How To Select the Right Paint and Color For Your Home
Painting is a quick and cheap way to give an old room a
breath of fresh air or to make your house more sellable if you are putting it
on the market. Find out all you have ever wanted to know about selecting paint.
Which paint should you choose?
Paint comes in a variety of sheens as well as in either oil
or latex. Latex paint is the most commonly and preferred paint type to use
because of its ease of clean up and long lasting durability. It also tends to
be more fade resistant and breathes better than oil, resulting in less
blistering of the paint. I recommend using a latex paint for most of your walls
and household uses. However, oil based paint is great for priming real wood
moldings and trim as it tends to seal stains and knots from the wood better
than a latex paint wood. It does take longer to dry than a latex paint though,
so plan for more drying time. I personally use an oil based shellac primer on
my trim and then opt for a latex paint as the top coat. There are a variety of
brands on the market, but my top preference is Behr paint.
Which sheen should I select?
The glossier the paint, the easier it is to clean up. If you
have small children and the room you are painting has high traffic, like in a
playroom, or tends to get grease on the wall such as in a kitchen, opt for high
gloss sheen as you can easily wipe the wall down with a damp sponge. This will
however make blemishes and imperfections in your wall more apparent and in
rooms such as living rooms, could give off an unpleasant shine. High gloss is
also great for trim and will give the trim a nice finished look, complementing
the flatter sheen of your walls
Which color should I choose?
If you are in the process of selling your house, I recommend
selecting a white or off-white color as the choice for walls. This will allow
the buyer to easily cover the wall with their choice of color and will give
your rooms a brighter and clean appearance. However, you should take full
advantage of the hundreds of paint selections and brochures at your local paint
store as well as talk to a salesperson about the various color schemes for the
look you want. You can change the feel of any room in your house with a little
planning and some color, varying the shades for a certain look or feel.
I want a subtle and soothing look:
You can choose to stay within the same shade and use a
monochromatic approach such as select a variety of shades of blue for subtle
color that tends to be soothing. This tends to look good in a bathroom or a
bedroom if you want the feeling of calmness. Just choose your favorite color
and overlap the shades. For example, select a darker color for the wall and
then another in the same color scheme but different shade and slightly lighter
for the trim. Your curtains, towels or bedding as well as accessories such as
candles can be varying shades within the same scheme. You can also layer the
colors by selecting a lighter green as the basecoat and then do a faux paint
with a darker green overlay.
TIPS FOR CHOOSING THE RIGHT PAINT COLOR
Today I’m continuing my quest to making choosing the right
paint color easier for all of you. Last week we talked about neutral paint
colors and how to choose the right one, but you will probably still end up with
a few different colors or shades that you need to decide between and that is
where today’s post will help you
Don’t Pick Your Paint Color First.
I know it seems natural to get the biggest things done
first, but it is much easier to choose a paint color that goes with your
furniture and decor than it is to choose decor to go with a paint color.
Start With An Inspiration.
Pinterest is a great place to start when deciding on paint
colors. Make a board for each room and start pinning rooms that catch your eye.
Once you have about 10 you’ll get a feel for what you are drawn to color and
style wise.
Stick With Neutrals.
Now I’m not saying avoid color all together. Color is good,
but you have to first decide where you want the attention in a room to go. If
your answer is the walls, then heck, go bold. And if you go bold on the walls
everything else in the room should be pretty neutral so that you don’t end up
with too many things competing. This is why bold color in a bathroom can work
so well because most everything else in a bathroom is already neutral (white)
Use Testers.
Buy testers in a few colors/ shades and paint a large enough
area on a few different walls so that you can see how the light hits it at
different times of the day. Try your best not to test your paint against white
walls cause it will throw the color off. If you have to, just do a larger test
area to get a better feel.
How to Choose Interior Paint Colors
Choosing the right interior paint colors depends on the kind
of room you want. Take some time to think about what kind of ambiance you want.
Certain colors add weight to the room while others create a lighter tone. You
can also mix colors into different shades and tints to help create more visual
unity. Plan out your rooms before painting so that you can make your home’s
interior pleasant no matter what colors you use
Paint with warm colors to create comfortable, energizing
rooms. Warm colors include red, orange, and yellow. The brightest tints of
these colors are bold and vibrant but can be too strong when used often. More
muted shades can make a room feel cozier, similar to a summer or autumn day.
Warm colors work well in rooms that feature a lot of activity, such as living
rooms
Choose cool colors to make a room relaxing. Blue, green, and
purple are all cool colors. Cool colors can freshen up a room or help you calm
down after a long day. They make for good choices in bedrooms and sitting
rooms. Lighter shades can feel more vibrant, while darker shades can feel more soothing
Select neutral colors to balance out other colors. At first
glance, the various shades of white and gray seem boring. In decorating, they
are very useful because they fit well in any color palette. They tone down warm
or light colors, but they also lighten cool or dark colors. Black, brown, and
light blue are a few alternative colors that can serve as a neutral base
Opt for lighter tints in order to open up rooms. Pale
yellows, blues, and whites are great choices to lighten up a room. Light colors
lack visual weight, which means your eye isn’t drawn to them. When you step
into the room, your eye may go to a piece of art or another bright feature.
Since you aren’t focused on the exterior surfaces, rooms with light colors
often feel larger than they are
Here’s How to Pick the Perfect Paint Color Every Time
Let’s face it: Picking the right paint color is important.
There’s no denying the shade we pick to adorn the walls is a fundamental part
of any interior design project. In fact, it’s often the element the rest of our
aesthetic choices are based on.
Buy textiles first
Usually when we talk about textiles, they’re considered a
finishing aspect of the design, so this advice may seem counterintuitive.
However, one of the easiest ways to make sure your paint coordinates well with
the rest of the room is to use fabrics as your design inspiration.
Work with neighboring spaces
Odds are, you’ve experienced a house where the paint choices
were truly overwhelming. As you walked from room to room it may have felt as
though there was nowhere for your eyes to rest, as though the home was too busy
for its own good.
Factor in lighting
Like it or not, the way in which a room is lit can have a
huge impact on how the room looks. Each light temperature pulls out a color
undertone, which is why rooms often feel vastly different at night than they do
during the day.
Don’t forget finish
Many people tend to overlook the fact that paint color is
about much more than the shade itself. Finish is another component that can
alter how your finished product looks. Be sure to take this into account before
making your final decision.
How to Choose the Right Paint Color for Every Room
Feeling in the mood for a revamp? Painting a room or a
single wall in your home is a simple DIY that promises to have a major impact
in any space. When it comes to taking on a home renovation project, doing your
due diligence is a must. From sampling chips to evaluating natural light, there
are a number of essential dos and don’ts you should consider before you even
walk into a paint shop
Take Note of Permanent Features
Before you even lift a paint palette, look around your home
and take inventory of the permanent features of your home. Do you have dark
stained-wood floors, exposed beams, or a brick fireplace? Are you planning to
make any permanent changes in the near future? The hue and tone of all these
elements should be strongly considered before you move forward with your
design.
Don’t Start With Painting
It’s okay to walk into your design process knowing that you
want pops of color, but choosing your paint color should be the last step in
your design process. First, find inspiration for your room—be it in a family
painting or a textile you love. Select your fabrics, furniture, and major
accents first, and then consider how they all come together. Is there a hint of
yellow in your botanical-print fabric that you want to pull out? Is your
stained-wood table darker than you realise? It’ll be too late to chime in on
these details if painting was your first step.
Get to Know the Colour Wheel
To find colors that complement your chosen fabrics,
finishes, and furniture, use a colour wheel. The expression “opposites attract”
is as true in colour as it is in relationships: Hues opposite each other on the
color wheel are complementary. So blue complements orange and red-orange
complements blue-green.
Test Paints Before Committing
If you’re seeing chartreuse everywhere lately, that’s a good
sign it’s a colour that’s on its way out. Though your walls can be repainted,
it’s not something you’ll want to do once a year. So if you’re lusting after an
on-trend color, use that in your accents and select a wall paint that’s more
timeless and/or subtle.