Ten Ways Paint Can Transform Your Home

The most coveted goal homeowners hope to achieve is to make their home welcoming, inviting, and comforting. Your home is your sanctuary, and it should reflect your personal taste. It should also be decorated in a way that makes you feel at home. The colors you choose to paint the rooms in your home are the foundation for your home’s personality. The right color paint can be transformative – turning a dull, drab room into one that beckons family and visitors.

Choosing the proper paint goes beyond picking a shade complimentary to the space. There is so much more to the process, and that can be intimidating. Here are ten ways paint can transform your home, and make it a space you can’t wait to come home to:

Paint Allows You to Experiment With Color

A well-painted house is one that expresses the color-sense of its owner. Each room can be a different color; continuity between the rooms is not a rule. You can choose whichever color suits the space, and add accent colors if you choose. Start with the smaller rooms in your home, and test swatches on walls to see if the color is complimentary. Or, choose a color based on the furnishings that will be in that room. You can compliment or contrast your furniture, depending upon how adventurous you feel.

Color-Match the Mood of the Room

We all have emotional reactions to certain colors. Dark, vivid colors energize us, while pale, pastel colors tend to be more relaxing. Think about the mood you’d like to evoke in the rooms you want to paint, and take it from there. Maybe you want something cool and soothing for the master bedroom, and something more rustic for your family room. Bathrooms can go either way; you can choose a color reminiscent of your favorite spa, or something bright and punchy to keep things fun. The kitchen is the room with infinite possibilities. You can choose colors to compliment your favorite dishes, or a color palette inspired by your travels.

Go Monochrome, If That’s Your Thing

Let’s face it – some of us just don’t go for strong color schemes in our homes. If a monochromatic look does it for you, then by all means, allow your choice of paint color to blend in with the fabrics and finishes of your furnishings. A monochromatic look throughout the home can be elegant, serene, and easy to maintain.

There’s More Than One Way To Paint a Wall

Paint has come a long way from basic white, ecru and eggshell. Today’s paints come in a variety of finishes that compliment and contrast furniture and artwork. Choose a finish such as matte, semi-gloss, satin, or metallic to add interest to your surroundings.

Don’t Forget About Accent Walls

There’s no law that says every wall in a room has to be painted the same color. Painting one or two walls in a bold accent shade can add a punch of visual interest, and make the space look larger than it actually is. Again, work with your furnishings to choose a color that ties everything together.

Same Goes For Contrasting Trim

The same way you can paint a wall or two in a contrasting color, you can paint trims in complimentary, contrasting colors. Painting doorways, baseboards, wainscoting, and other kinds of trim in a color that contrasts the walls adds a touch of elegance, and allows for more color-play when choosing furnishings.

Let There Be Light

The amount of light in a room will determine how a color will look once it hits the walls. Natural daylight will bring out the truest color of paint, while fluorescent light will cast sharp blue tones on your chosen color. Incandescent light works best with neutrals and yellow-based colors. For best results, know your lighting before choosing your paint.

Become a Paint Nerd

Know the terminology of color before you go paint shopping. Know which hue, or color you would prefer. From there, choose your saturation. For example, pink is really just a lighter shade of red. How, red, or pink, do you want your walls to be? Finally, familiarize yourself with intensity. The primary colors like red and blue are the most intense, and will become softer when they are mixed with other colors.

Don’t Ignore the Color Wheel

All the best paint manufacturers make variations of the same shade. After you’ve got hue, saturation and intensity down, compare varying shades of the same color. You might be happier with a slightly darker version of the same color, or a lighter one. Look at all the possibilities before making a decision.

Try It On

You don’t buy expensive clothing without first trying on the garments. The same applies to paint. If you can, swatch large areas of the walls of the room to be painted, or apply paint samples to white poster board. This will allow you to visualize how the finished walls will look.

Keep this list in mind when you hire a painting contractor to work with you to remodel the interior of your home. It is important for you and the company you hire to be on the same page when it comes to your ideas. When everyone understands what needs to be accomplished, your vision of the perfect home will be realized.