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Tips for Choosing a Paint Color

Tips for Choosing Paint Color

Get color confident with your home.

It’s so easy to get stuck picking out a paint color. We’re too caught up in whether or not we’re actually going to like the colors we’ve chosen once they’re on the wall or whether the colors we selected even go well together at all! What should be an exciting part of a home improvement project can ultimately become a chore when you’re flying by the seat of your pants.

But picking out colors for your home shouldn’t be exhausting.

It can be fun when you know how to pick ‘em out! Instead of deciding what your favorite colors are, focus on two things:

1. What mood you want to convey in your space

and/or

2. What makes you look fabulous (more on that later).

When thinking about the mood of your home, you want to try to convey a certain atmosphere or tone. Is it friendly, earthy, trendy, calm, regal, welcoming, fresh? It can be anything you want! But, knowing what atmosphere you want to convey will help you determine a color palette.

Then, there’s the second approach. What will make you look fabulous? Everyone has a certain family of colors and tones that flatter their particular skin type and hair color. If you’re not sure which colors are flattering on you, have a color analysis done by an image or color consultant. Your signature colors will either be WARM (i.e. yellow-based) or b. COOL (i.e. blue-based).

Once you know your color scheme, you can play with the possibilities to create a color palette that flatters your home… and you. You can start by downloading one of the tons of paint selection and visualization apps. ColorSmart by BEHR® mobile app is a great start.

Plus, with your virtual tools in hand, you can “virtually” paint a room without having to go through the trouble.

The great news is that you no longer have to overspend on a bunch of quarts of paint to test paint colors now that many paint companies offer sample-sizes!

Hot Tip: Need to match a piece of fabric, carpeting, or wallpaper?  No problem. Paint each color on its own 24”x 24” foam board. That way you can move the large paint swatches you’ve created without having to paint another area. This especially helps when testing how your furniture looks with it!

You can also have paint custom mixed to match just about any color at many paint stores. For best results, your sample must be a flat item that is of uniform color and is at least 1/2 inch square.

For more color confidence, read Lesa Sawahata’s “Color Harmony Workbook: A Workbook and Guide to Creative Color Combinations”.

This practical, visual guide matches colors to specific moods, to help you select the best color combination. You’ll be able to mix, match, and test different hues.

Now that you have confidence in picking out colors for your home, read about the hottest interior trends this year!