How to Pick Wall Paint Color

Today I want to share with you some tips that I use when deciding on wall colors for our house.  Picking paint colors can be one of the toughest decisions when redecorating or renovating a room or house.  Although most DIYers have an idea of what they would like their room to look like, sometimes the tiniest details (like picking paint colors) can delay progress.

Tip 1: Decide on a color scheme.  Before you can pick a paint color, you need to know what colors you want to incorporate into your space.  For example, in our guest bedroom, I knew I wanted to go with navy, gold, and white.  From here, I was able to decide which of my main colors I wanted on the walls.  In case you're wondering...I took a chance and went with the navy floor to ceiling and love it.  See the color here!

This PicMonkey collage was created with help from Something Swanky HERE!

Tip 2: Head to the paint store and take home paper swatches.  Once you know what your color scheme is going to be, it's time to go spend some quality time at your local paint store or paint department.  We are pretty big fans of Sherwin Williams and are now on a first name basis with two of their employees.  I recommend grabbing a couple of the paper swatches and studying them for a few days.  Bring them to your space, tape them to the walls, move them around (different walls and different times of the day) and really look at the colors before you purchase anything.

Tip 3: Get some paint samples.  Once you've decided on a swatch you like, head back to the store and pick up a sample.  Grab a paint brush and put multiple swatches on the walls.  If you have furniture already you really want to put it on the wall behind and next to the furniture to see the color as its backdrop.  In all the times I have painted walls, I have only once purchased a gallon before trying a sample.  That was for my dressing room at this house and I fell in love with the color immediately...that usually never happens.  See that color here!

Tip 4: Live with your paint swatches for a couple of days.  Your paint really needs at least 24 hours to develop and get to the color it's going to be when it's on your walls so live with it on the walls for a couple of days.  This also lets you really decide if you love that color.  I'm a firm believer you should never live with something (including paint colors) unless you really love it!  BUT please remember if you are using a deep color like our navy, you will need a dark primer.  This means your swatch without the primer will not be the color it will be once dried with the primer...seems common sense I know but just throwing it out there.

Extra Tip 5: Carry your paper swatches with you.  Once I have finally decided on the paint color, I write the room name on the paper swatch and carry it in my purse.  That way when I'm out shopping for the items for that specific room I can pull out the swatch and see them paint color right there.

Extra Tip 6: Use Let's Chip It!  Sherwin Williams has a new online virtual paint chip maker!  (I have to admit I discovered it when researching for this blog post!)  Go to http://letschipit.com.  You'll need to create an account to save your paint chips first.  Then either upload a photo you have or enter the URL of a photo you found online.  When you do this, the website will automatically find the colors they have that match with the image you have uploaded.

I hope you enjoyed this how to, and as always, thanks for stopping by!