One of the biggest mistakes I see homeowners make is choosing paint color. Color can be your friend or foe depending on how you use it. Color can enhance an accent in your home or minimize an awkward design. Here are some tips on using color to your advantage!
1. How Will The Room Be Used? This is an important question to ask yourself as you begin color selection. Is it a child's playroom? A study? A bedroom? You'll also want to consider what will be happening in this space as well, i.e., playing, studying, resting because colors impact the brain in different ways. For example, vibrant colors such as orange, red, purple are great in a playroom, but red in a child's bedroom may be too stimulating for a restful night's sleep. Consider soothing colors such as soft blues, lavenders, pinks or greens for bedrooms. Additionally, certain yellow's in a child's room are believed to create angry children.
2. How Do You Want The Room To "Feel?" Are you looking for warm and cozy or cool and calm? The hues of color will vary offering "cool" tones or "warm" ones. A great example of this is when dealing with reds. Cool reds have a blue undertone, making the red very crisp and also very cool. Warm reds have a yellow-orange undertone, which lend them to be great colors for rooms where you entertain and want people to be lively, like a dining room or kitchen. Perhaps you want to create a sanctuary, a peaceful, calm retreat. Soothing colors like light blues, creams and greens help achieve that relaxing atmoshpere.
3. Here's Where It Gets Tricky! Okay, you know how the room will be used, you've considered how you'd like it to feel, and you decided you like blue. Now we get into shades, hues, intensity and it can get tricky. Have you ever painted a room with a color you thought would be perfect and it turned out to be awful? Without a trained eye to help you, my suggestion is that you get color sheets of the paint color and attach them to the wall. That way, you can look at them in the light of day and in the evening under artificial light. Colors change in different lights and it is always a good idea to get the sheets and have a trial run first. Speaking of lighting, different light bulbs will totally change the feel of a room and the look of the paint. This is one thing I always take into consideration when I do a paint consult.
4. Off To The Paint Store I tell my clients that I am a "paint snob" and I am not ashamed of it. I only use Benjamin Moore paint for many reasons:
1) I use it in my own home with spectacular results. I have used other name brand paints and have not been satisfied with the result. BM lasts longer, cleans up better and has low VOC's (the harmful paint fumes).
2) BM colors on a sample card match up exactly to the paint - I've compared them myself on many of my projects.
3) It's just better paint.
4) And, no, I am not a paid spokesperson, just a very satisfied customer!
5. If You're Painting Yourself....Be sure to prepare and have all the tools necessary to do the job! Ensure you have excellent quality brushes, painters tape, ladders and PRIMER!!! Yes, I said primer, it's SO important! Primer seals the wall and prepares it for painting. If you are painting a dark color, ask the paint store to tint the primer so that it will go on darker and save you the work of adding another coat. Primer not only saves time, but money also. You will not need nearly as much paint if you prime first. Also, please use that blue tape wisely, there is nothing that ruins the look of a room more than a sloppy paint job!
6. Don't Be Afraid! First of all, it's just paint and if you don't like it, in most cases, it's easy to change. So choose a color that you've always liked and go for it! If you still are in doubt, hire a professional to come in and give you a second opinion, the money you spend will be time and money saved, if you chose a bad paint color!
If you live in the Buffalo area and need help with paint selection, I offer paint consultations for $150. To schedule an appointment call 716.438.3818.
