A fresh coat of paint is the most inexpensive way to remodel a room. Stylish colors change over the years and so a swipe of a brush could bring your home back into the present.

Today's colors have names like Potomac, Burr, Woodgate and Gladsome. I painted the upstairs bedroom using "heritage colors" named Riel, Nootka and Assiniboine.The choices are mind boggling and I had to call in some help.

Smithers interior design consultant Deidre Tansey cautions, "A good rule of thumb for homes is to pick muddier tones. Often the brighter colors look great in small paint chips but when they get on the wall...too strong, too much and people get scared and go back to white."

A friend was not sure about a color she had picked for her livingroom so she painted a large 3'x3' section on her main wall and then looked at it for three weeks before deciding the paint needed to be a few shades lighter. She saved herself a lot of work by seeing the new color under different light conditions throughout the day.