10 Tips for Picking the Perfect Interior Paint Colour
So you’re repainting the interior of your Edmonton home as part of a renovation and have no idea where to start — we’re here to help! Choosing paint colours can be a daunting and overwhelming task, especially if you’re doing it on your own. So many of us have been in a situation where we’ve just spent hours rolling paint onto a wall, only to discover once it dries that we hate the way it looks. Yes, it is “just paint” — but it’s a loss of time, money and effort nonetheless!
Don’t lose sleep over choosing paint colours ever again. Here are our top ten tips for choosing a perfect paint colour for your home the first time, and every time.
1. Don’t choose paint first
This may seem counter-intuitive, but you shouldn’t choose paint colours first, even though walls take up a lot of the decor space in your home.
Consider the decor you currently have or want, and then choose a paint colour to match from there. It’s easier to choose from the thousands of paint colours available to match your decor than to try to find decor that matches a specific paint colour!
2. Start with the colours you love
The easiest way to start choosing a paint colour is to start with the colours you love — this means you aren’t bound by traditional colour schemes or a particular decorating style, but rather the colours that appeal most to you.
Use your favourite colour as a base colour, and then build a colour palette and scheme around it. Chances are, the colours you love are already showing up in the decor, furniture and artwork you already have in your home.
Credit: desiretoinspire.net
Credit: ispydiy.com
3. Do your homework before shopping
Before you head to the paint store to gather swatches, gather inspiration from magazines, interior design websites, Pinterest, and fabric swatches. Starting here will prevent you from taking too many paint colour options at the store — narrowing down your options makes the decision much easier!
4. Consider nearby rooms
Keep in mind that whatever colour you choose for a particular room, chances are it will be visible from the doorway of another room.
Consider how each colour will flow from room to room, and think about the rooms in your home as a composition with complementary colours.
5. Look outside for ideas
Magazines and social media not providing enough inspiration? Head outside! Bringing the outside in is a popular trend for choosing colour schemes. Whether you enjoy beachy blues or natural foliage, exterior-inspired colour schemes are meant to be restful and relaxing.
If you’re aiming to match with your surrounding landscape, make sure you test your paint colour swatches at all times of the day in variable lighting.
6. Consider the mood of the room
How do you want to feel when you’re inside the room you are painting? It is psychologically proven that different colours can affect your mood and emotions. Do you want a sociable and stimulating dining room or something quiet and formal? How about a relaxing living room or dramatic entertainment space?
Soft, cool and neutral colours create a quieter feeling while stronger colours create drama or a sociable atmosphere. Sticking to neutrals is a good place to start, but you can also explore accent walls for a mood boost addition in smaller quantities.
Credit: thedesignfiles.net
Credit: thehearnes.com
7. Start small
If you’re still not convinced you’ve picked the right colour, start small and experiment with a powder room, bathroom or small hallway. This will be quick to do and you’ll be able to see your results sooner, and ultimately decide if you’re happy with it or not.
8. Understand undertones
Explained simply, undertones are the colours lurking beneath a paint colour, and they can lead to an unwelcome surprise if not properly understood.
A warm paint colour will have a base colour, or undertone, of a warm colour like yellow or red. A cool paint colour will have an undertone of a cool colour such as blue or green.
A simple grey might not be all that simple if it has a strong blue undertone. Other surfaces in your room may reflect on your wall surface, which can also bring out these undertones. The only way to really see how undertones are going to come through in your chosen paint colour is to test your colour in your space. This leads us to our next point…
9. Test your swatches with accurate lighting
Once you’ve chosen a few paint colours, try to pick the largest swatches your store has to bring home to your space — the larger the swatch, the easier it will be to see what colour looks best in your space.
Look at these samples at all times of day, in all types of lighting, and in different parts of your room. Hold them next to furniture, artwork and other decor. Lighting plays an important factor and can even make the same colour look different from one wall or room to the next.
Different finishes of the paint (matte, eggshell, gloss) will also appear different depending on your lighting.
Credit: m-interior-m.tumblr.com
Credit: yondinteriors.com
10. Don’t choose your paint colour at the store
Our last and most important tip is DON’T choose your paint colour at the store!
We get it – sometimes you’re just so eager to get started and you head to the paint store with a few colours in mind, check out a couple of swatches, and get the paint mixed right then and there. But doing this will only lead to disappointment, as it’s almost a guarantee that the paint colour will not look the same way in the store—which usually has yellow fluorescent lighting— as it does in your space.
Always take some paint swatches home to your space to test them out before returning to the store to get your paint mixed.
When it comes to choosing paint colours for your interior space, there’s no such thing as being too prepared. Do your research, learn about colour theory and different paint finishes, and always make sure you test your swatches under different lighting and conditions before mixing your paint.
If you’re using an Edmonton home builder for your renovation project, you want one who is knowledgeable about how wall colours work under different lighting and decor choices, and who can help guide you to make the right decision. Timberstone Builders has over 15 years of experience building, remodelling, and renovating trendy and award-winning homes in Edmonton and the surrounding area.