own visions. Meanwhile, your talents are left sitting on a shelf collecting dust. I am guilty of this, spending too many years helping others achieve their goals to the best of my abilities and procrastinating on my own.
So what is the one talent that you truly possess? What do you feel you have mastered (and we are not talking about degrees)? Now is the time to fall back in love with it. I challenge you to eat, drink and sleep on it. Tell me about it.
by Nicholl McGuire
Saturday
ADD - Got The Day-to-Day Boredom Blues?
ADD people are bored very easily, as you well know if you have ADD. People call us lazy, but it's not that. We'll put tremendous effort into things that matter to us, and that we enjoy. But how exciting is washing dishes or cleaning up a mess of stuff? Not very and it just doesn't happen. We learn to live with our messes.
Am I right? The dishes could be overflowing the sink, and the dust in the house might be forming little clumps that are starting to resemble small animals. They're scaring your cat. Oh, and then, there's the floor, littered with all matter of elements--rock, paper, hedge clippers, whatever. It's just a mess! And you look at that stuff, and say to yourself, "I'll get to that later," and you never do. Your ADD never allows it.
Nobody has to live that way, of course. And you can't allow it to go on indefinitely or the health department will come by and tack a "condemned" sign on your door. The stuff has to be done, no matter how much your ADD brain doesn't want to do it. But there's a way to do it painlessly. And it's so simple that you'll laugh when you read it, but it works. Really.
Here's what you can do...
Maybe you're going to pick up that stuff on the floor and actually put the hedge clippers in the garage. You really didn't need them to open that wireless mouse package, but they make it so hard! Well, OK... Get out your iPod or your CD player or turn on the Sirius, whatever, and then, crank it up. Really hear it. Then, get your nose involved. Light some incense or a scented candle that you like. And now, your sense of taste. Try some sugarless gum or hard candy while you're cleaning up. Your eyes and hands are already involved, so that will have all your senses involved and your ADD brain is less likely to balk.
You can get some added benefit by wearing something you like. What do you enjoy doing when you aren't working? Whatever that is, if it's playing football, put on the gear while you're straightening up around the house. You'll be amazed at how well this stuff works.
And you're set. You'll be dancing around, smelling good smells instead of last week's laundry, wearing something that makes you feel good, and just generally getting things done. ADD brains do get bored pretty easily, so it's important to keep it occupied. If you get really good at this, you might start to enjoy the chores you hate to do. You never know... ADD brains just need to be involved all the time. Give every sense something to do and your place will be clean and orderly. Or, if this doesn't work... hire someone to do these things for you, if you can afford it. One way or another, the stuff has to be done. Make it as easy for yourself as possible.
Tellman Knudson is a certified hypnotherapist and NLP practitioner. Subscribe to his Free weekly ADD Success Tips newsletter and take the ADD test when you visit Instant ADD Success at http://www.instantaddsuccess.com/
Am I right? The dishes could be overflowing the sink, and the dust in the house might be forming little clumps that are starting to resemble small animals. They're scaring your cat. Oh, and then, there's the floor, littered with all matter of elements--rock, paper, hedge clippers, whatever. It's just a mess! And you look at that stuff, and say to yourself, "I'll get to that later," and you never do. Your ADD never allows it.
Nobody has to live that way, of course. And you can't allow it to go on indefinitely or the health department will come by and tack a "condemned" sign on your door. The stuff has to be done, no matter how much your ADD brain doesn't want to do it. But there's a way to do it painlessly. And it's so simple that you'll laugh when you read it, but it works. Really.
Here's what you can do...
Maybe you're going to pick up that stuff on the floor and actually put the hedge clippers in the garage. You really didn't need them to open that wireless mouse package, but they make it so hard! Well, OK... Get out your iPod or your CD player or turn on the Sirius, whatever, and then, crank it up. Really hear it. Then, get your nose involved. Light some incense or a scented candle that you like. And now, your sense of taste. Try some sugarless gum or hard candy while you're cleaning up. Your eyes and hands are already involved, so that will have all your senses involved and your ADD brain is less likely to balk.
You can get some added benefit by wearing something you like. What do you enjoy doing when you aren't working? Whatever that is, if it's playing football, put on the gear while you're straightening up around the house. You'll be amazed at how well this stuff works.
And you're set. You'll be dancing around, smelling good smells instead of last week's laundry, wearing something that makes you feel good, and just generally getting things done. ADD brains do get bored pretty easily, so it's important to keep it occupied. If you get really good at this, you might start to enjoy the chores you hate to do. You never know... ADD brains just need to be involved all the time. Give every sense something to do and your place will be clean and orderly. Or, if this doesn't work... hire someone to do these things for you, if you can afford it. One way or another, the stuff has to be done. Make it as easy for yourself as possible.
Tellman Knudson is a certified hypnotherapist and NLP practitioner. Subscribe to his Free weekly ADD Success Tips newsletter and take the ADD test when you visit Instant ADD Success at http://www.instantaddsuccess.com/
Thursday
Top Speaker Says You Aren't Bored: You're Just Not Challenged!
There is that famous quip that says knowing you’ll be hanged in the morning has a way of clarifying your mind.
Suddenly, you’re challenged to make the best use of the time you have left. You might reminisce, or appreciate the quality of light in your cell, or whatever it is that doomed people celebrate.
Or, you may find new meaning in the term, “gallows humor,” making yourself giddy with irony in your final hours.
But you probably won’t be BORED if only because you have to squeeze years of life into minutes, and that would challenge the most imaginative of us.
Let’s back away from doomsday for a moment to consider something all of us suffer from to some extent: boredom. I maintain that we can only be bored when we’re not being challenged or we’re not challenging ourselves.
I’ve written before about Jim, my former boss at the car leasing company. He asked me how I would increase sales across the entire staff, and I believe I said something completely logical and wrong, like “Give them higher commissions!”
He believed the best way to bring out the abilities of a salesperson is to put him “into debt.” When you raise someone’s minimum payments each month, you challenge them to step up to meet or to exceed those demands.
And most salespeople, Jim said, will do just that: They’ll sell more.
You can try this for yourself, or take on a financially safer task. But whatever you do, the next time you feel bored, pile on the responsibilities, and that state of mind will be the least of your concerns!
Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the best-selling author of 12 books, over 750 articles, and the creator of numerous audio and video training programs, including "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant-a favorite among salespeople and entrepreneurs. For information about booking Gary to speak at your next sales, customer service or management meeting, conference or convention, please address your inquiry to: gary@customersatisfaction.com
Suddenly, you’re challenged to make the best use of the time you have left. You might reminisce, or appreciate the quality of light in your cell, or whatever it is that doomed people celebrate.
Or, you may find new meaning in the term, “gallows humor,” making yourself giddy with irony in your final hours.
But you probably won’t be BORED if only because you have to squeeze years of life into minutes, and that would challenge the most imaginative of us.
Let’s back away from doomsday for a moment to consider something all of us suffer from to some extent: boredom. I maintain that we can only be bored when we’re not being challenged or we’re not challenging ourselves.
I’ve written before about Jim, my former boss at the car leasing company. He asked me how I would increase sales across the entire staff, and I believe I said something completely logical and wrong, like “Give them higher commissions!”
He believed the best way to bring out the abilities of a salesperson is to put him “into debt.” When you raise someone’s minimum payments each month, you challenge them to step up to meet or to exceed those demands.
And most salespeople, Jim said, will do just that: They’ll sell more.
You can try this for yourself, or take on a financially safer task. But whatever you do, the next time you feel bored, pile on the responsibilities, and that state of mind will be the least of your concerns!
Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the best-selling author of 12 books, over 750 articles, and the creator of numerous audio and video training programs, including "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant-a favorite among salespeople and entrepreneurs. For information about booking Gary to speak at your next sales, customer service or management meeting, conference or convention, please address your inquiry to: gary@customersatisfaction.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Could your body use a workout?
Why not try a new recipe using a new gadget?
If you must watch the game, why not go to it!
Buy a playstation or some other gaming system!