Amy Krane Color

So, you bought a new home or you’re tossing out everything you own and starting from scratch, all new. Yay! or Yikes?

Choosing paint colors for an entire home can be daunting. Chances are you’re on some kind of schedule and can’t dilly dally or procrastinate choosing your paint colors. You need a method to choose the paint colors for your home which is sensible and fool proof. Here it is!

How to choose paint colors for your home. Let’s start with some don’ts.

Do not rely on a color combination created by a paint company in one of their “helpful” inspirational brochures or on-line. Why? The colors you see in a printed photo and even more so online will be significantly different than what that color will look like on your wall.

Printed colors can be photo- retouched to look more pleasing, the lighting used to take the picture will not match the lighting in your home and colors appear different on each of our digital devices unless we have them perfectly calibrated.

How colors appear is all about the lighting as color is reflected light. A wall looks blue because all of the other colors in the spectrum are being absorbed by the wall but the blue is being reflected. If you’re looking at a blue wall in natural daylight it will look very different when viewed with an LED bulb ( which can be many different color temperatures from warm to cold like daylight), an incandescent bulb or a halogen bulb. The color temperature of the bulb rules.

Do not choose your wall colors before your furnishings and decor. Why? Because it truly is working backwards. There are between hundreds and thousands of paint colors in any given company’s repertoire. ( Benjamin Moore has 3500 colors). You will always be able to find a choice of colors which will work with your decor but if you paint first you will be greatly narrowing down the fabric and rug choices you’ll be able use. You will be making it exponentially more difficult to furnish the house.

Do not choose your wall colors without having your fixed elements chosen first. By that I mean floor materials and color, kitchen and bath countertops, tile work, etc. The floor takes up an enormous amount of visual space in a room. Colors bounce and reflect from place to place. The color of your floor will influence the appearance of your furniture colors as well as your walls.

Don’t make final color decisions from tiny paint store chips. You must test the colors first. Best is on your walls in 2 ft squares in a variety of places ( in direct light and shadow, near trim, not right on top of another color, in view of other rooms and site lines). If you really can’t test painting on your walls, next best is on large cards and move them around.

Don’t check in with every friend, your Mom, the plumber and your Aunt Mimi to see if they like your choices. This is your home not theirs and your ( and your significant other if there is one) opinion(s) is the only one which counts.

Don’t let trends dictate the majority of your color choices. Trends come and go and you’re going to be living with these colors for a while. It’s best to add a trendy new color in accent pieces like throw pillows.

Don’t choose colors which are very bright and look great in a magazine. When that zippy orange, fluorescent yellow, or kelly green is scaled up to cover 4 walls it will likely overwhelm.

Don’t create a monochromatic room. It looks elegant and soothing in a magazine but without variety ( doesn’t have to be too much) in color and value ( lightness/darkness) a room can get boring fast.

How to choose paint colors for your home. The Do’s.

Amy Krane Color

Do use some key favorite pieces in a room to guide your choices. A color in a painting or an area rug makes a wonderful starting point.

Do mix some cool and some warm colors in the room. I don’t mean just with wall paint. I mean all of the colors in the room. It will create harmony.

Do choose colors you love and want to live amongst. No one else, expert or not, should tell you what to like.

Do take into account whether you plan to sell soon. If so, you should dissuade your daughter from choosing day-glo pink for her room.

Do keep flow in mind. The best two things to remember are: employ repetition. You don’t want a different color for every room. Choose colors whose composition share common components. A blue room next to a green room generally works well because both colors have blue as part of its makeup.

There you have it! If you keep these do’s and dont’s in mind you should be well on your way to creating a home with a beautiful color palette which is customized for your own taste.