Picking paint colors for my home is one of my favorite things to do! It is amazing how changing the color of paint in a room can make an enormous impact and bring that room to life. However, there are so many paint colors out there and selecting the right color can be really daunting. Below are some tips of mine to help you select the right color for your room.
HOUSE WALKS, MODEL HOMES OR A FRIENDS HOME
Sometimes going to other homes provides the inspiration you need to help you select the right color for your room. At the very least, it could help you narrow down the direction you want to go with a color.
My family room was the first room in my new house that I decided to paint. There were many reasons this room was the first. First, we were planning on having the awful hunter green carpet pulled up and replaced with hardwood floors before we moved in and it was recommended to me that the painting should be completed before the floors were installed. Second this would be the room I would spend most of my time in so it was important for me to get this room completed first so I had one room that felt like home to me. Third, I already knew what color I wanted to paint the family room, in fact I had this particular color in mind for over 10 years and every other decision on decorating in the room would be around this paint color.
So, what is this magical paint color that I loved so much for over ten years? Benjamin Moore’s Mystic Gold. How did I discover this color? On a house walk with my mom.
My mom and I love looking at homes. Her father is an architect and she grew to have an appreciation for architecture, furniture, and decorating from him. I learned to share this passion from her.
So, one weekend, over ten years ago we decided it would be fun to go on a house walk, check out some homes and get inspired by the decorating. I do not remember all of the details about the house walk, but I will never forget walking into the dining room of one of the homes and my mom and I turning to each other exclaiming how much we loved the color it was painted. The paint color was a rich, elegant, vibrant, neutral but not neutral color and it just spoke to both of us. We made it our mission from that moment on to find someone on who was running the house walk that could tell us what the color was. Eventually we were introduced to the designer of the house and we were able to get the color name from her.
My mom later used that color in a few rooms in her house and I always thought those rooms were just the most elegant rooms in the house and there was something about that color that provided me with comfort and helped me feel energized and relaxed at the same time. I continued to feel this way every time I saw the color in her house and I knew that those were the feelings I wanted to have every time I walked into my family room.
As my family room shares some of the same walls as my kitchen, I decided to continue this color into the kitchen as well.
COLOR COLLECTION / COLOR FAMILIES
The next color I selected in my home was for my foyer, first floor hallway, and upstairs hallway. As these areas all flow together I wanted to be sure they were the same color. Since these areas were all next to the family room and kitchen, I wanted this color to go compliment the mystic gold. However, since I do not get as much natural light in these areas I wanted something lighter and brighter.
In an effort to make it easier to start trying to find the right color I decided to look at other colors in the color collection that Mystic Gold fell under. Paint companies often put colors that look nice together into larger color collections or into color guides. Mystic Gold was part of the Historical Collection. Benjamin Moore’s website describes the Historical Collection as “Benjamin Moore’s revered Historical Collection was inspired by 18th and 19th century architecture found throughout North America. While the Historical Collection is steeped in traditional American design, these hues transcend architectural styles; for years, this celebrated collection has complemented both contemporary and transitional spaces.” As my house is very traditional and I love very classic decorating and design it made sense to start here.
Focusing in the same color collection narrowed down my choices to 191 colors, which is still a lot of colors to consider. I decided next to focus on lighter colors that were in a similar tone and I especially was most interested in the colors that were on the same color family or adjacent color families. I could narrow my selection down this way to around 10 colors. Next, I went to my local True Value (which sells Benjamin Moore paint) to purchase samples of each of the colors I was interested in. During my trip, I also purchased multiple inexpensive paint brushes and also multiple white poster boards.
Now you may be wondering why on earth I need white poster boards, but I really consider this a key step when I select a paint color. Why you ask? Because I end up painting the sample colors onto the poster board. To truly determine which color is the best color for the room you need to see it in a larger swatch. Each color has different undertones and it is difficult to determine which color is right without a larger sample size.
Another wonderful thing about the poster board is that I can write the name of the color on the poster so I do not mix up the different colors. I can also hang them with painter’s tape in the room and easily move them around to different locations in the room. Colors look different at different angles of the room and during various times of the day. I usually take multiple days to determine which color I am going to select so I am sure I have seen it from every angle and at multiple times during the day. A color can look very different in morning daylight versus evening daylight versus artificial lighting. A color can look one way in the store under florescent lighting and totally different under your home’s lighting. It can even look amazing in one room and look completely wrong in a different room. Always be sure to take the time to really check the color before you invest considerable time to paint because it can be very time consuming.
Ultimately, I ended up selecting Powell Buff. It came from a directly adjacent color family to Mystic Gold and it provided the warmth and brightness I was looking for. (Also, check out that awful tile in the front entry in the shot above! We replaced that with beautiful hardwood. I will share more about that in a future entry.)
COLOR INSPIRED BY FABRIC, DECOR, TILE / COUNTER TOPS, OR FURNITURE
Sometimes it is easier to start with a piece of fabric from the couch or a pillow, a piece of artwork you want to feature in the room, a rug you want to be the centerpiece of a room or some piece of decor.
This is how I selected the color for our dining room. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts (HOW I FURNISHED MY EMPTY HOUSE WITH QUALITY FURNITURE ON A BUDGET AND HOW YOU CAN TOO) I purchased my dining room set at an Estate Sale. The set came with chairs and table runners that had a Gold and Cream fabric. I decided that I did not want to reupholster the chairs, so I would select a color that went with the fabric. As the gold color of the fabric was really, really gold I decided to focus on matching or complementing the cream accent of the fabric. But do you know what? There are a vast range of cream paint colors!
Here is what I did to start. I went through all the creamish colored paint chips and put them up next to the fabric. By doing this I could narrow down the set of colors to around 10-15 colors. From there I continued to compare the colors with the fabric and narrow down my choices to my top 5. I then went out to the store and did the same as when selecting the color for my front hall (see above for more details).
Ultimately, I ended up selecting Powell Buff as well and I absolutely love the way it looks in the room! It perfectly complements the fabric!
These were the main ways I went about selecting paint colors and they were very effective for me. I still have a few rooms left to paint, but I almost have all of the paint colors picked out for them. The two rooms I am still waiting to figure out are the upstairs hall bathroom and the first-floor half bath. For these two rooms, the tile and counter tops I select will really determine the color I select for these rooms. As there is a more limited selection of tiles than paint colors, I tend to have that be my first pick when working on a bathroom.
What tips and tricks have you used for selecting paint colors for your home?
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