A fresh coat of paint can cover a multitude of scuffs and revitalize even the dreariest space. For many new homeowners, painting is the first step in transforming a house into a home.
Of course, there’s a lot more to painting than breaking out the brushes and rollers. Choosing the right color scheme is key to creating a living space that reflects your taste and aesthetics while complimenting the character of your home. Here are some tips to help you get pro results from your DIY painting projects.
Study Your Space
Let the design, layout, and age of your home guide your color choices. A Victorian-era house might call for the vibrant colors of a 19th century “painted lady.” A sleek modernist structure could be better suited to muted shades with eye-popping accents. Be sure to consider the light, too. A wall of orange-peach coral in a bright, sunlit room will have dramatically different characteristics than the same shade in a room that relies on artificial light. The size and shape of each room also influences color. Small rooms tend to “shrink” when colors are dark, while wider more cavernous spaces can feel cozier and more intimate when painted with darker shades. And don’t forget to consider how the rooms relate to each other. Open-plan homes with less defined living areas require more tightly coordinated color palettes those with more enclosed spaces.
Choose Your Palette
Once you know your space, it’s time to find the colors that will define it. From Architectural Digest to Pinterest there are myriad sources to inspire you. Whether you tear pages from magazines or build a carefully curated folder of sources from the web, find color palettes that create the mood you want to cultivate in each room. Perhaps you like neutral tones with punches of color. Or maybe you lean toward bold contrasts. It’s worth taking the time to explore. The more precisely you pinpoint your preferences, the more satisfying the result will be.
Coordinate Your Fabrics
Before you run to the paint store with your color palette, be sure to consider the furnishings, rugs, and upholstery that will be part of the final mix. Do those powder blue curtains harmonize with the seafoam green you envision on the walls? Will the brown couch disappear into the maroon wall behind it? Is the finished room a warm and cozy nest accented with floral pillows and crochet blankets? Or perhaps you’ve chosen industrial grays and blacks to set the stage for a suite of mid-century modern furnishings with gleaming chrome accents. When you put it all together, the pairing of paints and textiles will exceed the sum of their parts, creating a mood and atmosphere that is uniquely your own.
Pop Your Colors with Accents
When thoughtfully deployed, accent colors pull a room together, unifying its range of colors and textures. When choosing accents, consider the hues in rugs, furnishings, and other textiles. Lifting one of those colors on to a wall can harmonize and fuse the most disparate elements. If your space is large and open, consider creating an accent from the palette of a neighboring area. Whether contrasting and bold, whimsical and playful, or tastefully understated, accents complete a space and set the tone for living in it.
Expand Your Color IQ
Just as the color spectrum contains a multitude of possibilities, there are nearly endless resources for learning more. This article from Houselogic is a good place to begin expanding your palette of knowledge. A Brilliant Way to Create a Color Scheme for Your Dream Home.