FIND YOUR COLOR CONFIDENCE

• Pick a paint color for your home’s interior or exterior by browsing magazines, home improvement stores, and paint chips for ideas. You’ll naturally gravitate toward the colors you like.
• Compare colors you’ve chosen to the rest of your home to make sure they’re complementary to cabinets, countertops, floors and furniture.
• When choosing a bright, vibrant color, allow it to take up only 20% of a room, keeping the rest neutral.

Why is it that the rooms we admire in magazines look so beautiful, yet the ones we decorate in our own homes often pale in comparison? Sometimes it’s simply a matter of confidence.

It’s time to take a fresh look at paint color selection. Choosing new?paint colors?that will transform the walls of a room from a regular house to a home can be a daunting task, but it can also be an adventure that yields a lot of enjoyment. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious that you may choose a color you don’t love, you’re not alone.

According to a Benjamin Moore survey,?fifty percent of paint sales come from people choosing the wrong color the first time. Knowing that so many face this struggle when making a paint color decision,?skilled painting professionals are available to help you with color selection.

Get excited about a new look for the interior or exterior of your home and take pride in picking out the perfect paint colors that fit your style. Keep these simple rules-of-thumb in mind during your color selection process.

Dream a Colorful Dream

Getting started is arguably the best stage of a painting project. Start by imagining what kind of atmosphere you want to create in your home. An obvious question to ask yourself is, “what color should I paint my room?” Do your research on different exterior or?interior paint colors?to see what you like the best. It can be a lot of fun looking through an array of color options and putting aside those that stand out to you and feel right in your heart.

Explore paint websites such as?Sherwin-Williams?and Benjamin Moore, scour interior design and real estate magazines, and browse our?Pinterest?page for color swatches. As you’re browsing, you’ll find certain color palettes and schemes that speak to you. To narrow down your color choices eliminate color schemes that you don’t like and can’t picture in your home.

Take it a step further by actually seeing what each paint color will look like on the exterior of your house or in different rooms within it with the?Virtual House Painter.?You can upload your own exterior or interior photos of your home or you can choose from a library of images.

Warm Up or Cool Down?

Warm colors and cool colors are two completely different worlds. Knowing both of these color categories and understanding how they mesh with one another is important when?selecting the perfect color for any given room in your home.

Warm colors are mainly reds, yellows, oranges, and beige and cream colors. Colors such as Sherwin Williams’?Copper Pot SW7709,?Rustic Red SW7593, and?Travertine SW772?are warm tones that are popular in common living spaces, dining rooms and kitchens.

Blues, greens and grays are examples of cool colors. Sherwin Williams’?Software SW7074?is a deep, classic gray that could serve as a perfect neutral backdrop for any room in your home, while shades such as?Open Air SW6491?and?Topiary Tint SW6449?are more interesting to be used in guest rooms, kitchens, or bathrooms.

The warm color category and the cool color category are both said to spark different feelings and create different moods. Studying these categories can help you set up the environment you’re planning for your home.

Follow the 80/20 Rule

Strong, vibrant colors make a large impact on a room, but can be overpowering when covering every wall. Instead, follow the?80/20 rule: have 80% of the room painted a neutral shade, while only 20% of the room will be the bright, vibrant shade. This rule is a go-to for even our color consultants.

Following this rule will ensure your strong shade will serve as a focal point to accent from, rather than defining the room. Your family and your guests will be drawn to the accent wall, but the eyes will then settle due to the neutrals.

An example of the 80/20 rule is warming your kitchen up with a bright, sunny yellow, like?Lemon Twist SW6909?on one wall. Then, tone down the vibrancy by pulling in a neutral such as a deep blue like?Naval SW6244.

Take Stock of Your Home’s Current Undertones

Chances are you won’t be making drastic changes to your home to match your paint color – such as removing cabinets, countertops and flooring. So when you’re perusing color choices, have a clear picture of these undertones and opt for those that are complementary. Using similar colors will establish a relaxing, seamless flow throughout the room.

And while you’re taking inventory of the undertones of your interior fixtures, don’t leave out the furniture. The furniture you’ve selected for each room has given your home personality and character. Keeping this in mind could be beneficial to you as you choose colors in the same family that will look pleasant on the walls surrounding the furniture.

Get Your House Painted Professionally

These tips will help you get started on the path toward more lively color combinations that you’ll love. And if you’re still unsure of how you’ll confidently choose paint colors for your home, you can count on?CertaPro Painters? Color Consulting?and?Painting Services.

Your Color Consultant?can?help you determine what type of mood you’re looking to achieve with your paint color, and help you create the flow throughout the house. They can even help you make a final decision on?paint color, because after all there are a lot of colors out there, and narrowing it down to just one can seem overwhelming. You can turn to?CertaPro Painters??MyPaint Colors??visualizer, where you can virtually paint the exterior of your home and know what to expect when the professional painters are finished the project.

If it’s the?exterior of your house?that needs a fresh coat of paint, CertaPro Painters? makes it easier than ever to give your home a complete makeover without hassle, headaches, or worry. To learn more about how you can confidently choose the right color for your home,?visit our website?or call us at 800-462-3782.