How to pick a paint color

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By FUSILLI1OF4
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pick a paint color

Choosing a paint color is one of the most mind boggling decisions of decorating our home. It is so easy to feel absolutely overwhelmed by the vast number of choices made available to us. Many of us find ourselves stuck in neutral bland colors, for fear of choosing the wrong color. Yet isn't it funny when browsing magazines or visiting a friend's home you see rooms painted with color and they look absolutely fantastic? You kind of sit there and ask yourself "how did they pick a color"? Who would think something that seems so easy to do, is not as easy when it is our turn to pick a color?

This article will show you how to choose just the right color for your home in just 3 easy steps.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

color swatches from stores where they sell paint. (they are free too!)
Your imagination and an open mind

Step 1

Sample paint color swatches

Find your inspiration. The best way to finding the right color already exists in your home. Look around your home at the decor, artwork, accent pillows and furnishings. Look at the colors and hues in pictures, the fabrics and linens in things such as bedding, living room furniture, rugs or even your garden/inside plants and flowers for inspiration. Still stumped?? Do you have a favorite outfit? What color is it? Look at those color swatches and see your preference of warmer or cooler tones. How do certain colors make you feel? Do you find hues of blue soothing/comforting? Do red/warmer tones bring energy to the room? Would a nice sunny yellow brighten your kitchen (and morning too)?
Step 2

Pick a color. It's time to pick a color now that you have found your inspiration. Time to decide on what color will the walls and the trim be? The easiest way to find the right trim color for the wall color you have decided on is to lay out your paint swatches in a line and pick hues in the same row so the color you choose will have the same intensity but a different hue.
Step 3

This is probably the most important part of picking a color and probably the one that is skipped the most often! Now that you have slimmed down your choices of color to a select few, the best thing to do next is try it out! If you go to your nearest home improvement stores they sell small samples of paint choices so you can experience the colors at a nominal cost. Go home and paint small swatches on the wall that you are planning on painting in a few of the "finalists" colors you have decided on. Let them stay on the wall in the room you decided you wanted to paint for a few days. Notice how the lighting affects the different colors. Notice how you feel the colors will bring out your focal point of inspiration? Which color do you feel will bring out your artwork or home furnishings?
Step 4

Now that you have had time to observe the color swatches on the wall. You're ready to choose a final color.