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Committee members can complicate a project, especially with something as subjective as interior design.

"I remember a job I did for a Baptist church in Fort Worth, Texas," says Norman Hatfield, from Hatfield Crookless Associates in Dallas, Texas. "The pastor had six interior designers in the church and put them all on the committee. What a cat fight!"

Peace was achieved by allowing each designer to do one of the six restrooms. Not every design project is that stressful, but each is important because most churches can't afford to redecorate very often.

Color is an immediate sign of how current your decor is. If your sanctuary still includes browns and oranges, for example, you probably haven't updated it since the 1970s.

Choosing neutral colors rather than trendy ones is one way to avoid the dated look. But even safe colors, such as beige or white, need accent colors to perk things up. And choosing those can be difficult.

For one thing, color is so subjective. "When you mention a color, it conjures up an image, but everyone has a different image," says Bill Groninger of Cosco & Associates in Crestview, Florida. In addition, people may be thinking different shades of the same color. Red, for example, varies, depending on its mix with yellow, blue, white, or black. Some people catch those variations, while others are blind to them. To make sure everyone is thinking the same color, Groninger's company uses boards with color swatches during discussions with clients.

Before you start splitting hairs over sky blue versus robin's egg blue for the fellowship room at church, work through some preliminaries:

Define the space. Ask when and how the room you'll be decorating will be used. Also, how much natural light the area will receive, and how this lighting will change through the year.

Choose a signature color. This color should be used throughout the church. Gray or tan would work well for the walls of a church's sanctuary, hallway, library, pastor's office, and classrooms. The same color could be carried into carpeting, tile, or wallcoverings.

Go bold with accent color. Gray or tan is a great base color, but don't stop there. Pick out dramatic colors to be used as accents in upholstery, window treatments, pictures, and floral arrangements.

Hatfield says that when people look at the churches he has decorated, he is sometimes asked why they're so blah. "I tell them that committees usually opt for the lowest common denominator so they won't offend anybody. That makes buildings look bland," he says.

He didn't go that route with First Baptist Church in Carrollton, Texas. Over some members' objections, he ordered a bold floral print for the parlor floor. "They fought me, but when the covering was in, they said it was the greatest decision," Hatfield says. "They wished they had known before how good it would look."

Before choosing accent colors, consider these factors:

Context. History or geography can affect the color choices congregations make. Burgundies and reds are very traditional in churches in the Northeast, for example, while Southern churches tend to favor pastel colors.

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