The other day we were in a very nice hotel - fabulous bed, thick fluffy towels - but it definitely felt like a hotel room. The furnishings were expensive and well made, but everything matched, and we mean everything. The curtains, the bedspread and the chairs all used the same fabric. The pictures on the wall didn’t use a single color that didn’t match the carpet. We immediately hid our suitcases because they clashed.

It looked blah not because any one item in the room was blah - okay, maybe the art - but because there was no contrast. Contrast is what gives a room its spice, its personality. A room without contrast is like a party where all the guests are exactly alike - boring!

When you’re designing a room, you want everything to work together. Contrast is part of that - it can pull a room together and give your individual pieces a unified look. You can use contrast to provide a focal point, to brighten and enliven tonal colors or as part of the rhythm of a room.When we think of contrast, we usually think of high contrast like the great turquoise wall behind this kitchen sink. It’s dramatic and creates a wonderful focal point for the kitchen. But contrast can be subtler like the wall in kitchen with the green chairs. The darkness of the wall against the lighter cabinets and chairs pulls the eye inward and upward, and extending the tile above the cabinets also makes the ceilings look higher.

Contrast doesn’t have to be color - it can be textures or forms. The roughness of the dry-stacked stone in this kitchen provides a fabulous contrast with the sleekness of the cabinets and glass shelves. It gives the room a richness and warmth that traditional tile wouldn’t.

Of course, you can give your room a little something without changing a whole wall or throwing out the sofa. Several small items can provide the “pop” you need. Rough-textured vases or bowls and felt or suede pillows can add a bit of texture to a very sleek room. Throw pillows or lampshades that emphasize a color in your artwork can be used to pull together an area that looks unfinished.

But remember - your room may need contrast like your party needs that crazy neighbor with the karaoke addiction, but too much of either is just a mess.