Picking Colors The procedure of picking paint colors for your home may seem totally subjective--you simply select the colors you prefer. That is only partly true. Although it makes sense to get started on with the colors you like, other elements enter into play. For example, do the colors you've chosen work well collectively? Do they work with furnishing, carpeting, and draperies already in use? Picking paint colors is part artwork and part science. Let's focus on the science part first.
Features of the Color Wheel The color wheel arranges the color spectrum in a circle. It is a sensible way to see which colors work well together. It includes primary colors (red, blue, and yellow), secondary colors (green, orange, violet), and tertiary colors (red-blue, blue-red, and so on). Secondary colors are made by mixing two primaries together, such as blue and yellow to make green. A primary color such as blue and a secondary color such as green can be merged to produce a tertiary color--in this case, turquoise.
Now that you've got a color wheel before you, make use of it to help you envision certain color combinations. An analogous design includes neighboring colors that share an underlying hue.
Complementary colors lie opposing one another on the color wheel and often work well in concert. For instance a red and green living room in full strength might be hard to stomach, but consider a rosy pink room with sage green accents. The same complements in differing intensities can make attractive, comforting combinations. A dual complementary color scheme involves an additional set of opposites, such as green-blue and red-orange.
Alternatively, you may opt for a monochromatic scheme which involves using one color in a number of intensities. This ensures a harmonious color design. When creating a monochromatic scheme, lean toward several tints or several shades, but avoid too many contrasting values, that is, combinations of tints and shades. This can make your scheme look uneven.
If you want a more technical palette of three or more colors, look at the triads formed by three equidistant colors, such as red/yellow/blue or green/purple/orange. A split complement comprises three colors- one primary or intermediate and two colors on either side of its complete opposite side of the wheel. For example, instead of teaming purple with yellow, change the mix to purple with orange-yellow and yellow-green.
Lastly, four colors evenly spaced round the wheel, such as yellow/green/purple/red, form a tetrad. If such combinations seem a little bit like Technicolor, remember that colors intended for interiors are seldom undiluted. Thus yellowish might be cream; blue-purple, a dark eggplant; and orange-red, a muted terra-cotta or whisper-pale peach. With less jargon, the color combinations get into both of these basic camps:
Harmonious or analogous; techniques, derived from nearby colors on the wheel less than halfway around.
Contrasting or complementary; schemes, derived from colors that are directly opposite on the wheel.
Interior Colors Don't just choose one color; think in terms of deciding on a color plan. Review your furniture, curtains, window treatments, and carpeting and rugs, and take note which colors might supplement them.
Next, take note of just how many colors you think you may be using. Will the baseboards be a different color than the walls? They usually are unless the trim is in bad shape and you don't want to call attention to it. Similarly it is true of other trim, such as windows casings and chair rail.
How about where the walls meet up with the ceiling? Will you install crown molding or various other kind of cornice treatment there? Or are you considering painting the walls and demarcating the ceiling and wall junction with a color change?
In addition to paint colors, you will also need to look for the level of surface finish or sheen the paint will have. The options range from the most shiny (high gloss and semi-gloss) to the dullest (eggshell and flat). These designations change with paint producers, but they are essential because the sheen of paint impacts the color. A rule of thumb claims that walls usually receive flat or eggshell finishes whereas ceilings are almost invariably painted with a flat finish. Trim is normally coated with a semi-gloss or high gloss. These surface finishes are more durable and simpler to clean than duller finishes.
Think in terms of groups of colors.
Paint manufacturers group like colors together like below:
Interior Walls All paint stores can offer color chips of the paints they sell. Color chips will provide you with a small scale idea of what the specific colors can look like once applied. You will need to do more than look at color chips to get a true sense of your colors... however they are a good place to start. Actually, a seasoned sales rep at your local paint store can help you select color chips in a scheme. If you choose a buttercup yellow for the walls, the sales rep can suggest color chips that are usually associated with a scheme that has buttercup yellow as its anchor color.
When you have whittled down your color alternatives, look at the color chips or swatches in various types of light including natural light at differing times of your day and in varying degrees of artificial light. Even then, this color chip process is just to get an idea of paints that you will sample in greater swaths of color. Very few professional designers pick from chips, even though they may start their color selection from chips. If indeed they do examine chips, they examine them one at a time over a white background.
Changes in Color Keep in mind that large surface areas make any paint color show up darker than the color chip. The degree of variant is usually up to two shades. In the event that you pick the color chip you want, step "back" two shades darker for a true representation of what the color can look like when dried out. Also, paint always appears darker once it dries. So, when you finally apply the paint, don't stress if the color doesn't look right initially. Wait until it dries.
If you are zeroing in on your final colors, paint a 2 x 3 foot poster board or fabric material with the anchor color and place it around the house to enable you to view it in different light and near different colored carpeting and rugs and furniture.
Color and Size Colors make a difference how you perceive the size of an area. Warm colors like reds, yellows, and oranges can make a space appear smaller because they can offer a cozy feeling to the area. The so called cool colors like blues and greens appear to recede from you, making a room appear bigger than it truly is. If you actually want to make an area seem large opt for a vintage standby like a shade of white (there are dozens) or a neutral color.
Sizing the Area When you get nearer to buying paint, determine the square footage of the room you will paint. Multiply the length of each wall by the width. Subtract the area occupied by the entrances, glass windows, and other openings. Add all the measurements together to get a total square footage of the area you must paint. If you are applying two coats which is normal for most paint jobs, you'll be painting the surface twice.
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