Choosing A Paint Color For Your Home's Interior

It can be tough picking paint color, whether itís for your bedroom, living room or kitchen. We all have notions of our ideal living areas and the paint job can mean the difference between having it realized or totally botched.

Choosing the paint colors you want to use can prove more consuming than you expect. This can get especially overwhelming once you visit the hardware store to audition samples ñ the red paint that you want can be anything from hundreds of shades, with names ranging from straightforward to downright strange.

Colors That You Like

A good first move is to have a general idea of what colors you like. Think of homes youíve seen whose interiors appealed to you. Whether itís green, yellow, red or blue, write them down including the color-combinations that interest you.

It pays to get acquainted with some basics of color theory to help you when mixing and matching paint hues for each area of your home. Complementary colors combine the primary and secondary colors opposite each other on the color wheel and generally look good together, such as red and green. Analogous colors group shades into either warm or cool, each one creating its own special effect. Neutrals are less intense colors, such as shades of brown and white.

If you want to make sure that your paint scheme flows well as well as achieves your intent for a room, make sure to apply a little science to it. The basics, on their own, should be enough to help you every step of the way.

Setting The Mood

Paint colors can change how your room size is perceived. Cool colors such as blue, violet and brown will make your room look larger. Warm colors such as red, orange and yellow can help it feel less imposing. Cool colors on your walls can also have a calming effect on the people inside. Warm shades will help energize a room and perk you up.

Furniture and Fixtures

If you already have furnishings or are intent on which ones will adorn your room, you can use them to inspire the paint colors you are going to use. If you have a particular one that you want to highlight, such as a painting or a rug, use them as your basis.

Playing It Safe

If you really canít decide which paints to use, opt for neutral hues. They are easy to decorate, unassuming and shouldnít affect your homeís resale value if youíre intending to sell. Many people actually opt for neutral colors at the start and start updating rooms once they have a clearer idea of what they want to do.

If youíre going neutral, make sure to use black sparingly as an accent. Donít employ it as the main color of your interior. Apart from it, most everything else, especially warm neutrals should do fine.

Testing It Out

There are many websites that allow you to test certain paint combinations for specific rooms in your home such as DesignMyRoom.com. You can pick out any of their sample rooms and try out how they look with specific paint colors. Theyíre free to use and, while not perfect, should give you a clearer picture of how specific combinations will look.

Donít Worry Too Much

Lastly, donít obsess over it. If you choose the wrong paint colors and end up with a room you arenít really happy with, you can always have it painted over.
Just as well, you can redecorate it to offset any bad qualities. Hanging a rug, painting or drapes can do wonders, after all. Choosing paint colors for your home should be fun ñ keep it that way.