How to Choose the Perfect Paint Colors for Your Home

How do you choose the right paint color for your home? This is a question we get asked a lot at Brea House Painters. When it comes to painting your home, choosing the right color can be exciting yet it can also be very nerve-wracking. Color has the ability to set the mood of a space so it’s important to select a color that matches the mood you’re intending. From interior painting services to exterior painting jobs, we’re here to help you select the right color for your home. Let’s dive in!

1. Color Psychology 101

Different color hues evoke different emotions. That’s why it’s so important to think about the psychological impact you want to make with your paint color selection. Here’s how different colors can influence the overall mood and psychological tenor of a space:

• Blue: Looking to create a calm and tranquil space? A blue hue might be for you! Blue is perfect for bedrooms and bathrooms - spaces where relaxation is important. Lighter shades of blue especially are known to create a serene environment. Darker shades of blue can add depth and a feeling of sophistication to a space.
  
  
• Green: Green offers a variety of emotions - all that promote relaxation. It’s often associated with nature, which typically signifies a sense of balance and tranquility to a space. This is a great color for kitchens, home offices, and living rooms.
  
  
• Yellow: This color is a popular choice for when you’d like to add warmth and brightness to the room. It also radiates positives and cheerfulness - ideal for kitchens and dining areas. We recommend using this color sparingly for living spaces such as the bedroom or living room, as too much yellow can overwhelming and have the opposite of a calming effect.
  
  
• Red: Red is vibrant and bold color selection, known to evoke energy and stimulation. While it’s not necessarily homeowner’s first choice for a room color, if it’s the right shade, red can work well as an accent wall to create excitement in the space.
  
  
• Neutrals (Gray, Beige, White, etc.): There’s a reason people go for the neutrals - they are known to be timeless. No matter what trends are popular, these neutrals are versatile and provide a clean canvas to match your aesthetic. 
  
  

2. The Art of Lighting

When selecting a paint color, be sure to take note of the type of lighting in the room. Do you get a lot of natural lighting? Or do you have mostly artificial lighting? Perhaps it’s a mixture of both. Whatever it is, it’s important to take stock of what your lighting looks like in your rooms as it will have a major impact on how the paint color shows up in your space.

Rooms that receive a lot of natural light typically display colors more accurately during the day. If the room is north-facing, it’s most likely going to have cooler, blue-toned light, making it appear more subdued. If the room’s natural light is south-facing, it tends to be warmer, which enhances warmer shades with hues of red and yellow.

When it comes to artificial light, the variety of different types of artificial lighting can change the look of painting lights. For example, fluorescent lighting tends to be cooler, enhancing greens and blues whereas incandescent bulbs give off warmer tones, making yellow and red hues preferred. 

If you aren’t sure where your home stands with its light ratio, we recommend testing color swatches in different areas of the room and see how they change throughout the day with the different sources of light.

3. Think About Your Furniture

Typically when you’re painting a space, you already have existing furniture you’re working with, or have a plan for what furniture you’re going to buy. Either way, it’s important to think about what colors would best balance out the furniture and decorations in the room. You want the color palettes to work in harmony with one another. 

To help you do this, start by looking at the dominant colors in your furniture and then choose a paint color that complements those colors. If you’re If you find yourself not liking te color palette, perhaps it’s time to get new furniture!

Also, be mindful of patterns within your furniture as these can easily clash with the paint color you select. If you find your furniture and decor to have lots of patterns, we suggest going with a solid paint color that won’t compete with the pattern. If your furniture doesn’t have patterns and is just solid colors, then you have more flexibility with how you’d like to treat the paint and walls of the room.


4. Think About Your Style, Not Trends

Oftentimes, we see homeowners who want to replicate certain trends yet turn around a year later hating the color they selected because it was trendy at the time. To avoid this, we recommend you really think about your personal style and preference. What is it that YOU like, not what’s most popular to do? Paint color trends come and go, yet your style will most likely last longer. 

5. Test Colors with Paint Samples

Before committing to a specific color, we highly recommend homeowners to test them out in the actual space. As we mentioned earlier, lighting and furniture play a major role in how a color will show up in a space. So before you make your final decision, be sure to buy some paint samples to see how they show up in your space. While at times it can feel tedious, when the project is said and done, we promise you won’t regret it. 

Selecting the right paint color for your home can be an exhausting task. However, our goal at Brea House Painters is to ease the stress you might be facing and make it a hassle-free process. Our team is here to help you every step of the way to ensure your home looks its best with the perfect paint color for your space. Whether you’re looking to boost curb appeal with an exterior painting job or want to repaint your interior spaces such as your kitchen, living room, bathrooms and bedrooms, Brea House Painters is ready to walk you through the process. Let’s get the transformation going - contact us today for a free quote!