The Secret for Successfully Choosing Interior Wall Color
Choosing the right color for your walls can seem like tremendous task. During these days of “working from home”, I have found a lot of my clients are growing tired of looking at the same 4 boring walls that are surrounding them, and they contacting me to explore new colors. Some are as ambitious to do their entire house they haven’t painted in over 20 years! Using the same color in each room of your home is a way to achieve color continuity, but that doesn't mean you have to paint every room with the same wall color.
Picking the right shade for your interior walls is easy with these professional tips.
TIP #1
Start with Inspiration
I like to start with inspiration which could be a rug, artwork, sculpture, something you may have paid a pretty penny for, that you’re absolutely in love with. Perhaps you’ve been collecting some images on Pinterest or Houzz, saving all the rooms that you love. If this is you, I recommend saving no more than 10 and really focus on the images that you’re most drawn to. What’s the common factor? Maybe you’re drawn to a traditional coastal theme or perhaps your style is more eclectic with more global colors and textiles. See what colors you are most drawn to and proceed from there.
In the design world, we start from the bottom up, meaning the floors, the cabinetry, the baseboards and on up. Rugs are often the inspiration we begin our projects with. Keep in mind that rugs can also be an investment. Some of the older rung have been known to increase in value. Rugs traditionally are guarded and treasured, and are traditionally handed down from generation to generation.
TIP 2
Stick with Neutral Color
I’m not saying you should avoid color all together but if you’re someone that likes to decorate for the seasons, like I do, then neutral is the way to go. Think about that for a second, if you’re decorating for Spring, what colors do you think of? Pastels, most likely, but then if you think about Fall, you start thinking about all those warm colors. Throw Christmas colors into the mix and you end up with more of the traditional reds and greens. So, how are red and pastel going to mix together if you don’t have a neutral base? It’s really not difficult when you start with neutrals.
Take the Restoration Hardware showroom for example. Their style is well-known for their City-Chic monochromatic color palette. Every room from living to dining to their bedrooms. Even their nursery area features the colors grey, cream, beige, griege and greyer. You’ll also find the showroom staff wearing these same colors. Why? It’s the perfect backdrop for their lighting and it also makes the colors in the wood grains in their furniture really pop!
Tip 3
Test your Color
Test your color of choice next to the existing hardware meaning your baseboards, cabinetry and floors. I’ve gone into many homes where my clients have 2-5 colors already painted up on the walls and they are trying to decide which color to go with. The homeowners are absolutely blown away when I’m able to go in and within a matter of seconds just pick one color, and you can too by using this technique.
Over 12 years ago, I studied under a Feng Shui Master, who was absolutely phenomenal when it came to selecting colors. All he would do is walk into a room, close his eyes, feel the energy of the room and magically select the color that it was meant to be. Yes, he did this all with his eyes closed! Now, I am not expecting you to do that or even know how to do that, but when you do hold up a color to say, your floors, cabinets, backsplash, counters (the things that can’t move), hold that up that color and see how it makes you feel. That will help you move into a positive direction.
Keep in mind, that rather than painting 3-5 different colors on your wall, you can contact me to send you an 8X10 size color swatch that you can place on your wall so you can see how it looks before committing. Until then, happy painting!
XO,
