Just as a painter uses color to fool the eye and to create mood 
in fine art, so the designer can use color to fool the eye in 
home décor. Here are a few tips for the creative DIY designer 
(that's YOU!) dealing with problem spaces.

1. Long or large room. Try painting a warm color on one wall in 
   a predominately white room. The warm wall will appear to 
   advance, making the room seem smaller or shorter. 

2. Short room. Paint one wall a cool color, while leaving the 
   rest of the walls warm. The cool wall will appear to draw 
   back, making the room seem longer.

3. High ceilings. If you want a more intimate feel in a room 
   with high ceilings, paint the ceiling a darker color. You 
   can also lower it further by painting the top part of the 
   wall (say, 12" or so) with the same ceiling color. 

4. Low ceilings. If you want to make the ceilings appear higher, 
   paint the ceiling a light color and bring the wall color 6' 
   or so onto the ceiling. 

5. Another trick for making the walls appear higher is to paint 
   the baseboards the same color as the walls. This makes the 
   room appear taller (just like in fashion!)

Get the picture? Warm = advancing. Cool = receding. Easy! 
Hmmmm... do you think that something cool would help my 
advancing weight? Ice cream is cool, right? That's it! I'm 
off to fool my eye into thinking I am slim! Tom and Jerry, 
here I come!