Would you prefer your home to be colorful or full of color?

So often during the summer months or during holidays, we take vacations to visit family or to faraway places to get a bit of respite from work, school or from life in general. On any outing, you might visit a restaurant, a hotel lobby, museum or historic home that inspires you and gives you the desire to redecorate or to paint the walls of your home.

Now the question is what color.

And once you have decided on a color palette, the other dilemma is whether you want your home to be colorful or full of color. These are two distinct approaches on how to integrate color into your home.

One approach is to paint each room of your home a different color. This will give you rooms that are distinct in their flavor and can each be decorated in their own style in accordance to the color palette chosen. This will result in a home full of color. The colors can either contrast or complement each other from room to room as the homeowners desire.

Some prefer an obvious transition from room to room including drastic color changes that some may consider shocking, like a yellow room next to a glowing fuchsia room next to an apple green room. It takes some confidence and real knowledge of colors and decorating to pull this off.

Of course, the latter is an extreme example to demonstrate a point, but the same holds true for more subdued combinations — say, a pale sage room next to a rose pink room followed by a baby blue room. Whether you contrast or complement colors, the transitions from room to room allow each one to read as individual and unique in style.

Historical homes and estates have used this bold color preference for centuries, mainly in formal rooms.

Another approach with regard to color is the sprinkling of colors in small bits.

Regardless of whether your walls and backdrop are safe and tempered neutrals or more strident colors, you can always use this approach, as it is relies on colors extrapolated from your works of art, accessories and other items such as your case goods or hard furnishings. This method of using color is most versatile, as it allows you to change the focused color over time.

This second approach is for those who may be hesitant to commit to a bold color but like color enough to weave it in through different rooms. For those who rent an apartment or home, this may be the best way to decorate with a favorite color without the permanence of the color being on the walls.

So, as you may see, there is a difference between a home full of color and a colorful home. Not everyone may like an orange room like I do, but there is always room for touches of the color here and there.

Color is an exciting way to express your personality. Let yours shine through like the notes of a trombone or as light as the plucking of a violin's string.

• Joseph Pubillones is the owner of Joseph Pubillones Interiors, an award-winning interior design firm based in Palm Beach, Florida.

© 2019, Creators Syndicate