My Paint Color Dilemma
In 2012 we moved to our current home. The guest room, dining room, powder room and a half wall between the kitchen and family room had been painted various colors. The rest of the house is a builder grade off white flat (blah!). While I’d love to have finished painting the whole house by now, it’s taking me longer than I would like. Last year, 2015, my big painting project was our entry and stairwell. It really started the year before, so let me back up a bit.
In 2014 I wanted to paint this area, but I could not decide on a color. I don’t normally have this problem. However, because the stairwell walls are both downstairs and upstairs the color needed to flow with the colors I’ve painted or plan to paint the adjoining rooms. Most of the rooms downstairs are decorated in blue and upstairs has green. So I was looking for a blue-green color that would be dramatic and create the flow between the two areas. I set about buying samples and trying them out. See the mess I made!
In fact when we had our annual Christmas open house in 2014 a friend told my husband that he was surprised the patchwork I had painted on the wall was not driving me crazy. It was driving me crazy that I could not find the perfect color!
Finally I had an epiphany – blue-green was not the right color at all! Maybe gray, actually Cathedral Stone…what do you think?
3 Tips for Choosing Paint Colors
Have you experienced the same “I can’t find the perfect color paint!” dilemma? Here are my three tips for overcoming your paint problem:
1. Consider the Flow
When choosing your paint colors consider the flow of the adjoining rooms. As you walk from one room to the next do you want a dramatic difference or a easy transition? So far I’ve painted three of the 6 rooms downstairs in dramatic colors. I plan to be more subtle in the remainder of the first floor.
2. What’s Your Mood
Do you know that colors affect your mood? If you want to create an atmosphere that makes people feel angry or hungry use red. Not so much anymore, but I remember when many restaurants were decorated with red. HERE is a link to an article about colors and moods. If you want your home to be a calm haven try painting it just about any shade of blue. If you want to energize yourself and your family try orange.
3. Traffic Jam
Does the space get a lot of traffic? Normally I use eggshell on the walls, I like how it looks and it’s easy to clean. In our entry I used a satin sheen because it is more durable than eggshell. Not only is this the room that everyone uses to enter and exit the house, from both the front door and the garage door, but the stairwell gets lots of traffic. Since all our bedrooms are upstairs, we are frequently going up and down the stairs. Also, we have two Boxer babies, one of whom is constantly playing with a ball, which rolls down the stairs…too frequently. Aren’t they adorable hanging out on my drop cloths?
The same color paint in a different sheen (flat, eggshell, satin, gloss, semi-gloss, etc.) can look different. It’ll look different in different lighting as well. I like painting a bit on the wall and live with it a bit before buying enough for the entire room. (You can use all those paint samples later to paint frames, furniture and other projects). So consider the traffic, lighting and use of the area being painted and test several shades of the color in the appropriate type (sheen) of paint needed.
I hope these 3 tips for choosing paint colors have inspired you to start planning your next painting project. Don’t be intimidated by choosing paint color. The very worst thing that can happen is that you will hate it and have to paint over it. This is the first post for sharing my entry redo with you. Future posts will include a super painting gadget I used on this project and LOVED, flooring, chandelier, a mirror redo and a super-cool (IMHO) frame wall that was inspired by a Pinterest pin I found when writing, Minimalism Style Defined. So stay tuned! You are welcome to leave your comments with your paint-picking tips, painting pains and joys. I’d love to hear from you!
Blessings,
Lauree
…keep dancing the dream
Follow Dancing Dish & Decor’s board entry-redo on Pinterest.
Great tips on choosing paint colors. I had a hard time finding the right colors when painting my home the first time. I settled on letting my kids choose their own colors, so my house looked like a preschool.
I think it’s a great idea to let the kiddos choose the colors for their rooms. It makes them have pride in their space. One way to prevent their choice from clashing with the rest of your home is to first select three colors you like then have them choose from those three colors. It might be fun for them to paint the test colors on the wall to see what it really looks like. Thanks for reading!
I just love paint colors and I have more paint swatches around my house…my daughter and I have started using them as bookmarks. 🙂
I enjoy picking paint, the actually painting isn’t as enjoyable for me though. The entryway looks great!
I know painting is not for everyone. I just love how fast and inexpensively you can revive a space with a can of paint. Thanks for reading!