How to Choose Colors for Your Home

Choosing paint color in your home can be a daunting task. Many homeowners have no idea where to start and how to tie it all together.

Don’t rely on what is fashionable at the moment. Color styles and fashions change all the time. Stick with your own taste.

You will want to choose colors that will complement and reveal you and your family’s per­sonality. Think about the purpose of the room that you need to choose color for.

Even though a certain color may look good in someone else’s home, it does not mean that it will look good in yours. Even just the lighting alone can change colors and make them appear lighter or darker.

Here are some of the things that you will need to take into consideration when picking colors for a room:

Size of the room - Color can change the shape of a room. if you have a small room, you may want to paint it in a light color tone to make it appear larger. If you have a large room with high ceilings, you can make it more comy and cosy by painting in a darker / warmer color.

Color functions in terms of space ” some colors seem to come forward while others recede. If a room is long and narrow, paint the end walls in a darker shade to visually bring them closer together. Lighter / Cooler colors push the walls farther apart visually. A great option for a boring square room is to paint one accent wall in a darker shade. This gives the room depth and dimension.

Use of the room – For instance, if you have a den or reading room, you would not want to paint it red, because red is a stimulating color. You would want to use a more relaxed and restful color like blue or green. Red or Orange might be nice color choice for a master bedroom. These colors represent passion and excitement.

Here is a list of colors and what mood they represent:

Red – Anger or Love

Orange – Enthusiasm

Yellow – Joy and Happiness

Green – Jealousy or Good Luck

Blue – Peacefulness

Purple – Creativity and Passion

White – Cleanliness

Black – Sadness

Lighting – How many windows are in the room? How much sun do you get in the room? What type of artificial lighting is in the room? Lighting can change paint color and can make them appear lighter or darker.

Before you paint, I would suggest painting a sample board and checking the color in all different lights, during all different times of day. Make sure you like the color at night, just as much as you like it during the day. That can be the deciding factor on what color you choose.

Furniture – What color furnitire do you have? Is it large? Do you have mismatched furniture? Try to choose a wall color that will work with your furniture and not against it.

For instance if you have dark walnut furniture and red accent flowers, you may want to choose a gold for the walls to compliment the other 2 colors. If you have a red couch and red window treatments and red accessories, don’t paint your walls red. You don’t want to have one predominant color.

Accessories – The colors of your prized possessions within a room can be a great inspiration to picking colors. Pick your favorite thing and use it to provide the start­ing color to which the rest of a decorat­ing scheme is keyed.

Ornaments, flowers, framed artwork – they should conform to the color scheme. If you have an assortment of mismatched objects of unrelated color the room may appear haphazard. Remember it is important to have balance.

Too many colors in a room can create confusion. Limit the use of colors to 3-4 main colors. For instance, if you have an area rug that has lots of beige, browns, and taupes, but just a hint of olive green, you may want to use a lighter shade of that green to paint your walls.

These are just a few ideas to think about when choosing the right color schemes for the rooms in your home. If you are still completely confused, you can always hire a professional decorator or color consultant. Or… get a great book like this one:

Choosing Colors: An Expert Choice of the Best Colors to Use in Your Home

Tagged as: accessories, choosing color, color choices, color moods, color style, furniture, lighting, paint color, popular colors