12 Tips for Choosing Paint Colors
My #1 rule of thumb when choosing paint colors: pick your fabrics first.
You will make the job so much easier on yourself if you match the paint to your upholstery, inspiration piece and other fabrics and finishes in the room. It is so much harder the other way around.
My home office is a great case in point.
As soon as I saw this fabric, I fell in love with it. And I knew it would be the inspiration for my makeover and also play a predominant role in the space.
So, I knew I would pull my wall color from the fabric.
Here’s tip #2 – if you find a color you love in a fabric, in a magazine, in the garden, take it to the paint store and match it a color chip, using the handy natural light boxes they have. Or use an online tool, like Sherwin-Williams Chip It! tool or Benjamin Moore’s Color Capture app.
Now here’s where Tip #3 comes in: Don’t buy your paint directly from this color selector and matching tools, especially when you’re matching to a fabric.
The scan may pull color from the fabric fibers, as well as the print, so the match probably won’t be perfect. I took my color recommendations to the paint store WITH MY FABRIC and grabbed the corresponding swatches.
It turns out the suggested Unique Gray had a lot of purple undertones, when the gray in my fabric really didn’t. But Larchmere was pretty much a spot-on match for the aqua in the fabric, and I bought that to paint my armoire — yet again.
So, I hit the racks of swatches to find the perfect gray, and it turns out that Worldly Gray and Amazing Gray, both from Sherwin-Williams, were pretty spot on.
Would you believe that those two grays were on the same sample strip, just above Intellectual Gray — the dark, rich color I used in our powder room? When I saw that, I knew I was very close to finding the perfect paint color for my office! If I’d liked the color family once, chances were I would like it again.
I didn’t buy any paint that first trip, though. Instead, I took the sample cards with those colors and several others home with me to view them in the room — at different times of day.
That leads us to painting Tip #4. Don’t make any rash decisions. Take your time and do your research and you won’t have any regrets. You don’t want to rush a paint job. Or a paint selection job.
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Lora
We just moved into a new home and every room was painted a horrible color so I’m desperate to change them right away!!
Rick Norell
Very interesting article. We’re in the middle of a remodel and can’t agree on colors. My wife won’t let me bring in a professional to help us and declares we can do it even though she can’t decide what she wants… Grrr, I didn’t sign up for this, pick a color and paint it… 🙂
Atta Girl Amy
Sorry I missed your comment in the post holiday busyness. I hope you and your wife were able to decide on a color. And I’ve totally called in a professional in the past when I was having trouble making a decision about a paint color. Sometimes it helps to get a second opinion or to have someone help you narrow down all the choices. You can still use sample pots, to make sure you love the color, but you won’t have to buy so many of them. (Those little samples can be expensive.) Good luck with your remodel. They’re always stressful.
Mary McGinnis
What color is the aqua in your laundry room? And what color is your trim and wainscoting?
Atta Girl Amy
The laundry room is Watery by Sherwin Williams. I’m pretty sure the trim and the wainscotting is an old MAB color called Lyric White. I think Sherwin Williams bought MAB. They should have MAB’s old color formulas and can match this color.
andrea b
What is the blue on bath walls in tip #8? Thx
Atta Girl Amy
I’m not sure of that particular paint color, as it’s from a bathroom reno I found on Houzz. However, I find that designers over there are pretty good about responding to questions, so you may be able to get an answer there. Here’s the link: http://www.houzz.com/photos/1344121/Classic-Style-Condo-traditional-bathroom-minneapolis. Good luck.
Actually, I just clicked over to Houzz and the designer says the color is similar to Benjamin Moore colors: AF-545 Solitude
Jesscia Kratzberg
Could you tell me the color of the gray by the desk window? With the closet in the background.
Mackenzie
What’s the color of the gray bathroom–it’s wonderful and it’s just what I’ve been looking for!
Atta Girl Amy
Sorry for my delayed response. The color in the small powder room is Intellectual Gray form Sherwin Williams.
Yvonne @ StoneGable
Amy, great tips. I find choosing a paint color to be very very difficult! You tips will certainly help! xo
Shirley@Housepitality Designs
I love the “Chip It” software but I love doing it the old fashioned way by picking 3 colors that coordinate with the fabric, painting those samples on the wall and then live with it for a week…Great tips Amy!…have fun painting!!
Marty Walden
Brilliant post, my friend. Seriously, your writing shines through! As far s the topic, I’m sure my painter hubby would agree for all his customers, but apparently his wife lives life a bit more dangerously. Or maybe I unconsciously do these things and don’t know it. My inspiration usually starts with something from a yard sale and goes from there. Ummm, pick fabric first? hahahahahha
Thanks for the shoutout by the way!
Living on the edge,
Marty
Kirby Carespodi
I am using 2 paintings to pull colors from, but then I ALWAYS have to throw in lime green. What is it with me and lime green?? Was I a kiwi in a former life? And I LOVE Marty’s gray!!