The easiest and least expensive way to give your home a fresh new look is with paint. Yet finding just the right color can be a challenge. Color expert Deborah Zimmer of the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute gives us a peek at the color trends in interior paint for 2008.

SOPHISTICATED ELEGANCE Black-and-white hues enhance opulent living spaces filled with accessories, lighting, mirrors and rich fabrics. Silver metallics and highsheen finishes with rich textures benefit from the sophistication of this striking palette. “Black and white set a glamorous tone in today’s most glamorous spaces,” says Zimmer.

CREWEL COLORS In response to their overloaded lives, Zimmer says consumers are returning to the simplicity represented by crafts such as needlepoint and crossstitch and the warm and inviting colors used with them. Examples include rich cranberry reds, warm browns, pumpkin orange and deep-toned blues.

GO GREEN “The environmental movement is spurring consumers to paint the interiors of their homes with natureinspired hues such as fern, sage and clear-blue, almost glasslike touches of aqua,” says Zimmer. “Green may just become the newest ‘neutral’ color.”

YOUR HUE Zimmer suggests letting your taste in fashion inspire personal color choices. And use home furnishings as a foil. “You may want to choose a neutral color palette for your sofa so it’s longlasting and let that spur you to choose exciting and bold paint color for your walls.” For more information visit the websites of major paint manufacturers or paintquality.com.