Many modern homes have a neutral color palette. While a home of all white can appear larger than it really is, it can be seen as sterile and uninviting. However, you may find that walls of your favorite color can make the room feel cozier and turn a house into a home. Before taking a brush to your walls, there are a few things you need to do first.
Decide Your Palette
Don’t limit yourself to one shade of one color. You could play around with the idea of various hues of the same color family. Your heart may be set on neon green, but you could find that a pastel green is a much more mature color. Or you could realize that forest green or a shade of emerald compliments the rest of the home perfectly.
Live with the Color
No one buys a car without a test drive. Why shouldn’t you do the same with your paint?
Many home improvement stores have paper color swatches that are either free or extremely affordable. Take a few of these swatches in your desired color, and tack them up on the wall. Having the color there, physically in front of you, will make it so much easier to envision how the wall will look once it’s painted.
Don’t just stand there staring at the swatch. Leave the swatches taped up on the wall and go about your day. As you come back to the swatches, do you love the idea of the color being there? Or perhaps now you’re seeing that it doesn’t really coordinate with the rest of your décor.
Coordinate Your Colors
Bold colors are striking, but they shouldn’t be unattractive. One of the biggest mistakes people make when painting an accent wall with a bold color is neglecting the paint on the rest of the walls.
Once you’ve applied your bold color, you may find that it brings out certain tones in the rest of the room. Eggshell colored walls that once appeared sleek may look dingy next to an invigorating green. Grey walls may take on a violet undertone when they butt up to a warm toned wall.
When this happens, you don’t have to abandon your dream of bold color, but you may need to do a little more work. A fresh coat of paint on the remaining walls could change the room entirely.
If you plan on painting every wall in a room a bold color, keep in mind the color of the ceiling and the flooring. When you pair dark flooring with a dark wall color, a room can look small and dungeon-like. If your flooring is dark, and you’re not looking to change that, you should consider going with a lighter shade of your intended color.
Bold colors should catch the viewer’s eye, not overwhelm the entire space. It’s important to consider the rest of the room (including the flooring and furniture) and live with the color for a bit before you begin painting.