The easiest way to choose the best interior paint colors is to start with colors you love. When you start with the colors you love, you are not bound by the traditional color schemes for a particular decorating style. Using your own favorite color as your base color, you can use it to create a color scheme around it. Your favorite colors can be the perfect inspiration for your new color palette.Here’s how to find out what your favorite color means, and how you can decorate with it.
Find Paint Color Inspiration
Magazines and catalogs have always been the staple of decorating inspiration. We’re lucky that now we have thousands of pages of inspiration on the internet. Retailer sites can be inspiring with their room vignettes, paint company sites can also show you ways to use color in your home. Social media sites like Pinterest and Instagram offer color inspiration that is refreshed in real time. Pinterest is great for creating inspiration boards for your favorite ideas, so you can keep all your ideas in one spot.Stunning teal living room from Shades of Light.
Use Color Theory to Create a Color Scheme
You don’t have to study color theory to get great ideas from a little color wheel. These inexpensive color tools can generate color scheme ideas quickly. With a turn of the wheel, you can see how colors might relate to each other, and learn the basics of color theory. While you probably won’t be painting your home in the exact colors you see on the wheel, you can choose shades of those colors at your favorite paint store.
It’s easy to use a color wheel to create a color scheme once you learn a few easy concepts.
Get Creative With Neutral Paint Colors
Just because you choose neutral paint colors doesn’t mean they have to be laid back. You can rev up your neutral color palette by being creative with how the colors are used. A striped wall in neutral colors adds tons of style but still keeps the room looking relaxed. Neutral wall color with a pastel ceiling is a sneaky way to add color without losing the soothing vibe of the space.
Pull Your Paint Color From a Print
One of the easiest ways to choose interior paint color is to start with a print fabric. Throw pillows, bedding, and even table linens can provide you with paint color ideas. If you’re creating an accent wall, look to the boldest colors in the print. If you would like to choose a paint color that is more subtle or for a larger space, look at the color in the small details of your print fabric. Take a fabric swatch to the paint store so you can choose paint strips to view at home.
Look Outside for Ideas
Bringing the outside in is a popular inspiration for color schemes. Whether you choose foliage green or the laid-back blues of the beach, exterior-inspired colors schemes are meant to be restful and relaxing. Be sure to sample your favorite paint colors at all times of the day and night, and with the window treatments closed and open to get the most realistic view of your possible choices.
If you’re going to use your landscape as inspiration, you’ll need to know the dos and don’ts of decorating with green.
Find You Paint Color in Artwork
An interior designer’s secret is choosing colors from artwork in your home. Most artists are masters of color and light, creating their own color schemes for their pieces. You can benefit from their insight by choosing colors from a favorite piece of art. You can also choose complimentary colors from the same work of art, to create a color scheme.
Try a Lighter or Darker Shade
Sometimes all you need is a little adjustment to find the right interior paint color. Before you abandon your paint color choice too quickly, consider a lighter or darker shade of the same color. Many paint colors appear on a paint strip in gradual shades, but you can also ask your paint store to customize it by percentages of light or dark shades.
How to Use Undertones to Find Your Perfect Paint Colors
You can be unpleasantly surprised by the undertones when choosing interior paint colors. Simply explained, undertones are the colors lurking beneath your favorite paint color. A simple beige may not be all that simple if it has a strong green undertone. The only way to accurately read how an undertone will appear in your home is to sample the color. Undertones from other surfaces in your room can also change the way your paint appears due to reflection, so sampling is essential.
Learn how undertones work, and why it matters when you’re choosing interior paint colors.
How to Flow Color Throughout Your Home
If you’re decorating a small home, flowing paint color throughout the rooms can give the illusion of a larger space. Flowing paint color through your home can also create a relaxing vibe. The most stunning way to use flowing color is to choose a neutral paint color that will be your signature hue for your home. Each room can have its own accent colors, or you can use the same accent colors in different amounts in each room. Keep flooring similar from room to room, and consider molding to tie everything together.