Colour should make you feel good. You can find inspiration from anywhere, whether it be your favourite dress or artwork, you usually don’t have to look too far. We so often lose touch with our creative side and bringing colour into our homes should be just that, creative and fun! Don’t be afraid to play around with colour, this is a way that you can express yourself and tell a story in your home.
Choosing the right paint colour can feel like a daunting task. There are so many options and so much advice about how to choose the best paint colour, it’s easy to become overwhelmed!
Here are my tips for choosing the right paint colour for your space:
Consider the vibe you’re looking to create.
It’s been proven that colours can impact our mood. Soft pastels and neutrals have a calming effect, while bright, strong or high chroma colours are energising.
With this in mind, a great place to start is to familiarise yourself with colour theory. Colour theory explains the relationship between colours and the effect of colour on our mood. Just look at a colour wheel and you’ll see how colours opposite each other create engaging contrasts, whereas colours that sit side by side offer a more harmonious blend, while similar tones are soothing.
Create a mood board
Set yourself the task of creating a mood board. Pull inspiration from different places, screenshots on your phone, pin images on Pinterest, look in magazines, or even your favourite tv show, inspiration can be found everywhere! Whatever you do, make sure you keep your references in one place so you can easily look back at it when you’re out and about choosing pieces for your space.
Observe the lighting in the room
Be aware of the natural light in your space. It’s a good idea to check what the light is like in a particular room at different points throughout the day. A common mistake people make is just going by the swatch and not testing the paint colour on the wall. You can swatch colours directly onto the wall and then check how they look at different times in the changing light, or how they appear under cool or warm bulbs.
It’s a good idea to paint a large swatch, 60cm x 60cm, this way you’ll get a true idea of what the colour will look like at different times of the day. A colour might look beautiful in the morning light, but then overbearing at night with all the downlights on. It’s a delicate balance.
Create a cohesive colour palette
A good way to create a cohesive colour palette is to start with a base of neutral tones as a foundation. Decide if you’d like your base to be warm neutrals or cool neutrals, (this depends on the mood you’re trying to create and the way light is behaving in the room). Next, layer in colours using the 60:30:10 ratio guide. Here, 60% is the dominant colour, for example the wall colour.
The secondary colour, which makes up the 30% can be the soft furnishings like rugs and cushions. The 10% is where you can have fun with an accent, a bright pop or contrast to punctuate the room. A way I’ve seen this done recently is colour being on the skirting trims. It’s a subtle way to introduce contrast and looks amazing.
Don’t be afraid of colour!
When I was considering the colour palette for my own bedroom I wanted to choose colours that aligned with my signature style. I tend to be drawn to neutral, warm and earthy shades, but at the same time I didn’t want to be limited to white, beige and brown tones. The way I worked around this was to paint the trim and French doors of the bedroom in Dulux’s Wasabi Aquanamel, a soft yet fresh green with a yellow undertone. This made the room feel more elevated, timeless and sophisticated, while not compromising on feeling warm and inviting.
Consider the size and function of the room
The size and function of a room is a key consideration when selecting a paint colour. A bold, dark colour might be overwhelming in a large room, whereas in a smaller room, like a powder room dark colours are perfect. In a bedroom you don’t want colours that are too bold. Bedrooms are for rest, so colours that create a calming feel are best and warm, inviting colours are great for living rooms.
Don’t forget, not all shades of white are the same!
Shades of white can be warm or cool, and choosing the right shade should start here. As with other colours, deciding on whether you want warm or cool depends on various factors, including lighting, room orientation, interior style, and the overall mood you want to create. However, the key consideration is the undertone of the white paint. Warm whites have yellow or red undertones, while cool white has blue or grey undertones. So you will need to decide which way you want to lean with your palette, warm or cool. Another consideration is way the light reflects in the room. So, like all colours, it’s best to swatch test on the wall to see which shade you prefer in natural light.
