Find the perfect paint palette that suits your home.
Choosing interior paint colours for your redecoration projects shouldn’t be done on a whim. When learning how to choose the right paint colour, you will need to consider things like the size of the room, what it’ll be used for, and your current interior style.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of choosing interior paint colours that will work best with any living room or furniture colour scheme. Check out these nine tips before you hit the paint store to get the best results from your redecoration project.
Paint colours can impact the mood of the people in the room. They can energise, calm, or even help you focus.
Certain shades, like red, can stimulate your mind and urge you into action, while other shades, such as blue, can put your nerves at ease. Choose colours that closely reflect your personality and motivate you to feel a certain way.
When learning how to choose the right paint colour, consider the purpose of the room and the vibe you want to achieve.
Colour choices also affect how your room will be perceived. It can make a cramped flat feel airy or a large space feel cosy.
For example, warm whites and warm greys have yellow undertones and give the appearance of a cosy, soft, inviting space. Using deep blue and other dark colour palettes can also help achieve the same cosy effect.
On the other hand, cool grey or cool white interior paint colours can make a room feel more spacious.
While it may be tempting just to pick your favourite shade when redoing your interior house paint colours, you should never choose paint in isolation from the other elements in the room. Not everything has to match, but make sure that the walls, flooring, cabinetry, furniture, and accent pieces work harmoniously.
While you can certainly pick different colour schemes for different rooms of the house, it may save you time to choose one that works for the majority of your home. Mixing and matching hues can guide the eyes from one space to another or delineate one area from another.
Lighting also plays a big factor in how your space will look like. Even if the paint swatch looks great in the store, it may look slightly different in the actual space where it will be used due to the natural light entering the room and the artificial lighting.
As a quick reference, here’s how different lighting availability affects paint colour:
Before you decide on a paint colour, look at it against the morning, afternoon, and evening (artificial lighting) in the room. Talking to a professional house painter can help make this decision-making process easier.
Neutral doesn’t have to mean boring! Neutral house paint colours can bridge pops of colour from room to room, like a pastel pink ceiling and accent wall in the living room or a patterned tile in the kitchen.
Blue and white are also a popular pairing that looks great in dining and living rooms. You can also liven up neutral paint by introducing patterns like a striped wall in cream and tan.
Two-tone interior paint colours are a trendy way to update your room. You can go with a lighter or darker shade for a monochromatic palette. Meanwhile, grey tones with orange make for an unexpected, vibrant pairing.
Another example is combining dark brown and purple in one room. This can add just the right amount of oomph without deviating from your comfort zone.
Implementing two-colour combinations for your living room is easier than you think. Even just painting one wall in two colours or having a solid colour theme for the walls, furniture and decor can create an interesting focal point in the room and delineate areas in open-plan spaces.
Your next paint colour choice might be hidden right in the room! Look at an architectural feature on the exterior of your house. Bringing your exterior house paint colours indoors brings a seamless flow throughout the house.
For instance, the trim or fascia might just be perfect for your interior walls, or the grey polished concrete floors could pair well with green or off-white walls.
You can also look at nature for inspiration. If you have a lot of greenery outside, you can complement this by choosing green as one of your interior paint colours and pairing it with a neutral shade. A rustic surface like the hardwood on your floors could also inspire nature- or earth-tone-inspired colour choices.
When you know the colours you might like, consider the area you intend to paint. Take a moment to pause and think about the existing layout of the space or what the area will be used for, as the wall colour will affect the look and feel of the entire space.
Professional painters and decorators know which paint finish and what paint colour would work best for every space, considering all factors in the house. So, if you’re unsure how to go about a painting project, consult a pro for expert advice and painting cost estimates.
Colour scheme and palette are often used interchangeably but are very different.
A colour scheme is a framework or theory, for example, monochromatic, complementary colours, or achromatic. Meanwhile, a colour palette is the actual swatches: complementary colours, blue and orange, different shades and tints of the same colour, pink, and so on.
When picking a colour palette, stick to a few hues or choose different tones of a similar colour group rather than contrasting shades. It helps to use a colour wheel or talk to a colour consultant when determining the right colour scheme or colour palette for your interior walls.
Picking paint colours doesn’t have to be overwhelming and complicated. While doing it yourself can be fulfilling and affordable, reaching out to a painter can ensure a successful painting project that is worth your time and money, especially if it’s your first time repainting your walls.
Paints typically dry darker, but if mixed properly, they should come out looking the same as what is on the paint swatch. So, it all boils down to your choice of the swatch and mixing the paint properly.
There’s no hard rule that says you shouldn’t; however, your home will benefit from using at least different shades of the same colour. This adds visual interest while maintaining a certain flow or continuity as one moves through the house.
Below are some tips to help you choose your exterior house colour:
White is one of the most popular interior paint colours since it’s easy to pair with other colours. White can look warm and cosy or light and airy. Its classic look and ability to tie different colours together make it many homeowners’ paint colour of choice.
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