Picking the perfect paint color can be tricky, but I’ve got some tips to help you get it right the first time (usually)! Follow these tips and choose a color with confidence.
1. Find Inspiration & Research Online Images
Before I started the office project, I found this amazing rug and used it as the starting point for the entire design. However, I was all over the map when it came to picking the paint color. I knew I wanted it to be moody, modern, and boho. I found three images of wall colors I liked, and I chose a direction based on those.
2. Consider the Connecting Colors
When choosing paint colors for your home, always consider what is happening in the adjoining spaces. For example, My kitchen has rustic cypress cabinets with orange undertones, and my wood floors are also a natural wood. To balance all that warmth, I prefer cooler colors or neutrals on the walls. For example, when choosing a gray, I’ll use a warm gray. Gray is technically a “cool” color, but the warm undertones help it work with the room. If I added a terracotta color, it would be too much for my tastes.
I could continue waxing poetic about color selection, but that will have to be in another post. For now, here’s a great tip I learned from Valeria at Rebecca & Genevieve.
3. Create a Home Color Story
When trying to see how colors will work together from room to room, create a color story. First, save a screenshot of each color in your home to your phone. Next, put all those photos in an album. When you go to your albums, you can see how everything flows together.
4. Research Pictures of the Color Online
Once I decided on a gray-green color, I started researching color options. I searched color names I liked to see rooms in that color. This isn’t a guarantee of how it will look in your home, but it definitely helped me get a better idea of what I wanted, and didn’t want.
After looking at other rooms, I realized that I didn’t want a lot of blue in my office, and I needed to go darker on the color strip. I didn’t like medium green walls. I also found that I loved rooms where the trim was also painted dark.
5. Choose a Color
At this point, I was looking at two or three colors. This is when I stepped back and looked at the colors side-by-side and against other elements in the room. I liked the grayer tone in SW Pewter Green, and it picked up the olive green in my rug perfectly.
I went to the paint store and grabbed a sample whole gallon, because at this point, I knew I’d love it. If you’re not as reckless confident, a sample size is an inexpensive way to make sure you love the color.
Guess what — I threw a test patch up on the wall when I got home, and I love it! I’ll be painting later this week.
I will share more photos soon, including the new light fixture and how I’m tweaking the foyer to work with this new color in the space.
If you missed any of the Fall One Room Challenge posts, you can check them out below.
- Designing an Elegant, Moody Home Office and Library – Weeks 1 & 2
- My Moody Bohemian Office Design Board – Week 3 of the Fall One Room Challenge
- DIY Success! Refinishing the Midcentury Modern Table – Week 4 of the Fall ORC
If you’d like to follow along with all of the One Room Challenge participants, click on the logo below.
I’ll be back next week to give more updates. Thanks for stopping by my today. Let’s stay in touch! Subscribe below to receive posts by email or follow me on Instagram or Facebook.
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