Choosing the Perfect Interior Paint Color

So what kind of paint color is best for your new room or new house? If you are building a new home, reconstructing a room, or simply planning or redecorating the question of which interior paint colors to use is the number one stumper for a lot of people. There are some basic colors out there that are sort of default colors. For example, most house and room interiors are white. That’s not such a tough decision right? But the question is what kind of white? There is beige dirty white off white and a host of other subtle variations. These small variations can make a big impact in your room. Then there are the accent colors to choose from. What’s the best way to avoid this conundrum?

Take my example. When I had our house built, we had no idea what colors to choose either. My first idea was to have large cut jet black tiles for the floor. My wife hated the idea. I told her that we would put yellow tiles in too to complement the black. Again she hated the idea; she said it’ll look like a taxi cab. But in my mind I was in love with the concept and I didn’t want our house to look like the same old drab ordinary place the same as everyone else’s. In the end, we consulted a professional for our interior paint color and he suggested something different. He said my idea would work if the house was much more spacious since black would make a small space seem smaller. I was very enlightened about interior color and design. Here are some great tips on choosing the perfect interior paint colors.

Think of a Central Theme

It helps immensely if you have a central theme in mind before you start with anything else. Think of it like writing a good essay. You can’t start if you have no focus. Themes give you a great idea about what you want. For our house, we visualized a modern Zen theme and used wood and clean bare looking designs to achieve that minimalist Zen feel. Thinking up of a theme can start with a loose an idea about the feature of your house (say you want a bright looking house) or it could simply be your favorite furniture or centerpiece from which you want to build your concept on. For example, you have this great old wooden table and you want it to be the centerpiece, from that, you decide to have a rustic look. Then next thing you know you’ll be buying a wooden canoe cut in half for display on your wall rustic brick red colored wall along with your prize bass. Your palette is narrowed down to interior colors that complement your idea.

Think of Your Furniture

If you already have furniture and appliances and you aren’t planning on buying new ones, then you will have to consider how these would affect your interior paint colors. You don’t want to end up with colors that are completely messed up by the pervading colors of your furniture.

Visualize Through Illustration or Software

There’s a of software out there that would help you with this where you input data of what you want and the program generates three dimensional images of your future interior design. Or you could have someone draw it in color for you. Of course you will need a professional in either case but its well worth it. If not, just try really hard to imagine how everything will come together. The end result will always be strikingly different from your imagination, drawing, or computer generated image.

Look at Magazines and/or Other Houses for Inspiration

For those who cannot think up of a theme, this should be the first step for you. Looking at other designs is helpful because it gives you something to start with. You might see elements in other designs that you could incorporate with your own ideas. Since you are dealing paint interior colors, visual inspiration and association is the key.