Radaj empathizes with those who hesitate to paint their walls anything out of the ordinary. "I grew up in an all-beige house," she says. "I was always told, ‘You have to think of the resale value.’"

Neutral colors are fine if the house will be put on the market within the next six months. But those planning on a longer stay will find that paint is the easiest and cheapest thing they can do to liven up a room.

Television shows like "Trading Spaces" and "While You Were Out" have given viewers a license to think much more creatively about their interiors. But Radaj offers a word of caution about the televised revisions. "Designing a stage is much different than designing someone’s home," she says. "On television, the spaces are so nonfunctional." Still, the shows have their merits. "The shows on HGTV help people realize you can use a lot of color in your home," says Glendale designer Marianne Kohlmann. "White woodwork looks good with every color. When you have stained woodwork, you’re locked into only certain colors."

"Deep colors with accent colors in purples, yellows, reds and deep greens are the hot color trends," says Jerry Miller, district manager for Sherwin Williams, who’s based out of the Brookfield store. "Paint, colors and trends are always evolving. A lot of colors go with fashion changes."

"Forecasters are predicting a shift from the use of green, especially away from hunter and more toward the olives and sages," says Barbara Chappell, who teaches color theory at Mount Mary College and owns Fiberwood Studios, a Wauwatosa fiber arts studio. "And we should look out for blue and orange."

There’s no need to apply blaze orange to your walls if you want to stay fashionable. The orange that Chappell is talking about falls into the terra cotta range. But blues ranging from powder to navy are all the rage.

Once you’ve chosen the color, the next step is to determine what type of paint to apply. Will it be flat, satin, semi-gloss or glossy? Latex or oil-based? Whatever the choice Sherwin Williams’ Miller encourages homeowners to choose better quality paint over an inexpensive brand.

Along with color, homeowners can choose from a multitude of finishes to change the look of their interiors. Wash coats, examples of which can be found on the store’s walls, involve an intermixture of glazing paint with a brush stroke technique that gives the finished wall a 3-D look. Applying a pigment, a glaze and then topping it with a metallic coat is a popular method of adding depth. A Tuscan-type texture is a good solution for hiding flaws in an imperfect wall. Rag rolling and sponge painting are also options, although Kohlmann considers them passé. "I hardly see rag rolling anymore," she says.

What if you’ve chosen a color palette but are a little leery about how the finished product will look? Benjamin Moore is one paint company that takes the guesswork out of experimentation with its 2-ounce packages of paint. Simply brush on a wide swatch, let dry and then view your results. Make sure you look at the colors under natural and artificial lights. Incandescent light gives off a warm hue and is beneficial in residential spaces. Fluorescent light lacks the warmth of an incandescent light. "How a wall is viewed will be different under an incandescent vs. a fluorescent light," says Leona Knobloch-Nelson, a member of the interior design faculty at Mount Mary College. Natural light will also make a color look different at various times during the day.