Adding fresh paint to the walls of your home is a simple way to change the style and breathe new life into your design. While the project might be easy enough to complete, the paint selection process is far from simple. With literally thousands of different colors to choose from, it can be hard to decide which one is the best for your room.
Know there’s a color you can’t live without? Find a place to use it and go from there.
Bright saturated colors like red, yellow and orange bring energy into the room. These colors are perfect for rooms where friends and family interact, such as a kitchen, family room or game room. Cool colors like blue, aqua and green give off a calming vibe. These colors are reminiscent of a spa-like atmosphere and create a relaxing environment in your bedroom or bathroom. Neutral colors work in just about any room of the house. The natural shades of beige, taupe and warm gray also match just about any other color, so you can change up the mood of a room by simply adding a few accent pieces in different colors.
Design Tip:
Use the same trim paint throughout your house to tie everything together.
Design: Alfredo Design
SO MANY WHITES!
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Evaluate the undertones
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Consider natural light and direction
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Pick a white that relates to your space
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Compare white paint options
DesignTip:
A warm white paint will have a base color (undertone) of yellow or red. A cool white paint will have a base color (undertone) of blue, green or grey.
HOW GLOSSY SHOULD YOU GO?
Flat: Shine-free always looks sophisticated. It brings a soft look to walls and camouflages imperfections incredibly well. Flat finishes can be used in master bedrooms, offices, formal sitting rooms, or on ceilings. Cleaning a Flat finish is much more difficult. Any cleaners used may damage the paint. Flat is best used for ceilings.
Eggshell: It’s forgivingly family-friendly, resisting fingerprints while still maintaining a glow. It is great for low-traffic areas in the interior of your home like your dining room, low traffic hallways, and adult bedrooms. Eggshell is not as easy to clean as glossier finishes. Eggshell is our preferred sheen for walls.
Satin: is highly versatile and has been described as velvety. It is highly durable and still very cleanable. Satin finish is perfect for active rooms like your family room, kid bedrooms, playrooms, window frames, and laundry rooms.
Semigloss: Great for cabinets and millwork, semigloss can withstand plenty of wear and tear, but isn’t so glossy that socrates are easily seen.
High-Gloss: Works both on the interior and exterior of your home and is easily cleaned. One important thing to consider is that the higher the gloss the more imperfections will be visible.
A slight change in sheen can make a major difference in durability and light.
Design: Marie Flanigan Interiors
Once you have the base color for your room, the rest of the design will come together. Create a focal point in the room by adding a contrasting accent wall. Brighten up the design by adding colorful accessories. Those paint samples might seem overwhelming at first, but once you get in and start playing around with different design ideas, you’ll have fun using color to make your house match your personality.