How to Pick the Right Paint Color for the Size of Room

Choose colors that emphasize the best aspects of your room.

Capitalize on the best aspects of your room while taming its more difficult qualities by selecting colors that show its best side. Large rooms can be made more intimate with the right color choices, and smaller room can appear less oppressive. In general, warmer and neutral colors like taupe, sand and ocher will be less obtrusive than intense colors like magenta, periwinkle and vermilion. Once your goals for the room are established, you can let your creativity do its work.

Instructions

1. Make a small room seem larger by choosing lighter colors and painting the ceiling a cool white. Stay away from vibrant colors, which will activate the walls and draw attention to their proximity.

2. Create an intimate space in a large room by choosing medium to dark colors. Earth colors work well, as well as warm neutrals. Paint the ceiling a lighter version of the wall color for continuity and flow. Avoid a bright white ceiling.

3. Make a low ceiling seem to disappear by painting the walls a light color and using the same color for the ceiling. This will soften the contrast between wall and ceiling and make it less prominent. This also works well for cathedral ceilings, where there are no edges between wall and ceiling.

4. Get paint samples if you can to test your selected colors on the walls for effect. If samples are not available, choose a paint color that is a lighter shade than your selected color on the swatch. Colors will seem darker and richer when painted on the wall than they appear on the swatch.

References

• This Old House: Choose Paint Color with the Color Wheel
• HGTV: How to Choose a Color Scheme