Painting is one of the simplest things you can do to reinvigorate a room. But choosing a color can be a daunting, stressful task. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of paint-chip cards blanket hardware stores, making a decision seem like an extraordinary test. After you've picked a color come the challenges of coordinating palettes, prepping walls, etc. To help you, we recommend a handful of Web sites that encourage you to take risks with paint and liven up your home. Washington Post
Colourlovers
This Web site (www.colourlovers.com) encourages visitors to combine hues, inspiring a massive range of palettes and patterns to browse through. Registered users can vote on color combinations, become fans of palettes and patterns, leave comments or ask questions in forums. The site can help you decide what shades won't clash with adjoining rooms or your favorite plum chaise.
Colr.org
If you're having trouble meshing colors, try Colr.org. It fragments photos that are posted on the photo-sharing site Flickr or uploaded to the site. These images inspire a color palette, proving that generic snapshots of nature or photos from your last vacation can be excellent sources for color coordination. Photos are fragmented into little color boxes that users can click on to get a larger swatch. You also can randomly create "schemes" or color groupings with a click of the mouse.
ConsumerSearch
ConsumerSearch (www.consumersearch.com) includes reviews of interior paints under its "Home & Garden" tab. The site compiles Web reviews from Consumer Reports, DoItYourself.com, Paint Talk and Contractor Talk. You can find out the best-reviewed paints in such categories as coverage, general purpose, budget and zero-VOC, low-odor interior paint. Plus, you can compare prices, see which stores carry the brands and read tips on what to look for when choosing paint.
House Beautiful
House Beautiful magazine's Web site (www.housebeautiful.com) includes PaintBrush, a tool for virtually painting rooms. Pick a room from stock photos, including images of kitchens, bathrooms and foyers. Alter the colors of the room's walls, trim, ceiling and accent space. The colors correspond to those from Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams and Valspar, and the paint numbers are provided. You can also save projects and e-mail them. The Web sites of these three paint brands also sport similar interactive features; some even encourage you to upload photos of your own rooms.
Paint Quality Institute
This is one-stop shopping for all DIY paint information. The Paint Quality Institute Web site (www.paintquality.com) from chemical company Rohm and Haas provides guidance on planning projects, calculating how much paint to buy, solving paint problems such as blistering and mildew, and more. The information is well organized, so you can skim it before tackling a project. Also, there are links to YouTube videos on this year's color trends, and you can sign up for an e-mail newsletter and RSS feed.
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