Choosing the right paint colors for your home a laborious and time-consuming activity. Playing with the different shades of nail paints and ties is so easy! After all, you can change them anytime and as many times as you want. Picking the colors for painting your house is a bit tricky though. And there are so many reasons which make it a hard call for many of us. To begin with, it’s not a frequent event. So, if you end up getting your house painted with a wrong color, you’ll have to live with it for a few months or years. Because, once the house is painted, you can’t just change it overnight.
Hence, it is better to do some basic amount of homework before setting the first foot into the world of house painting. And picking the right shades is the most important step in this process. Now, what feels right for someone may feel wrong to the other. The choices vary from person to person. Apart from that, several factors come into the play while finalizing the perfect colors for your house. These may be, your personality, the size of the rooms, the lighting, etc. And with right ideas, you can turn this complicated house painting riddle into a child’s play. So, what are you waiting for! Throw a glance at the 5 top notch ideas that would sort things out in your mind and help you in deciding the perfect colors for your house.
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First Things First and the Color Wheel
Before you make up your mind about the colors for the house walls, look around. What are the colors of the different pieces of furniture and wardrobe etc. in the house? On a subtle level, these elements play an essential role in making the color choices. The shades you pick for the paint should have a complementing nature toward the other things. The wall color may either enhance the wardrobe and curtains, etc. or vice versa. Don’t make the mistake of overlooking the elements of the room and randomly picking a wall color.
Color wheels are popular for a reason. These simple looking circles of colors are a genius way to drive away any confusion regarding the house color choices. Color wheels come in a lot of varieties. For instance, a complementing color wheel compares the contrasts. Another color wheel may display numerous shades of just one single color. Apart from the categories of primary and secondary colors, you can also find separate warm colors and cool colors, if you’re looking for that.
Holding a color wheel in the hand makes it possible for the person to imagine better. Such as, which color combinations to use in the room, how to get a bold look, or which subtle hues to go for! The bottom line is a color wheel feeds the creativity and impresses you with a combination of shades, you wouldn’t have considered otherwise. So, the first step should be to get a color circle and pick up your favorite combos.
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The Magical Effects of Colors
Since the ancient times, color therapy has been a prevalent method for many purposes. Do you know that different shades of colors have the power to heal us, calm our mind, or boost our energy levels? Wondered why your eyes feel nourished and relaxed around greenery! Well, green color puts less pressure on the eyes and is easy to look at. Same goes for the color of the sky. And if one is feeling low, a tinge of bright orange or red is a sure way to uplift the mood. White color has a calming effect, that’s why hospitals display a lot of white or pastel shades.
Going deeper into this, the colors are also divided into the categories of cool and warm colors. Think of blues, greens, pastels, and whites, etc. These shades reflect back the light and keep the space cooler. While colors like red, oranges, and violets, etc. are warm colors. They absorb a lot of light, feel warm, and are perfect for colder places.
On top of that, depending on the color, you can create an illusion of altering the room size. Let’s understand it like this. Suppose, you have a small room but you wish it would look a bit bigger than it is. Then, opt for a lighter shade, like hues of blue or green, cream, or something like that. Lighter shades help the small area with a bigger appearance. Similarly, Painting one wall with a bold and bright color, makes the living room look cozy and warm.
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Have a Theme in Your Mind
Honestly, every home tells us a story. And the colors of the wall speak volumes about you and everything else. That is why giving the color choices a sincere thought would be totally worth it. When you have the guests arriving or friends visiting your place, all the rooms should feel like a part of one single theme. This doesn’t mean that the rooms cannot have walls painted with different colors. Nonetheless, talking in a metaphorical sense, moving from one room to the other shouldn’t feel like a blunt disruption in the story.
Take help of the online tools and brochures. These are smart ways to get an idea of how all the rooms would look together when painted with particular colors. Advice from the professionals can also be a great help when playing with mix and match of bold and neutral shades. If such an experiment is making you nervous, play it safe. Pick your favorite color and you can have various shades of the same color splashed on the walls of each room.
For special rooms, like the kitchen and kids’ rooms, use some fun colors like bright yellow, oranges, or deep purple, etc. Give the bathroom a makeover by painting it with some bright quirky shades to drive away the dullness. Whatever the final choices are, remember to always paint a little patch of walls first. It is the surest way to find out if that color is really the one you are looking for!
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The Peek-a-boo of Neutrals and Contrasts
Gone are the days, when neutral shades meant just grey, off-white, or beige. It is the millennial era and the definition of nude shades has expanded tremendously in the recent times. Seriously, it’s time to break the old construct and think afresh. Just look at the color chips and you’ll know. House paints have led a long journey in the path of creative innovations. And today, one can just name a color and its neutral shades would be available at the fingertips any moment.
The world of wall paints has gone much more sophisticated to meet its customers’ tastes. People are falling for different tones of blues, greens, browns, and even golden. And if you are passionate enough about the way your house looks, how about trying out some pastel shades of peach or dull pink! Pastels are safe to play with. They are elegant on their own and come out even brilliant when put with a dark and bold shade. For instance, the living room can have three walls painted in pastel green and the fourth with a little peachy color.
As much as we recommend not to go too bold with the wall colors, life would be dull without the contrasts, isn’t it! Use the contrasts wisely to uplift the whole ambiance. Pick a bold color that defines your personality. From deep orange to violets or purples, the choice is all yours. Put the virtual color tools to the best use by trying the shade online. Once, you are sure, go for it confidently and reveal your wild side to the world!
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A Blend of Imagination and Inspiration
Fortunately, color chips and online choices are not the only sources of reference. Creativity has no bounds and just by opening our minds, we can inspire our wall color choices in many ways. Visiting a
nice restaurant, hotel, or even a library, or coffee shops, and looking at the wall designs can give us great ideas about new color combinations. Even while going on a trip, or looking at the natural things like the sky, mountains, trees, birds, or flowers, we get exposed to brilliant shades that never crossed our minds
before.
A friend’s house can also be a source of inspiration for you. Listen to what the professionals say and how they feel about particular colors. They may not be strictly paint-experts but people who are fashion designers, web designers, painters, interior designers, etc. can also give you some brilliant tips about the color selection. Other than that, keep a track of what’s trending in the market nowadays. What are the popular shades or if something new has arrived in the market, you can try that too!
In short, don’t let picking the wall paint colors to become a strictly serious thing. It is okay to let yourself loose. The more homework you do before getting the house painted, the happier you will be with the final results.
Thanks to the guys at Paintmates for their helpful tips. For more tips before you paint your home, check out their blog.
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