Perhaps you’ve just moved into your new home or you’ve lived there for years. How do you decide what is the perfect wall colour?
Also see our article titled Preparing Your Home for Selling if you’re a home seller are looking for ways to increase the value of your home before it goes to market.
It’s not an easy question to answer. If you’re planning on moving in the near future, your best bet is to pick something very neutral.
Let’s face it: not every home buyer can easily look past neon-green walls! A neutral palette helps buyers imagine their own furniture and belongings in the space, and might even help increase the chance of getting that SOLD sign on the front yard!
But let’s say you have no plans on moving and you want to paint the space for yourself. Well, here are a few simple guidelines that will help make your paint choices seem a little less daunting.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE PERFECT WALL COLOUR
LOOK AT YOUR FURNITURE & ACCESSORIES
Maybe you’ve got a great piece of artwork you’ve always loved or a sofa with a funky pattern – is there a particular colour from these items you’d like to pull out? Or perhaps a contrasting colour to really get that furniture to “pop”!
Conversely, if you have a lot of mis-matched items (and we all do!), then simple white or grey on the walls means you’ve got a backdrop that isn’t competing with all the other colours in your decor.
Bonus: it means you can switch out the colours of your accessories every season without needing to re-paint!
DON’T SHY AWAY FROM LIGHTER VERSIONS
Each sample card you pick up from the paint store has a series of darker and lighter tones of the same colour.
Sometimes the lightest shade might “LOOK” plain white on the card, but it’s definitely not.
It will have undertones of that colour giving a softer, pretty & more mature feel. You might want a yellow room – but going directly to the BRIGHT LEMON YELLOW could turn out to be way more intense once it’s surrounding you on 4 walls.
So don’t be afraid to try a more subtle version of your favourite colours.
CONSIDER A BOLD STATEMENT WALL
If you absolutely have your heart set on a big bold colour consider doing one wall of a room.
It gives a rich focal point and looks amazing! As your tastes change, it also means you’ll only have to paint over one bright wall at a time.
Whatever you decide, make your colour choice something YOU love. There’s no right or wrong! So break out that green painters tape, some fluffy new rollers and big drop-cloths because it’s time to get painting! Good luck!
