Choosing Interior Colors: An Overview

 Aug 17, 2020

LaTasha Beal

A home is supposed to be a sanctuary, a place where you escape the chaos of everyday life. But sometimes those sacred spaces get pretty chaotic almost on their own. Maybe it’s clutter that’s overtaking your space, or maybe it’s something far worse: room colors that fail to harmonize. Repainting can be a big job, but if you go in with a plan you can create the home you’ve always wanted.

The Key? Think Globally

It can be very tempting to think of your home as a series of rooms, each wholly independent of one another. The truth is something different, though. Houses are actually a series of rooms that work together to create an overall atmosphere (plus, you know, a place to give you shelter and to store your stuff). When you consider how your rooms actually work together, you can choose colors that are far more likely to play well together room by room.

Start with the obvious: the rooms that are literally connected to one another. Unless you have a teenager, the chances are high that the doors will stay open long enough for you to be able to spy one room as you’re going through another. And, of course, you may have rooms that are literally part of one larger space, such as a living/dining combo.

Before you even walk into a paint shop or start looking at samples online, take the time to map out how each room interacts with the next. For example, a living/dining combo are two spaces that work independently, but also together. You’ll definitely want to consider each when you’re choosing colors, even if those colors aren’t exactly the same. For example, you may want to paint your living area a light blue and your dining area a light gray. Carefully chosen colors can harmonize together.

Colors are Moods, Choose Wisely

Sherwin-Williams has been predicting popular color palettes for years. They’re a great place to start looking for your new “it” colors. Other paint companies will also offer palettes among their paint chips, giving you a lot of pre-designed options if you’re not sure you can handle the job alone.

If you’re scratching your head about how to birth the right mood in your own home, your favorite painter can also lend a hand. If you don’t have a painter yet, check out the HomeKeepr community for all the best painters in your area. Accounts for homeowners are totally free, so you’ve got nothing to lose and a whole lot of harmony to gain!