The Easy Way David Bromstad Adds Color To Any Room (Without Painting)

As a color expert, HGTV's David Bromstad knows a thing or two about adding color to any room. What's more, his skills are so slick in this regard that, while he's not opposed to using paint to up the hue quotient in a room, painting a room isn't actually the first thing he does when he wants to bring more color into a space. Choosing a rug is, or very nearly is, the first thing. "If you don't feel like painting," he says on his website, Bromstad.com, "Area rugs are a great way to add color to a room."

This is especially wise advice for someone who tends to have a phobia of all things colorful. The person who falls into this category might want to explore color, but they're not quite ready for fuchsia ceilings. In fact, they may not be sure about bright colors at all. For Bromstad, the way to prevent color-related design mistakes in this case, is to start with some accents, like artwork and area rugs, to perk up a space. And not to worry. Despite their sometimes small size, these color accents can have a big impact on a room. 

However, going this route brings another advantage with it. For the person who is the opposite of the color-phobe, an area rug is a way to try out a trendy color before buying, so to speak. If the tone doesn't suit the color lover's taste, it's less challenging to change the rug rather than having to repaint the walls. In fact, in all cases, buying new paint for the walls should be the last step in decorating, not the first.

An area rug is basically the fifth wall in the room. As such, you'll ideally go through a similar process for choosing a rug as you would a wall color. Ask yourself what effect you want the color to have. Are you looking for a cozy space? Then you might want to go with an area rug of a darker shade, like a deep navy blue. Or is your goal to open up a space? For that, you might be better served with something like a butter yellow.

Along the same lines, rugs can play a key role in rooms where you're planning a specific decorating theme. For example, the HGTV designer suggests using colors and props to convey a particular theme. An ocean-themed room comes alive when you pair a blue rug decorated with images of seashells or boat anchors with azure-hued pillows, and ocean-themed artwork.

Finally, area rugs can also be the key to tying the colors of a home together if the home owner has decided to feature a different color scheme in each room. David Bromstad assures color lovers that it's okay to spread the color love throughout the house. However, for color mixing to work in the space as a whole, there needs to be a common color that finds its way through every room. In one space, that color may very well be on the walls, but in other rooms, it could be the area rug that visually ties the room together with the other spaces around it.

While it's true that you don't need huge swathes of color to make a difference, you do want to be smart about the size of the rug. A rug should be large enough to ground the main elements of the room. For example, the rug should be large enough to comfortably accommodate the couch and chairs in the living room, or the bed and night tables in the bedroom. 

That said, you need to be mindful of how big that patch of color will be, and more importantly, you need to consider what impact it'll have on the character of the space. For example, if you decide you need an 8-foot by 10-foot rug to go under the bed, are you ready for it to be that gigantic red rug you fell in love with? Or would the space be better served with a cream-colored rug that features that same red, but as a border or as part of a floral pattern in the rug? The hue you choose for the rug should reflect the function of the room. While a bold red may be just right for a games room, it won't exactly be the thing that invites slumber in the bedroom, so be mindful about that as you shop for your floor covering.

Finally, HGTV's David Bromstad reminds home decorators to choose a rug with some texture as well as a great color. This layers the room visually, which creates more impact. This is especially true if you're working within a small space, so style your rugs wisely.