How to Choose Paint Colors

Choosing paint colors can be a challenge, but by using what's already in your home to drive your color palette, you can ease any agony in the decision-making. And, remember, paint is easily replaced.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Review what's already in the room. Look at the floors and any existing furniture or rugs. You can ignore throw pillows and lamps as you may change those, but the core pieces of the room are much more expensive and difficult to change, so work with them.

2. Note the main colors that are already there. Perhaps the floors are a dark walnut stain and the dark, leather furniture, so blacks, dark browns and burgundies are already present. Or you might have light pine floors and wicker, so whites, yellows, and light tans are already present.

3. Look at the light. If the room is already dark, you may want a sunnier color to lighten the room up. If it's already a bright room, your choices can run the gamut from deep, rich tones to subtle, watercolor-like tones.

4. Determine the two or three colors that you'd like to amplify in the room.

5. Go to a local paint store and select dozens of colors that are in the family of colors you'd like to amplify. Don't limit yourself to one or two as they'll look significantly different at home.

6. Take the paint colors home and review them against the main pieces in the room and in the light. Make sure you look at the colors in the morning, mid-day and in the evening so that you have a good idea of how the color works in the lighting of the actual room.

7. Select two paint colors and order samples of the paint.

8. Paint a large square of each color on at least two walls of the room. Select the paint you think will work best with the elements of the room.

Resources

• Sherwin Williams includes some paint color advice