Tips on Selecting Paint Colors for your Home

We know it can be difficult to select paint colors for your home. If you’re like some of us, you paint swatches all over the walls, but are too paralyzed to select one. We hear you! Here are some paint selection tips from our interior designer and finish specialist David Richardson.

Review the use of each room and select a color that suits that purpose. For example, you want a bedroom to be soothing, so select muted tones of green, taupe, or blue.
When you’re in the paint selection stage of a renovation project, we recommend painting a sample on a one-foot by one-foot area on a wall in the room. Leave it up for a few days so you can decide if you like how it looks at all times of the day.
Use a neutral palette in the common areas and use décor and furniture to add accent colors and personality.
The hardest color to select is white because there are so many different shades. Some have a tinge of blue so in darker light it looks bluish. Some white shades have cool or warm gray, beige or yellow tints. Ceiling white always has a bluish cast.
Gray has been popular for several years, but David says warm beige shades are the current favorite.
The best place to go crazy with color is in a powder room. “Go as wild as you want,” he says. “Dazzle your guests.”

TIPS FOR ACCENT WALLS

Go bold for accent walls. If you’re using a strong color, mute the color of the other walls in the room. Don’t use a brilliant white next to a bold accent wall. Off-white for the rest of the walls in the room will make the accent color stand out.
Use a matte finish for bold accent wall colors. You can also use washable flat or low-sheet egg shell. You do not want to use eggshell or semi-gloss finish because it creates a lot of reflection/shadows in both natural and artificial light.
If you’re going to paint bold color, purchase a paint that contains primer. If the walls are going to be primed first, make sure the primer is tinted with the wall color.
Deeper shades take longer to dry because they container more toner and less base.
Red is one of the hardest accent colors to select. It’s great to use in a dining room. If you’re feeling bold, Benjamin Moore just announced it’s color of the year for 2018: Caliente AF-290.