These days there are thousands of paint colors to choose from, and paints come in many different compositions and finishes. Choosing the right paint for decorating your home can be downright confusing.
If you want to inject new life into your boring walls, here is a guide to choosing the perfect paint.
Types of Paint
Before you decide on a paint shade, you must determine the best type of paint to use for the job. If you need some advice, contact a local painter and decorator in your area, such as painters in Erie, Colorado, who will come and help you choose the best materials for the job.
Paints are available to buy in a variety of finishes such as matte, satin, gloss, and eggshell.
Matte paint has a flat finish with no shine and is the most popular choice for walls as it gives a good depth of color and hides bumps and imperfections well. Because the surface of this paint has no shine or slip, it can be challenging to clean.
Eggshell and satin have a slight sheen – satin slightly more so than eggshell. These paints are great for covering the walls in kitchens and hallways where there is a high level of traffic and a degree of messiness as they are wipeable. Shiny paints are suitable for dark spaces as they reflect and bounce light around a room.
Gloss paint is usually used on woodwork such as skirtings, windows, architraves, and doors. Its high durability means that it can withstand plenty of cleaning and abrasion.
A Cozy Den
You can transform a room with paint. Consider the mood you wish to create in the room. Do you want to make the space cozy? If so, you should opt for warm dark hues such as burnt umber, sienna, and Venetian red. Matte paint is good for creating a cozy feeling as it will keep the room free from shine and light.
Shed Some Light
If you want to give the illusion of space or make a room seem lighter, you should paint the walls with satin or eggshell paint in a soft color palette such as white, cream, pale grays , and blues. If you paint the skirting or baseboards and the ceiling in the same color as the walls, it will make the room look bigger and taller.
Color Your World
So how do you choose the perfect palette? Take inspiration from magazines or tv shows. If you see something you like, take a photo of the room or thing along to your nearest DIY store and match it against sample cards.
If you have a rug or cushion cover you love, pick tones out of that for paint. If the color is intense and would be overwhelming on all walls, just paint one wall and make it a feature.
Sample pots are a great way of trying different colored paints on your walls. A color can look hugely different on the walls in your home compared to how it looked in the DIY store because of different lighting. Fluorescent, artificial lighting in shops makes colors look different from how they look in natural sunlight or the soft lighting in your home.
Choosing paint can be daunting but should never be scary. Be bold and listen to your heart. If the color you choose doesn’t look right – it’s not the end of the world as you can always paint over it.
