How to Choose Paint Colours for Your Own Home

Choosing a paint colour can feel like a daunting task with endless options. Some people opt for white walls thinking that will make the decision easier, but that can sometimes feel even more complicated. But don’t worry! We have a process that you can use to make the decision easier so that you can feel confident that you’ll get a final result that you love. 

Colour Direction

You can think of this as the inspiration stage where you’re gathering ideas and figuring out what types of spaces you gravitate towards. We love to use Pinterest for this but you can also go analogue and cut images out of magazines. Find images that look like spaces you’d want to spend time in. Once you have a group of digital or cut images, start to look through them and find patterns that stick out. Maybe you’ve saved a lot of cozy, moody rooms with deep paint colours, lots of books, and classic upholstered furniture. Or maybe you’re leaning towards minimal spaces with white walls and zero clutter. Either way, start to notice those patterns. This will help you decide on a general colour direction, like deep blue or creamy white walls. 

Paint Swatches

The next step is to gather paint swatches in the colour palette you’re interested in. Stop by your local paint store and peruse the swatch wall and pull options within the colour you’re looking for. Take these home and see how they look in your space and with the other pieces you have. Once you’ve narrowed it down to a few options, we like to order larger swatches from paint retailers so that you can get a better sense of the size. You can do this by ordering ready-made swatches from places like Samplize, who will send you peel-and-stick swatches in the colours you choose. Stick them up on your wall and move them around to test the colour in different light conditions in your home. Samplize is also helpful because they carry a handful of different paint brands so you have options.

Trim and Woodwork

Once you’ve landed on a wall colour you love that works well within your space, you can select a colour for the trim and woodwork. Plenty of people choose a clean white to frame the colour on the walls, but you can also use something softer, or even continue the colour onto the trim, doors, and ceiling (this is referred to as colour drenching and is particularly lovely in cozy areas like tv rooms or guest bedrooms). If  you’re looking for a trim colour that isn’t stark white, Farrow & Ball offers a helpful resource you can use as a starting point. For each of their colours, they give a complimentary white that works well for trim and woodwork. To continue with our moody blue example, Farrow & Ball lists Selvedge and Shadow White as complimentary. You can use this feature on their site as a resource to get started with choosing a complimentary colour.

Hopefully this guide helps you to feel more confident in your colour selection journey! And if you’d like to have a little more guidance, Enteco offers free colour consultations to help you on your way.