How to Clean Flat Paint Walls—the Trickiest of Finishes

Removing dust, cobwebs, grease, and grime is key to ensuring that you get great results when painting.

Here’s a list of essential tools and materials to help you get started on your next painting project.

The formal dining room is an interior in flux. For decades it was a mainstay of the American home, but in recent years it has often found itself co-opted for a playroom or home office. Today, the dining room is making a comeback, appreciated again for the way it provides a spacious, welcoming environment that brings family and friends together. But successful entertaining requires more than just a dedicated space. In particular, the colors you choose for your dining room go a long way toward setting the tone for your gatherings. Here, design experts share 8 of their favorite hues and tips for using them in your own dining room.

Thanks to marketing and advertising, consumers often associate colors with a particular brand—think Tiffany Blue or Post-it canary yellow. Some companies trademark their signature hues to ensure that competitors can’t steal their recognizable shades (and their business). Here are 8 bold and beautiful colors that are officially registered to familiar brands.

Red symbolizes strength, power, and courage, but at this time of year we associate it most with love and desire. Around Valentine’s Day, it seems like red is everywhere, but in some homes, red is a permanent—and vibrant—fixture year-round. Aside from beauty, what are the benefits of decorating with this strong color? Some enthusiasts cite the concept of color psychology, which examines how certain colors can affect our moods and behavior. For example, as red is considered a very energizing color, it might be good to use in a rec room or a high-traffic area like the kitchen. Color psychologists warn, however, that simply being in a red room can actually raise blood pressure, which makes red a bad choice for some folks. And note that red increases appetite—witness its extensive use in fast-food advertising—so dieters might want to go easy on it in the dining room. Psychology aside, there are lots of reasons to decorate with red, as this rich, vivid group of rooms prove. While some take the plunge and swathe a space in the color, others use it primarily as an accent in an otherwise neutral room—but they all celebrate the power of this warm, attention-getting hue.

Not all water-based paints are the same, and that’s particularly true when it comes to these two popular options.