How To Choose Paint Color With Confidence

How do you choose the right color of paint for the room you are painting? Paint colors influence our moods and give a style statement depending on the color you put on the walls. You don’t have to be intimidated by paint. Here is a simple guide to choosing the right color of  paint for your home.

• First consider these aspects of the room you are going to paint. What mood do you want it to have? Who will use this room and what type of room is it for example family gathering area, bedroom, home office, etc…
• Once you determine the answer to these questions, research colors and the feeling they give a room. 
• Choose the color you want to  paint your room with once you know the vibe it gives off. 
• Get a paint chip cards with the color you like. Look at the darkest color on the paint chip. To see the true color hue.
• Decide how light or dark you want the paint color to be.
• Purchase samples of paint that you like.
• Paint the sample(s) on the wall in the room where you will be painting.
• Look at your sample on the wall different times of the day because you will see the  color changes the  paint  makes with the light coming into the room at different times of the day.
• Choose the paint sample you like the best.
• Use  the color wheel and choose an analogous, complimentary, or  monochromatic  color scheme to accent your room.

What Is Your Why For Painting

The paint you put on your walls sends out a vibe or a mood that can show your sense of style.  Here are three questions to consider first before you choose paint when you are deciding what style  to design your room in. 

• What mood are you going for in the room you are painting? Do you want to send a message of sunshine, nature, warmth, happiness, calm, etc…Look for pictures online or in magazines  of the room you are designing. For example if you are going to paint the living room then look at a variety of living rooms and the way they are painted and decorated. What sings to you? What do you like? Notice the color of paint in those pictures that you like.
• What will you use this room for? Will this be the hub of your home? Will it be your home office? How much time will you spend in this room? This might take some thought. No worries though. This will help you determine the style you are trying to achieve in this room. 
• Who will be using this room? This is key because it will definitely sway your color choice according to what room in the house it is.  If this room is one of your children’s rooms you can determine color  by your child’s dislikes and likes. IF it is your kitchen, the hub of your home, choose a color that will make it enjoyable, calm,  and comfortable for everyone. I’m not kidding! Paint color can deliver these vibes!

Color Psychology 101

Each color has meaning to it. It can influence your mood and how comfortable you feel in that room. Color can inspire or discourage. Uplift or bring anxiety. The table below will give you an idea of how colors can make you feel. Although paint is a relatively cost effective way to change your home decor, you want to choose a paint that you will be happy with and that will make your space comfortable for you to be in for a long time. When I say long time, I mean painting takes a lot of effort. You probably don’t want to paint that room every month to get it right. Wink, wink. 

Red gives off a message of boldness, warmth, strength, love, adventure, and energy. 

Yellow sends vibes of  optimism, happiness, self esteem, and of course sunshine.

Pink is sweet, feminine, charming, compassionate, playful, cute, and  soft.

Orange is creative, bright, successful, joy, balanced, social, confident, and brave.

Blue is peaceful, trust, loyal, serene,calm,intelligent, inspirational, and wise.

Green is nature, harmony, healing, freshness, safety, growth.

Purple is royalty, creativity, luxury, extravagance, and ambition.

Brown is strength, rugged, outdoors, rustic, and earthy.

Black is drama, security, sophistication, glamorous, formal, and elegant.

White is pure, cleanliness, simplicity, power, and light.

Don’t let all this color knowledge overwhelm you or my pink chairs for that matter! I love them just not the color but I plan to change that one of these days. That is a post for another day! Look at magazines online or in person and see how the color makes you feel as you look at it. Visit some of the paint websites and look at their paint inspiration. For example, Farrow and Ball has all kinds of inspiration that can light your creative fire! Sherwin Williams has tons of ideas to get your color juices flowing. Research, explore, and then go forth and paint! Well you’re almost ready to  paint. There are a few more points to consider before choosing you start painting. 

Time To Choose Your Paint

Now you have an idea of  colors and how they influence your style and mood. What color do you think you want? Time to choose. Keep in mind the psychology of color and your whys for painting the room. Okay go time. Gather up some paint chips in the color you think you want to paint your room. You can collect them from various paint companies if you want. You can check with the quality paint centers like Farrow & Ball, Sherwin Williams, Benjamen Moore, Behr Paints etc…

Use Paint Chips

Paint chip cards are plentiful and can be pretty helpful as you choose the color you want on your walls and color accents in your room. Here is how you use a paint chip card. Look at the darkest color on the card. It is usually at the bottom.  The colors on paint chips placed next to each other often look just alike but they are not! They are tinted ever so slightly different. 

They might have a pinkish base or a bluish base, orangish, or more green color in it which would be pretty evident once you got it on your walls. So look at the darkest color to determine the true color hue. I learned the hard way when I chose a supposedly white paint. However once we painted it on the walls, it had a very distinct pink hue to it. I wasn’t expecting the pink to come through like it did. There is a sure fire way to know for sure what the paint looks like on your walls before you brush it on. Read on to the next point!

Light vs Dark

This is pretty self explanatory but consider if you want your colors to be light or dark. Be careful because this can change the message of your room. It isn’t necessarily a bad vibe to use darker colors or lots of light just be aware that light paint colors makes a room more airy and larger looking while dark colors make a room more intimate more sophisticated and warm. Consider the room and the affects and the style you want to portray.

Sample And Then Paint

This is the best way to see if you really like your paint choice in the room you are going to paint it. Purchase several paint samples. Samples will probably cost about $5.00  to $10.00 depending on where you buy it. Get a good quality paint like Farrow & Ball, Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, or Behr. The quality of paint will also determine how well the paint goes on your walls and how good it will look.

Choose a spot on the wall and paint a good size swatch of your paint. If you have several paint color swatches, give each swatch a little room but paint them on the same wall because you are going to monitor the light to see how it looks throughout your day. Paint changes its color depending on the light during the day. Observe your paint samples during the day. Notice how it  changes and what it looks like so you can see which sample best fits your idea of what you want.

Use The Color Wheel

Once you choose your main paint color you can look at the color wheel to accent your room. Do you want to use complimentary accents which simply means that you will choose colors that are opposite each other. How about analogous? This would be choosing accent colors that are three colors side by side on a twelve color color wheel. Or maybe you would like it to be a monochromatic scheme which is using the same color in different hues of that color.

You can add in accent colors through other paint, furniture, pillows and other accessories, rugs, etc… The key is to plan it out and take the steps above to choose your paint. If by chance you get your paint on the wall and it isn’t what you thought, don’t be hard on yourself. Try the steps again which will  take some more time and more work but you want to be happy with it.   Or you might try adding in all the components to your  room including any accents you have chosen to decorate your room with.

Go Time!

Have faith in yourself! You can do this!  It pays to be creative and to find your style by choosing colors you are comfortable with. Let your uniqueness shine through. Happy painting to you!!