One of the most difficult parts of doing home improvements is picking out wall paint colors. There are unlimited color combinations that you can come up with. But if you start by making a decision on the type of style you want for your room (conservative, fun, exciting, calming) and then gain an understanding of color theory, you should be able to narrow down your choices efficiently.
The Purpose of the Room
Before you look at any wall paint ideas, you have to come to a decision about what theme you want for the room. Decide if it is going to be a place to work, a place for the kids to play, a meditation or relaxation room or a family entertainment space. Once you make this decision, you will be able to start picking colors based on color theory.
Explore Color Meanings
Once you know what type of room you will be building, match this up with corresponding colors. Choose a main color and then you can move onto complementing that color with another for your trim. Blues and greens (cool colors) tend to have a calming and soothing effect on people, so these are good choices for a meditation room. Purple is considered to be a spiritual and inspirational color, which might work for an office or library.
Reds and some oranges excite and stimulate, which would make these two colors ideal for a play room. If you want a bright and fun room, yellow is a good pick. Pink is soft and weak. Finally, browns are earthy and calming. Brown is commonly used when it is light tan or cream in living rooms and bathrooms. Avoid using black or white as your main color, as they are too extreme. Once you have picked your main color, choose a color matching technique for your room.
Complementary Color Coordinating
Complementary colors are on the opposite end of the color wheel. They are inverse colors. For instance, orange is opposite of blue and red is opposite green. So if you chose a shade of red for your main color, your trim would be a variation of green, and vice versa, if you decide to go with a complementary color matching theme. This method is usually reserved for wild, non-traditional, extremely colorful rooms.
Monochromatic Color Choices
Go with a monochromatic color scheme if you want the room to be more reserved and conventional. With a monochromatic look, you choose one color, like pink, and then choose two variations of that color, such as salmon and hot pink.
Analogous Color Coordinating
When you coordinate your wall colors using an analogous theme, you are are choosing two or more colors that are located side by side on the color wheel, such as orange and yellow.
Use Nature Scenes
Another less common, yet interesting way to coordinate your wall paint is to use natural settings. Take pictures of nature scenes that please your senses, match the colors with paint, and then design your wall and trim according to all of those colors and their dominance in the scene. For instance, if the picture is mostly green with a few white and yellow flowers here and there, green would be the main wall color. The door trims could be white while the floor and ceiling moldings could be painted yellow.
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