How to Select the Best Paint Color for a Room

Choosing a paint color can be a little tricky because lighting and shadows affect it dramatically. Here are some tips for getting the color just right.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Brushes
• Plywood Scraps
• Large Sheet Of Cardboard
• Quart Of Paints
• Rollers
• Drywall Scrap
• Rollers

1. Study color schemes you admire in home-decorating magazines and tear out any particularly appealing examples. Take them with you when shopping for paint.

2. Remember that color usually seems more intense on walls than it does on a sample card. When it doubt, go a shade or two lighter.

3. Keep in mind that yellow and rosy tones give a room a warm feeling. Greens, blues and grays are cooler colors.

4. Avoid snow-white except in ultramodern, minimalist environments, because it will seem too harsh, giving a sterile, operating-room effect. It's better to go with a white that contains a hint of peach, beige or pink.

5. Save bold color schemes for rooms where you don't spend long stretches of time, such as bathrooms and dining rooms. You may tire of these schemes if they're in the home office, kitchen, family room or other rooms in which you stay for hours.

6. Take fabric with you if you're matching it. If you don't have a swatch, grab a sofa cushion, bedspread or curtain panel, for example.

7. Start small, buying just a quart or so of paint, and then painting a section of wall with a paintbrush or roller. Or test the color on a good-size (perhaps 3 feet square) plywood or wallboard scrap, or on a piece of cardboard; set it against the walls in the room as the light changes (including artificial light) and evaluate it for a few days.

8. Test a two-tone scheme, such as wainscoting in one color and walls in another, by painting two boards or painting one board in both colors.

9. Repeat the test, tinkering with more pink, less peach or whatever seems appropriate, in small cans of paint until you're satisfied. Yes, the cost for sampling various paints can add up, but it can prevent the disaster of applying, say, three gallons of the wrong color and being forced to repaint.

Tips & Warnings

• If you plan to sell your house soon, stick with mainstream colors. These are more likely to appeal to prospective buyers.

on 8/8/2006 "Dark colors recede and light colors advance so make a room seem larger by painting it light" is only true if contrasting colors are in the same room. Paint all walls the same color and the room appears larger, whether the paint is light or dark.

on 8/8/2006 No matter what colors happen to be popular for decorating, why not use your personal Complexion Color Profile (if you're a "Winter" you are flattered by "cool colors") when selecting paint tones for rooms you're in most often.

on 3/28/2006 A wonderful way to make a low ceiling seem higher, or a small room a bit larger, is to paint the ceiling a shade or two lighter than the walls! A paint expert told me that if you have ceiling light fixtures, to use flat ceiling paint to avoid glare. By the same token, if a room has a very high ceiling, making the room seem cold, you can cozy the room by painting the ceiling one or two shades darker than the walls!

on 11/22/2005 Pick a color that has more muted tones rather then bright tones, it will give a comfort feeling all year round. Don't go for orange or other harvest tones. They will only bore and irritate you after a short period of time (especially if you have younger children). Any muted colors will look and feel great in the family room.

on 11/22/2005 I have painted the ceiling in my bathroom and beedroom and then went down the wall about a foot.Then I put a border with a bold color under the border. This works especially well with a cathedral ceiling the the bedroom. It has made it very cozy.