Episode 293
Things You Need to Know When Decorating with Bold Colors!
On Today's Episode
Laundry Bag Hacks [00:00 - 06:14]
You've heard of mesh laundry bags, I'm sure. And maybe you've had good luck using them for their intended purpose: laundry. But there are a lot of other creative uses for these cool, mesh bags! Here are just a few:
BABY STUFF
New baby in the house? It can be really tough to take care and keep track of all their gear once you've tossed it into the washer. If you've struggled with that, give this a try: toss socks, bibs, hats, nursing pads, and any of their other tiny accoutrements into these zippered washer bags and keep track of them while you wash them!
MORE BABY STUFF
Sticking with the baby theme . . . bottle parts, pacifiers, and other things like this are usually dishwasher-friendly. However, they're tiny and can easily fall through the gaps in the racks. Toss those pieces and parts (after confirming that they're dishwasher-safe) into mesh laundry bags and run them through the dishwasher that way.
BEACH TOYS
Beach toys are a mess! The sand gets everywhere. So, toss them in one of the big, drawstring mesh laundry bags and carry them around that way. When the kids are done playing with them at the beach, pack them into the mesh bag, and before you toss it in the car, walk it out into the lake and rinse everything off in the bag!
BATH TOYS
Bath toys can end up filling the whole tub . . . Instead, get one of the big, drawstring mesh bags hang it from the shower head. Use that for toy storage! Even though they're stored wet, they'll easily dry through the mesh.
BIG PUZZLES or TOYS with PIECES
Big, wood-block puzzles are fun, but it's not long before all the pieces are shuffled everywhere. Store those puzzles in separate zippered bags and keep everything together. Or, what about Mr. Potato Head toys or other things like that? Want Mr. Potato Head's eyes and mouths and his little tie and feet to all be available for the next day? Store him and all his parts in a laundry bag.
There are tons of other mesh laundry bag hacks! If you have a few that you use on a regular basis, let us know! You can email us at radio@repcolite.com.
The Humidifier [06:15 - 18:58]
Dan bought a new guitar and quickly realized that in order to maintain it throughout the winter months, he was going to need a humidifier. After doing some digging, he purchased the humidifer in the links below as well as an accompanying hygrometer.
Together, the system is working brilliantly: He can set the desired humidity and that's it. The humidifier and hygrometer work together to maintain the room at exactly that relative humidity. The unit is quiet, easy to fill and clean, and because the humidifier turns itself on and off as necessary, he finds he doesn't need to fill it as often as other humidifier that simply run all day until their empty or manually turned off.
Bold Colors Without the Blues [18:59 - 39:21]
The 2023 Color Trends from Benjamin Moore are bold! Many of the colors in that palette are saturated and powerful. With rich color being on trend for the year, it's important to understand some key concepts regarding how to work with bold tones. After all, we don't want you to do all that work to paint a room only to have to wear sunglasses whenever you're in the space!
THE IMPORTANCE OF SCALE
It's easy to forget or fail to realize, but just because a bold color looks great on a small photograph, or in a piece of art, that doesn't mean it will look great in your room when it's painted on every wall.
Colors look and FEEL differently when we're immersed in them versus just looking at them in a contained area like a picture frame or on the pages of a magazine.
This is true even for photographs of rooms that demonstrate the color you think will look amazing in your space. You're still only looking at a single, small-scale representation of that color. You're not seeing it in your periphery as you stand in a space. It's one thing to look at a yellow picture held out in front of you. It's something else entirely to stand in a yellow room where the color streams at you from every angle. The yellow in your room--even if it's the same yellow as what's on the photograph--will feel significantly more powerful because there's so much more of it!
So remember that scale matters when choosing bold colors and consider opting for a more muted version of the color you think you want. A great place to start is with Benjamin Moore's Williamsburg Collection. There are a lot of rich tones here, but they're made to scale well!
GET INPUT FROM EXPERTS
At all the RepcoLite stores in West Michigan and in the Metro Detroit area (formerly Teknicolor Paints), you'll find experts who work with paint colors all day long. We've helped people find the right color for their home--and have steered others away from the WRONG colors--for years.
We can give you some solid input regarding your color choices and work with you to make sure you get something you will love! Don't overlook the benefits of that free assistance!
SAMPLE, SAMPLE, SAMPLE
Benjamin Moore Color Samples are 1/2 pint samples mixed up to any color you need! They run around $5 and they're a great way to actually get the paint you'll be using and put it on the wall so you can make sure this is the right color for you.
Samples are great to do with any color change, but with bold, rich colors, we strongly recommend painting not just a small 2' x 2' square, but rather as much space as you can! You want to get a good look at that color before you commit!
