Can you tell me how to pick paint colors for my house?

Man, oh man, oh man, oh man.  This is a million dollar question that I get asked all the time.  And by million dollar–I mean, if I got paid a dollar each time I’ve been asked how to go about picking paint colors without regret…I’d probably have a million by now.

Not that I get tired of fielding this question.  It’s valid.  And picking paint colors is super stressful!  {At least for people who are afraid of commitment…like me.}  If you’ve ever picked a color, and disliked it as you were rolling it on the wall, telling yourself, “Maybe I’ll like it better when it’s dry…” Or, “It’ll look better when the whole room is painted…” only to hate it even more once it’s dry and once you’ve dedicated a whole weekend to painting–you know the pain of picking poorly.  If at all possible, it’s best to avoid that situation all together.  So here…is my very best advice for picking colors with no regrats….I mean, no regrets.

As you may remember, I started telling you about Sam and Katie’s house.  Long story short, there was an epic indoor floor and I was lucky enough to come on board {ahoy mateys!} to help with the recovery process.  Since everything was ripped out {see before photos here} they had to start from scratch and pick wall colors for pretty much all their walls.  Since their project is fresh in my mind, we’ll use them as an example.

How to pick paint colors | Five easy steps

1.  Know Yourself.

This is key when picking paint.  Just know what you like.  If you gravitate toward cool colors–stick to that.  If you love white and cream and gray in sweaters and typeface and accessories, you probably aren’t going to love waking up to a burnt orange bedroom.  If you are completely indecisive, get to know yourself.  Spend time making a Pinterest board {yes, I’m giving you this assignment.}  Pin any room that you think has a pretty color.  Pin cabinets that you like.  Pin anything painted that strikes your fancy.  Don’t look back at the board until you’ve got a bunch of pins.  Chances are, you’ll see a theme.  Proof?  Here’s mine.  See a trend?  And if you wanna cheat, you can just follow my board here.

 

2.  Take Out the Guesswork

Once you kind of know what you like you need to find some paint.  If you walk into a home improvement store and approach the rainbow wall of chips, you’ll soon see that liking “gray” isn’t as concrete as you once thought.  Suddenly there are cool grays and warm grays.  There’s sidewalk, and moonlit path, and ethereal mood.  Take some of the guesswork out by going to a paint store–where the employees deal only in paint.  {I love Sherwin Williams for this.}  There you’ll easily find color pallets, premade, just for you.  See SW’s color pallets here.  Pick the one that has colors most similar to your pinterest board.  Colors within the pallet are all made to look good together, now it’s just a matter of picking your favorites.

 

3.  Don’t Trust the Pictures

Paint pallets will often come with images of the paint color used in staged rooms.  These are a good starting point–but don’t trust the photos.  Paint is keenly effected by light.  The direction of light coming in to your windows.  The placement of your lamps.  The warmth of your lightbulbs.  The strength of the sun in your zip code all effect how a paint color will actually look on your actual walls.  It’s all very sciency and light wavy.

Photos in the professional images are made to look perfect with flash bulbs and perfectly controlled lighting.  You probably don’t live on a photo set…so you’ll need to shell out a few bucks for some sample jars.

Samples cost money–true.  But they could also save you bigger money on wasting a gallon of paint that you hate.  So, get out the cash {they usually run about $5 each}.  And don’t sweat the left overs.  These are all colors you like anyway, so you can put them to use later on smaller projects.  {I’ll show you how to use them next week.}

When you sample, sample right.  Put up a big swatch of color on every wall in the room you’ll be painting.  The color will look different on different walls.  Keep track of what color you put where–I like to make a grid on the wall, and on a piece of paper.  If there is a shadow {like under a kitchen cabinet} paint it there.  If you can see from one room into another, paint where you can see the two colors coming together.  You can see in the image above where we put samples for Katie and Sam.  Once they are up–wait.  Leave your swatches alone.  Look at them in the morning.  See how they look with your lamps on.  See how you like them with over head lights on.  Then decide.

 

4.  Limit Yourself

A lot of variety is good sometimes.  Like…in a workout routine or in ice cream flavors.  When it comes to paint–limit yourself.  Different paint colors will help define separate areas of your home–but too many colors will cause disunity and confusion, and an overall circusy feeling.  And it’s a lot of work and a lot of left over paint.

I like to stick to about four colors in a home.  You can go bigger if you like.  But four is a pretty safe area.  There is some repetition which lends continuity–but there is enough variety to keep it interesting.  I like to play it safe when it comes to color commitment.  Then I get gutsier with smaller, more mobile things…accessory accents.

 

5.  Accent Colors

Once you’ve got your walls done you can think about accents.  If you are aching for a pop of color, decide on where you’d like it.  Do you have an old piece of furniture you’d like to paint?  Perfect.  This can be an accent!  Wanna paint your bland, beat up door?  Perfect.  Paint the inside too!

Go through a similar process.  Look at colors you like.  Grab a paint chip {the paper with the color on it} and tape it to the furniture/door/area your accent will live.  Give it a day or two before you decide.

If you don’t know where to start–start with a paint pallet…those often include accent ideas.  Or make another Pin board.  If in doubt, mustard yellow, peacock blue, and a toned down coral are always good “pop” pieces against a fairly neutral wall.

 

Happy painting!  Did I miss anything?  How do you pick your paint colors?  Oh–and don’t you love that clock?!! I’ll show you how I made it happen tomorrow.

xo

Amy