or a warm one, or a neutral one. We’re talking color schemes!
So you’re ready to paint your home. Now comes the hair-raising decision of what color to choose. You say something like “I would like a green for my bedroom”. Terrific! That’s a great start but which green are you going to choose? A yellow green, a blue green, muted, light or a “relaxing” green? These are all great ways to describe the green you want but when it comes to actually picking a green or any other color, it may be a little overwhelming.
How do you choose? To start off with, where will you be purchasing your paint? Not to add further stress but there are a few choices here as well. You can:
- Go to the local box stores like Lowes or Home Depot
- Go to a specialty store that sells just one brand of paint like Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams
- Seek the advice of a Color Expert so you can have professional guidance which will make many of these decisions a lot easier.
Let’s say you decide to choose the colors on your own. As you walk into the store of your choice and are met at the door by the enormous wall of color chips, how do you choose just one color when there are hundreds to choose from?
TIP: Look through photographs or magazines and find a picture that has a green you like. For example, here is a landscape painting which can be used as an inspiration photo. Compare the greens in this painting to the section of greens in the paint department. Now you may not be able to find the exact green but you may come pretty darn close.
“Spring Moss” Benjamin Moore
Here’s how it’ll look in a room. Again, the chip you choose may be a bit different from the one in your photograph of inspiration but you’ll be headed in the right direction. Get a sample of your new color and see how it looks on your wall before you make your final decision.
Here’s how some of the variations may look on your wall.
Very little natural light? The color may appear darker.
A lot of natural light? The color may appear lighter.
Remember, it’s just color!
Have fun with it and open your mind to other color inspirations like, sunsets, flowers, fabric and even food! The possibilities are endless.
Love the article, and all the colors. Green is a tricky color to live with, but you’ve done a masterful job of showing some great homes that used it perfectly. Nice job!
Thanks Beryn, anything to make choosing color fun and easy whether it’s green or any color is a good thing!
.-= Donna Frasca´s last blog ..Seeing eye to eye … on color =-.
Great article! Agree testing the color on your wall is imperative – lighting can have a huge affect on color -as well all know when we look at paint chips under those florescent lights in the store. Have you tried the SMALL WALL yet? It is great for sampling paint color on your wall with out having to mess up your wall or paint the tell tale “I can’t make up my mind on a paint color stripes” on your wall. It is a lightweight surface that you paint on (and you can paint on it more than once – unlike posterboard). The best part is the adhesive back – you stick it on your wall almost like an oversized post it note and you can move it around to view your color in different lights. Definetly worth a look! (www.mysmallwall.com)
Isn’t it true? So many factors to consider when choosing a color and lighting is #1 – it’ makes a HUGE difference.
No, I have not tried the Small Wall boards yet. I’ve been using the Tru-Hue™ Color Test Boards (http://www.truhue.com/products.php) which work well.
Thank you Julie for your comment. Check back with us for more colorful insights!
.-= Donna Frasca´s last blog ..Seeing eye to eye … on color =-.
Hi Donna!
Great advice from a great color expert- loving the inspiration picture/example- spot on!
I’ll look forward to reading even more of your insightful tips.~Julie
Thanks Julie! So many colorful things to blog about ~ I wish there were more hours in a day
Strong, mostly solid-color furnishings can take more wall color than rooms that are cluttered and busy. As you can see in these photos – the rooms are already nice, so they’re going to look good with almost any color background.
Hi Colour is such an interesting topic. I think creativity is all about inspiration and working from an unconscious level but also having belief in yourself to go with your heart. I love creative spirit and write about it on my blog and in my books on artistic process on http://www.lynemarshall.com.au and http://www.artclique.com.au