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| Purchase paint samples and try them out for a few days. |
Choosing an interior paint color can bring the bravest DIYer to their knees. Don't let those white walls scare you. Finding the right color for your home just takes a little forethought. Before heading to the paint store, sit in your room and think about how you want it to feel. Larger, cozier, more traditional, or fun and funky? There's a paint for that!
Get Professional Help
If you really have no idea where to start, go to a real paint store that offers actual old-fashioned service and ask for assistance. The professionals will guide you through the selection process with a few easy steps:
- Browse through color samples. It's less confusing to stick with one or two color families while looking through hundreds of available colors. Stay in one lane to reach your destination faster.
- Take your favorite color swatches home and tape them to the wall. See how the color looks in your room with your lighting. Narrow the choices down to a handful of winners.
- Purchase paint samples and get some color on the wall. Live with the colors for a few days before making a final decision.
- Now that you've chosen the main wall color, the paint consultant can advise you on colors for trim and other molding.
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| You can adjust the height of your ceiling with paint. |
Trick The Eye
The right interior paint color can make or break a challenging room. Small rooms can appear larger, poorly lit rooms appear brighter and narrow rooms look wider with a little help from paint.
Lessen the "bowling alley effect" of a narrow room by coordinating the paint color to the furniture. Don't use the exact same shade, but if the major pieces of furniture in a room are tan, a shade of tan on the walls will create an overall look that seems wider and more open. Painting the furthest wall in the room a darker shade of the same color will also enhance the illusion of width and balance the room's proportions.
We're used to thinking that small rooms have to be painted in light colors to make them look more open airy, but that's not the only solution. You can make a small room look more substantial with the selection of bright or bold (but not dark) paint colors. A color that draws attention adds visual weight to a room and fools the eye into thinking the space is grander than it actually is.
Adjust the height of your ceiling-with paint! Yes, you can remedy a too-high or too-low ceiling with the right paint color. Darker shades, and by that we mean slightly darker than your wall color, make a ceiling appear lower and give a room a more intimate feel. On the flip side, choose a neutral or light tint to "push" the ceiling up and make the room appear larger.
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