Pick the Perfect Paint Color
Match home paint shades to your existing pieces and your personality. Photo courtesy of ronstik / Adobe Stock
With so many paint colors, it’s no wonder that many have a hard time deciding. How do you zero in on the right one for your home? What should influence your decision? Before you pick, take a look at these tips for help.
Match the color of a favorite object. Look around for some ideas. “When it comes to choosing paint colors, I always recommend to homeowners to start with what they love,” says Sue Wadden, director of color marketing at Sherwin-Williams. Let’s say you’ve got a rug you’re wild about. Depending on the rug’s pattern and other décor in the space, you could choose the exact same color for the walls or go slightly lighter or darker, says Wadden.
Pick a color that will complement what’s already there. Maybe you plan to keep your sofa or the room has hardwood floors you want to show off - keep these things in mind and pick a paint color that will coordinate well. Look in your closet for inspiration. Are most of your clothes in warm colors in red, yellow, and orange? Or are they mainly in the cool families of blue, green, and purple? If you’re comfortable wearing those colors, then you’ll probably feel comfortable with walls in those same shades.
Choose several colors on one paint strip. A paint strip shows a base color and several lighter or darker shades that work well with one another. Using the same color but with subtle differences throughout a room creates harmony, balance, and a sophisticated look.
Don’t just rely on paint chips. Paint chips help narrow down your color selection, but once you’ve selected two or three of your favorite hues, get paint samples, which come in quarts, to paint a large swatch of each color in several places within the designated space. “By living with the swatches for a few days,” says Wadden, “you can really observe how the colors shift as the natural light changes and how they look under artificial lighting like lamps.”
– CTW Features
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