From the same people who bought you a pallet of mood-altering hues to help adjust your attitude at home, comes a slathering-for-all-seasons-based system designed to accommodate the decor changes you face when decking the halls every holiday.

If you followed the Paint Quality Institute's approach to latex that puts you in the right frame of mind, room-by-room, you likely won't paint yourself into a coronary.

However that passion play you tried to make with blood red paint on the staircase wall to the bedroom will probably clash with Easter.

When you paint most common or shared areas of your home, it has to be a good fit for the inevitable decorations you drag out of the attic with every new season's greeting.

And it has to be a good fit for the adjustments you make from one holiday or season to the next.

Here's how to earn your Martha Stewart Holiday Decor Foundation badge.

"To help guide your color selection, think of your wall color as a blank canvas, against which to feature your seasonal items," says Debbie Zimmer the color cop at the Paint Quality Institute.

Zimmer says if you plan ahead, modifying your surroundings to be both seasonally- and holiday-appropriate is a cinch.

First, give your walls a light neutral coat, something in an off-white, pale taupe, or a subtle grey.

Once the acrylic base is in place, then it's time to focus on elements you can rotate in or out with the seasonal cycles.

Inexpensive area rugs work wonders placed on top of wall-to-wall carpeting. Ditto when it comes to window treatments that can casually thrown over decorative curtain rods.

A small area rug with red or gold in the pattern will warm up a room in the dead of winter. Come spring brighten things up by swapping in a light green rug. Oh, what a difference it will make.

“When it comes to interior decor, it's always best to repeat key colors to create a cohesive color scheme," says Zimmer.

Take that throw rug to the fabric store to find a bolt of material that matches.

It's not just about color. Fabric weight is key too. Heavier fabrics work well in fall and winter. Go with more sheer materials in the spring and summer.

Slipcovers are another accessory to put in your spring-summer-fall winter bag of tricks. Warm (deep red, orange, or gold) colors melt the frost cool (light blue or green) numbers put a chill on the heat. Create the same effect by rotating warm and cool pillows or cushions on neutral colored sofas, chaises or chairs.

Another easy way to render a room seasonally correct is with accent pieces on the mantel, shelving, and other furnishings. Accomplish the technique with accent pieces in colors appropriate for the season or with real visual triggers -- seashells in the summer, pine cones in the winter. Use seasonal flowers to accomplish the same effect.

Don't forget wall art, not for art's sake, but to imitate life. Hang representational paintings or illustrations to frame your seasonal décor.

And there's always more paint.

"If you're especially ambitious, you might even dare to do more with your paint color," says Zimmer.

"Not that you'd want to repaint an entire room with each new season, but you actually might be willing to repaint a small accent wall once or twice a year. Assuming that the wall is easy to access, you could complete the job in just a few hours – a small price to pay if you're really seasonally-driven," Zimmer said.

Published: September 22, 2011

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A journalist for 35-years, Broderick Perkins parlayed an old-school daily newspaper career into a digital news service offering editorial content and consulting services. Perkins' San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group includes the flagship news site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate, personal finance and consumer journalism, and a backshop, the Deadline Newsroom.