Choosing a Paint Color the Fun Way

You can really have fun when you decorate a room from scratch! You can go in any direction you want and make the room feel exactly as you always dreamed. Of course, the easiest way to express yourself is color. But before you rush to the paint store, consider the following factors that may influence your color choice.

Is the room flooded with light all day or is it shaded by trees? This will make a difference in how the paint will look. A dark or shaded room can have a gloomy feel, but painting it with a warm, light color in the red/orange/yellow family can instantly make it feel cozy. On the flip side, rooms that are bathed in natural light can be too much, so painting them in blues, greens or violets from the cooler side of the spectrum will tone down the heat.

How you artificially light a room can cause paint to differ from what you intended. Florescent lighting casts a cold, blue hue over a room, which will heighten a cool color palette, but will make warm colors feel dreary. Incandescent light will add warmth to a room, but make cool color fade away.

Balanced light throughout a room will make your decorating scheme flow. You want your walls to enhance your decor rather than detract from the overall feeling. Be sure to test your paint choices under the conditions in the room both day and night.

Finally, take your planned use of the room into consideration. Bright, vibrant colors work well in a room where there is a lot of activity, while darker, soothing colors work best in rooms where you want to kick back and relax. Always match the paint finish i.e. flat, satin, eggshell or semi-gloss to the volume of traffic the room gets on a daily basis. You don’t want to have to repaint because the finish doesn’t hold up to your family.

Now, on to the fun stuff!

You can be bold, you can be daring and you can choose to show your true "colors" when you use a fun paint scheme! Paint is an easy way to express who you are, and it’s easy to change it you decide it’s not what you wanted.

Color fads are fun, of course, but you may quickly tire of the look and you’ll have to paint again. Why not choose interior paint colors that make you look forward to going into that room? You can use fad colors as accents that can be easily and inexpensively changed when the next set of must-have colors hits the market.

Start by determining what your favorite family of color is. Do you lean towards the warm and cozy colors or the light, bright, cool colors? Once you find your true love you have all kinds of options within the range of colors. Get color strips from the paint store and tape them to the wall in several areas, then view them as you wander through the room at various times of the day and night. If you decide a color is not going to make it, take it down and eventually you’ll have one clear winner left on the wall.

If the color group you choose is in the safe, neutral range, use your furnishings and décor to add punch to the room. But if you chose a color that pops, or you decided to use several colors for impact, you will want your furnishings, fabrics and accents to complement without taking center stage.

Regardless of which color you decide to paint your interior, make it fun! Paint is one of the most inexpensive ways to add a fun spark to your life. Use it to its fullest advantage!

Choosing a Paint Color - Illustrated Guide
Step by step tutorial for choosing the best paint colors for your home.