How To Choose The Perfect Paint Colour For Your Home

Most find choosing the paint colour for their walls inside their home quite difficult. Houzz Australia along with Yanic Simard, a Toronto interior design group, give you eight expert tips to help you choose a paint colour that you will love for years to come, below.

While many homeowners are attracted to bright colours, I often find my clients are most concerned about making sure the palette in their home feels ‘liveable’. After all, a colour you love in a stunning photo may not be a colour you will love to see on your walls every day. With that in mind, here are some tips for choosing a paint colour you’ll enjoy in real life.

1. Don’t Purchase Paint On The Spot

It’s important when you begin the process of selecting a paint colour to start with a wide palette of options. When you go to a paint store, don’t worry about choosing the best possible colour while you’re in the shop. Your goal should be to arm yourself with a variety of options so you can make the best possible choice later. This usually means pulling more swatches than you think you need – and even some colours you don’t think you will want.

Choosing subtle colours, as opposed to bold and saturated hues, can be the trickiest, as the more subdued the tones in the paint, the harder they will be to see in a paint swatch. For this reason it is wise to grab some paint swatches that are similar to the colour you think you want, but perhaps a little bit different. Grab the paint swatches that appeals to you at first glance, but also take two swatches on either side of it for variety. When you look at these swatches again at home, you may find that one you didn’t think you liked is, in fact, perfect.

2. Take Your Own Swatch

When you go to the paint store, don’t go empty-handed. Taking a piece of art or fabric as colour inspiration can be useful, but something even simpler can help you see colours correctly: a white sheet of paper. In the store, a pale colour may look virtually white, but in your home it will likely be contrasted by some bright white elements such as your ceiling, trims or even something as simple as a power point or lampshade (especially if it’s colourful and the light is switched on), rendering the colour much more noticeable.

Taking something pure white – and also pure black if you have it (like a leather jacket or a jet-black shirt) – will give you something to contrast against the paint swatches in the store to help you see the undertones more clearly. For example, a ‘light’ blue may seem lighter than the other blue shades on the same paint swatch, but when compared with a stark white it might suddenly look a lot more saturated.

As mentioned, it can also help to use another design element of the room as colour inspiration. It’s usually recommended to choose colours that are a bit lighter or toned-down from the true hues in your inspiration piece, lest they appear too saturated for a full wall.

3. Try Some Spatial Experiments

Once you’ve taken many paint swatches home, that is when you can truly decide which colours will work. As you may know, colours can look quite different in your real-life lighting than in the bright fluorescent lighting of a store. It’s also important to remember that colours will look different when they relate to other hues in the room, when they’re in different positions (on a wall versus on the ceiling, and at different times of day.

Tape paint swatches to the wall where they will be applied, and view them during the time of day you will be in the room the most (for example, in the morning or evening for your bedroom). Take your time to do this with individual colour swatches on their own, so each swatch isn’t visually competing with a rainbow of other options.

4. Go Big Or Go Home

Another huge factor that can change how you perceive a paint colour is the size of the swatch. No matter how carefully you look at it, a tiny paint-store swatch will never fully show you what a colour will look like on a full wall. For this reason, designers will often apply a large stroke of paint directly to the wall to see how it will look in real life.

This is an effective technique for helping to compare a shortlist of colours once you’ve narrowed down your selection. It can also help you see how a single shade looks in different finishes if you’re debating between, say, eggshell, satin or matt paint finishes.

If you don’t want to have to live with messy walls for a while, you can also order large-format paint samples from many companies. Individually, these don’t cost much and can save you a lot of money in wasted paint if it means you end up with the right colour instead of one you need to redo.

5. Take Your Time

To some, painting a room, and then painting it again later to change the shade, isn’t a big deal. After all, paint is one of the relatively easier elements of a space to fix if you make a mistake. For others, the effort and expense of repainting is a major pain. If this is you, it’s worth taking the time beforehand to really sit with a colour option before taking the plunge. The more time you take to sit with each choice, the less likely you are to get swept up in a passing fad or sudden impulse.

Do you love a colour right now because it’s a true favourite, or is it just a passing infatuation? Looking back at older photos you’ve saved as inspiration will help you see what hues you’ve truly gravitated toward for the long haul. If you think you’ve settled on a favourite shade, keep a copy of the paint swatch with you as you go about your life. When you find yourself in a friend’s home, a cosy restaurant or another inspiring space, hold up the paint swatch to nearby surfaces to see if it seems lighter or darker, brighter or more muted, than colours you’re drawn to in the space.

6. Make A Commitment

Once you’ve selected and purchased a paint colour, it’s time to commit. Paint will look quite different during the painting process, and it is very important not to judge the colour until it has been properly applied in the necessary number of coats – at least two, but often three or more, depending on the product, shade and the base you’re working on.

It’s wisest not to judge the colour at all until at least the next day, and to give yourself some time to adjust to the change in your space before jumping to any conclusions. This is especially true with darker shades, which will visually shrink the space in a way you will need a little time to get used to.

7. Get A Second Opinion

Still worried you won’t be able to live with your choice? Having an interior designer or professional painter come to your home for a colour consultation can give you a lot of insight, especially because they will typically come armed with paint-swatch decks in every colour, bringing the entire paint store to you. Another option is to choose a time-tested signature colour from one of your favourite designers. While a colour shown in a single photo may look different in real life, if you try a designer’s go-to hue, you can rest assured that this colour looks great in many spaces.

For example, I have used Benjamin Moore’s Classic Gray in a multitude of projects, because it’s sumptuous but subtle, and it always just works. It’s used here in a project by another designer. Remember too that many local paint stores can colour-match shades to produce your ideal hue if you have the name and make on hand.

8. Don’t Overthink It

Any artist can tell you that the more you stare at something, the harder it becomes to truly see it. Sometimes the best thing you can do while trying to choose a colour is to take a break for several days and come back to your options with a fresh perspective. When you return, look at your selections and go with your gut. Ultimately, if you really love a colour – light, dark, soft or bright – it will feel liveable, so there’s no reason to choose any hue but the one that feels right to you.

Whether you want to go with on trend colours, or a timeless classic finish, our team at Hurst Homes guide your through the entire process including your selections to ensure you create your dream home. Just another reason why we are considered Waggas best builder. With over 30 years in the industry as a Wagga Builder you can trust Hurst Homes with your dream home. For a free no-obligation preliminary estimate contact us today on 0438 692 962 or fill out the contact us page on our website.

For more tips from the Houzz experts visit Houzz.com.au