What does color say about you? It can be the first impression as someone approaches your house or a surprise when they step into the next room. A lot of the time homes are standardized in shades of white, giving a crisp and clean canvas for prospective home buyers to see possibilities when they look at a potential purchase; but this shouldn’t be the end to creativity when redecorating or remodeling your home. This is meant to be your space, your sanctuary from the world, so make the most of the walls, windows, and trim! Give your house a splash of color. Choosing your color pallet is a major step in remodeling. Here are some ways to go about both interior and exterior color choices.
Exterior
Look around your neighborhood. What is the general color scheme? Mostly muted tones, beige and whites; or are there some deep colors: rich blues, browns, and reds; or perhaps the colors are a free range from bright yellow to purple? Do you live in an HOA where changing the exterior color of your house has to stay within certain guidelines? These are some of the first questions to ask when painting your exterior walls.
Once you’ve taken stock of the permissible colors take into consideration what you want your house to say about you when guests approach. Bright colors speak of bold personalities, outgoing decor, and tend to draw a bit more attention. Warm rich tones speak of a cozy house, full of family comforts and nostalgia.Clean whites and beiges are contemporary choices which allow for exterior decor and gardening to take a central focus. Do a little research about colors and their meanings and start from there! One of our favourite ways to paint the exterior walls of your home is to follow the same color pallet as the flowers you tend to plant and with every Spring you’ll have a beautifully orchestrated neighborhood fixture! Perhaps you’ll inspire the neighbors to follow suit and your whole street will be a colorful display year-round.
Interior
The first thing to consider when painting your interior walls is the color pallet of your furniture or the collection of art you want to hang on the walls. This will guide you down narrower paths of color choices and potentially make decisions easier. If you’re hanging a lot of art pieces take a look at the colors of your frames for a good starting point; you want the art to pop on the walls. Dark frames need bold or lighter colors while wooden frames have a hard time standing out against darker beiges and some reds. With furniture, sometimes darker leathers and fabrics do great against a rich red or dark blue, while others may crave to stand out against a bright white or beige. Maybe you’re using area rugs with colorful designs which can inspire the color you’re about to throw on the walls.
Also consider the room you’re looking to paint. Bedrooms need different pallets than a kitchen; but you can always have a similar theme throughout the house. If beige and white are the main focus, allowing for art, furniture, and company to hold the space, consider painting the bedrooms a slightly darker shade to bring in warmth and comfort. Blues, yellows, and whites are great for the kitchen because they make the space feel large, clean, and bright — and what chef doesn’t like that? Kids’ rooms are, of course, fair game! Whatever color suits their (or your) fancy is perfect for the space.
With wall colors assigned it’s time to figure out the trim and what accent walls you’re going to have. Accent walls help open up the space without the need of major construction by helping give your eye a place on which to anchor when taking in the space around. Typically if you have a lighter color of wall the accent wall should be a warm, rich color. If you’re having troubles choosing the accent color for your trim and accent wall then take a look at a color wheel. Usually the color opposite the one you’re using is the best to pair! But don’t stop there. Be creative and see what colors intrigue you, inspire you, or make you feel at home. If most of your walls are beige consider a certain shade of blue or purple to make things pop; or more traditionally go with a darker shade of beige or brown.
Then there are the brave, the visionary few who take painting their walls to the next level. Murals and art installations that cover the wall are a great way to make your house a unique experience. Choose a wall and make it a landscape to take you away whenever you look at it, or paint a mural of illusory space in a smaller room to make it ‘look’ bigger. Ultimately have fun with this project. Painting your house, room by room, can be stressful and take time but the end result is well worth it. You will have transformed your home and made it YOURS, inside and out!
