The best colors for fun looks vary by personal taste, but bright tones are best for livening up your furniture and living space. Remember that you don't have to stick with solid colors and simple textures--go beyond painting and truly make your furniture your own. You can decide on a theme for a room and decorate all of the furniture accordingly, or simply accent your current decor by giving just a few items a fun and exciting facelift. Does this Spark an idea?
Color Combinations
Combine red, yellow and orange for a hot sunshine/beach look, then accent the room with turquoise fabric and throw pillows to soften the look and add to the beach theme. For a more sophisticated yet whimsical look, combine vibrant purple and emerald tones with silvery lavender and sage. Paint the darker colors on vertical surfaces like chair and table legs, then paint or upholster the horizontal surfaces in the lighter tones. This adds vibrancy without overwhelming the room with dark colors, and the lighter horizontal surfaces help bounce the overhead lighting, increasing the ambient light in the room. While not thought of as fun by many people, a stark black can be a great background for bright neon colors. Paint furniture legs a high-gloss black, then upholster them with red, magenta, lime or yellow. For extra fun, paint a tabletop matte black, then set out colored chalk and let visitors add their own designs to your room.
Powerful Plastic
If you have a theme or object you're fond of, such as flowers, sports imagery, or aliens and spaceships, take a trip to the dollar store's toy section and get a bunch of small plastic figures that fit your theme. Note which colors the figures have in common, and paint your furniture using that color as a base coat. If you're using flowers, try a green base coat to represent the stems. Glue the objects onto chair backs, dressers, nightstands, table legs or anywhere they won't interfere with the furniture's function. Use two-part epoxy or a strong silicone adhesive.
Simple Spots
For a cheap but fun way to dress up painted wood furniture, purchase several packs of flatheaded thumbtacks with silver, brass, copper or plastic colored heads. Draw a design on your furniture with chalk, then press in a thumbtack every 1/2 inch or so along the design. Wipe the chalk off with a damp cloth, and you'll have shiny studded furniture. Combine brass and copper tacks with red or violet furniture for an attention-grabbing look, or try white plastic-headed tacks on dark blue for a high-contrast look. You can use this method on horizontal or vertical surfaces, but note that it may make cleaning tabletops more difficult.
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