How to Choose the Right Paint Color

Choose your color scheme and give it a try online to see if you like the results.

Choosing pleasing color schemes does not have to be daunting. All it takes is a bit of practice with free, or inexpensive, easy-to-use software, a basic understanding of color theory, and, most important, a willingness to experiment. You can try out infinite color combinations online before ever committing to buying and applying actual paint.

Things You'll Need

• Pixel grabber (set to capture RGB codes)
• Color wheel
• Paint chip fan deck or swatches
• Pixel capture-from-photo/image program (optional)
• Virtual painting software (optional)
• Scanner (optional)
• Accurate color printer (optional)

Instructions

Option 1: Build Selections from the Colors You Have

1. Using digital/digitized photographs and images and a pixel grabber or program such as Pictaculous (pictaculous.com), make note of colors you already have and don't want to change by looking at the hues of furnishings, draperies, flooring, trim, woodwork and cabinets if you're working on an interior, or seasonal landscape colors and brick or stone if you're working in an exterior area.

2. Note the colors of adjoining rooms or properties. Check with your homeowner's association for exterior color guidelines and restrictions if you live in a planned or historic neighborhood.

3. Match all your existing colors to those on a color wheel, read up a bit on basic color theory, and select additional hues that will fit the scheme you choose.

Option 2: Create Your Own New Palettes

1. Gather and digitize inspirational images from websites, photographs and fabric swatches and use a pixel grabber to capture the RGB color codes.

2. Or, build schemes and blends using a color wheel and palette-generating program.

3. Print out your palettes or individual swatches on an accurate color printer if desired.

Translate Your Colors to Paint Codes

1. Using the RGB codes for your colors, enter them in a program such as Easy RGB (easyrgb.com). Select a paint manufacturer from the list, and the program will generate paint names and code numbers.

2. Borrow or buy a complete fan deck or collect swatches for the colors of your choice.

3. Hold the swatches to the interior or exterior wall and consider them for a few days. See what they look like in different light and adjust your selections as needed.

Preview Your Choices Before Buying Paint

1. Simulate your color scheme with a virtual painting program, available free online from many paint manufacturers. Some even allow you to import and mask your own photos.

2. Paint a 4-by-4-foot square in your chosen colors. Most companies offer small samples of their paint for this purpose.

3. Buy quarts of paint to test the colors if small samples are not available, as it is cheaper than buying gallons and deciding you don't like what you have chosen.

Tips & Warnings

• Free pixel grabbers, such as Instant Eyedropper (instant-eyedropper.com/) are readily available online. Paint suppliers also have scanners that can generate paint formulas to match the swatches you print or fabric samples you find. Similar technology is available in hand-held devices or as free software applications for wireless devices. Consider the kind, amount and color of light that will be present in an interior room and adjust your colors and their values (lightness or darkness) accordingly. Color Impact is an excellent commercial program for exploration. Paint company websites also have palette-generating capabilities and the colourlovers.com has a supportive community and a variety of useful color and palette tools.

References

• Colormatters.com: Color Wheels
• Tigercolor.com: Color Theory Basics

Resources

• Colourlovers.com
• Benjaminmoore.com: Personal Color Viewer
• Sherwin-williams.com: Color Visualizer