How to Pick Paint Colors for a Home
- 1). Discover your options. Spend some time in your local home improvement store or paint store looking at the paint chips available. Pick the ones that appeal to you---you can take as many as you like, usually, at no cost---and take them home. Tape them to the wall. Ask family members and friends for their opinions (you can even record "votes" with a hash mark on the back of the chip). Try to narrow your selections down to a few for each room.
- 2). Think timeless over trendy. Unless you're planning to repaint in a couple years, think about how much you'll like that bright key lime in your kitchen five years from now. If you want a trendy color, start with one wall that can easily be repainted.
- 3). Choose complementary colors throughout the house. Develop a color palette (most paint companies offer suggestions on colors that go together). You want your rooms to flow: One super bright room in a sea of pastels or earth tones could be fun---but it also could be jarring if you don't choose wisely.
- 4). Be creative: One woman I knew chose colors for her entire house by using the colors in a Van Gogh painting. Another woman matched her kitchen to the many colors of Fiestaware pottery. A favorite blanket or throw pillow can also provide inspiration. Take fabric swatches or pieces of art with you to the paint store as inspiration.
- 5). Try it on. Once you've narrowed down your choices, try them on the wall (it's OK; you're going to paint the whole room eventually). Many paint manufacturers now sell sample pots of their stock colors for under $10, so that you can try them out at home. Even if the color you're considering isn't available as a sample, it's still worth the price of a quart to determine for sure whether this is a color you'll want to live with.
- 6). Look to the light: Be sure you view your painted-on samples at all times of day. A dark color in a room that doesn't get much sun is likely to result in a cave-like effect, while a color that's too light will wash out in a bright and sunny room. Remember that most paint will dry up to a shade darker once it's painted on.
