You have decided to paint a room or maybe multiple rooms but are not quite sure where to start. We are here to offer some of our best tips and tricks for how to start, where to find ideas, and most importantly understanding how that color works in your home.
Paint Color Inspiration
Inspiration is all around us, both in real life and online. The key is not to become overwhelmed by all the ideas. Put some thought into what you are trying to achieve with this painting project. And create a notebook or a Pinterest board to keep track of all the beautiful rooms you find.
- New Construction Open Houses – Take a Sunday and visit open houses. Very often you will see the latest in-home trends using neutral palettes. Remember to take pictures and ask for the name of the paint color.
- Magazines – Magazines can be found in bookstores or libraries and many of the magazines also have online versions. The room vignettes will be in a variety of styles and focus on what colors are currently popular.
- Paint Brand Websites – Since the paint brands want you to buy their paint colors, they will have a treasure trove of ideas and inspiration for you. Color cards are still popular and are focused on the colors that are popular in that year and in upcoming years.
- Pinterest – It is easy to search for ideas on Pinterest. You can focus on rooms, colors, and even paint brands to find your inspiration. And best of all it is easy to save your favorite ideas all in one spot.
Find Color Chips At The Paint Store
You have found your inspiration. Review the ideas you have pulled together. It should provide you with an idea of the colors and styles you like. You are now ready to pick some paint chips to evaluate in your home.
The best way to find color chips is with a trip to the paint color center. While the selection can be overwhelming you already know what you like so stick with the plan. Paint chips are useful in narrowing down your selection.
Some paint companies use stripe cards, which will take you from the lightest to darkest of colors with the same tones. Other companies have one color on a chip, but the overall chip layout serves the same purpose from lightest to darkest in the same tone.
A color wheel can also help you pick coordinating colors. Colors next to each other will coordinate with each other (like blue and green) as well as colors across from each other like purple and yellow
Take Your Chips Home
Natural and artificial light affects the paint color. So, it is very important at this stage to view the colors in your home and in the room, you will be painting.
The goal at this stage is to narrow the choice to 3 – 5 colors that you will want to sample. Remember a chip is made with lacquer and not paint. So, the chip will get you close but it will not get you to the finish line.
Try Before You Decide
Think about this. You have spent your time looking for the perfect color, you will invest time and money in paint and labor to finish the project. And this room will not be painted again for another 7 – 10 years. Why should you live with a color that wasn’t quite right? Sampling is the process that makes sure all your hard work pays off.
The best way to sample is with a SureSwatch SureSwatch Paint Swatch. It can be painted with any color, any brand, and any sheen. Sampling should always be done in the sheen that you will be painting your room. Since flat paint looks quite different than semi-gloss paint.
Colors next to each other influence how you see that color. That is why it is important to compare but to always look at the final color alone. With a SureSwatch you can quickly eliminate the colors you do not like so you can view the color you do like.
The sheen of the paint affects how you see color. Semi-gloss paint will look shiny, and flat paint has no sheen. While the tone of the color will be the same the sheen can affect if you like the color or not. That is why it is important to test your paint in the sheen you will be painting. SureSwatch is customizable in the sheen, color, and paint brand of your choosing.
It’s the perfect paint color! Except for every time you look at the wall all you see are the previous test samples telegraphing through your beautiful wall. With SureSwatch there is no wall mess and no worries about seeing the colors you did not choose.
View Day And Night
Once you have your samples view them under different lighting conditions. Light affects how we view paint colors. Day or night will make a difference but also try with window coverings open and closed.
Light hits each wall differently that is why it is important to try the colors on multiple walls and at the same time to make sure you always have the perfect color.
By following these tips hopefully, you will find your next paint color with greater ease and enjoyment
About The Author
Always a problem solver, Jamie Peltz looks at common everyday problems from a different perspective. After 17 years of working for a corporation, Jamie found herself unemployed. She saw this as an opportunity to follow her dream to become an entrepreneur. Over the years, she has received multiple patents and been able to commercialize a few of her inventions.
Jamie is a graduate of The Ohio State University and received her MBA from John Carroll University. She also participated in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program and is currently Treasurer for NAWBO – Cleveland (National Association of Women Business Owners). In addition to her work, she enjoys hiking and spending time with her family.
