Choosing the right paint color can be a daunting experience, but changing the color of a room is an easy process. You can change the whole feel of a room by simply changing the paint of the trim or the whole wall. It’s also a relatively inexpensive way to give an old room a breath of fresh air or to up the resale value of your home. With these tips, you can pick the right paint color meant for you and for your space.
Start Small
When deciding what space you want to start painting, opt for a smaller space first, like a powder room, hall area or an accent wall. This way if you’re doing the painting yourself, you can see results sooner. An easy way to get started is selecting your favorite color from a piece of artwork, a rug, accessories, or a piece of furniture.
Pay Attention To Lighting
We so often get paint swatches at the paint store and love them, but when we get home and put them in the space we are getting ready to change, they look so incredibly different. Why is that? Lighting! Paint stores have bright lights over their swatches to bring extra lighting to this area, but the lights they use are unrealistic. The only true way to tell if the paint is going to work in your area is by taking it home and testing it in the room. Does the room get a lot of natural light? Or is it lit by LED recessed lighting or a floor lamp? A strong color might be too bright and overpowering when used on all your walls but it might be the perfect shade to be used for an accent wall.
Choosing The Right Paint Sheen
A lot of people don’t really know what it means to pick a particular sheen of paint. For walls, most people opt for an eggshell or a satin. Eggshell is more matte (less reflective), but glossier paints are easier to clean, which leads people to choose satin or even semi-gloss in areas like bathrooms. For trim, you want to choose a glossier paint, usually a semi-gloss, to both highlight walls and make it easier to care for. If you aren’t sure how matte or glossy to go, bring home a couple samples. Like color, this is something that is easily affected by light.
Using a Monochromatic Approach:
If you want a subtle and soothing look, picking colors within the same shade can help achieve this for you. You should start by picking the room that you want to feel the most relaxed and calm, like a dining room or bathroom. By choosing your favorite color and overlapping the shades, you can create the monochromatic feel. All of the accessories and decorations should be varying shades of the same color scheme to keep the look cohesive.
Using a Neutral Approach:
If you want a more elegant look, opt for using mostly neutral tones. Neutral colors are no longer just white and beige – you can turn a simple living room into a very poised one by selecting varying shades of neutral colors, such as almond walls with red toned browns for the trim. If it feel too boring, consider adding splashes of color throughout the room with throw pillows or a vase to offset the overall subtle feel of the room.
Using a Vibrant Approach:
Start by choosing two colors next to each other on the color wheel for a visual contrast as one will stand out from the other. For example, using oranges and golds or reds and dark purples creates a bold and luxurious feel. You can also choose to accent with a color opposite the original colors you chose. If you are using primarily blues and teals, adding a gold in the mix can create the perfect balance.
No matter what you choose, paint colors can be one of the most exciting and personality driven choices we make while doing home remodels. You can basically go anywhere with them! But knowing what colors go together and what kind of paint to get can be daunting. The key is to test everything before painting, and remember that it’s all about your own personal style.