Choosing Color
My husband loves color and I prefer neutrals with splashes of color, although I usually design for clients who love color!
For traditional homes and clients who love color, I choose a neutral color for entries/foyers and hallways so that colors chosen for individual rooms can take center stage. For open concept spaces, I use soft and warm grays, taupe or warm whites that create a lovely backdrop for either tonal or more colorful palette.
Try mixing warm and cool colors throughout your home. When choosing colors for walls, upholstery and drapery fabrics, flooring, cabinets, accent colors, etc., I select between four to six colors and run them throughout the house. A dining room wall color might also appear in a bedroom or bathroom in a lighter shade.
To help balance the “feeling” of a home, warm colors are selected for spaces that feel cool or face north. For spaces that feel warm, cooler colors are chosen. Mixing warm and cool tones throughout a room helps to give the room depth.
Trim color can be tricky to keep track of if you have chosen different trim colors for different rooms. I keep it easy. Trim for doors, baseboards and windows are the same white or off-white color throughout the house. This approach makes it easy to remember and helps to flow a house. More on flow in another blog. Have you ever chosen a trim color for a bedroom and wondered where to stop the room’s trim color and start the trim color in the hallway? No need to worry about that now!
If you are wondering what finishes to choose for your wall and trim paint, my standard finishes are satin for trim and matte finish (washable flat) for wall paint. A matte finish helps to help to hide wall imperfections and allows for easy cleaning of scuffs off walls with little to no cleaning marks. For a master bedroom or formal living space, I prefer Benjamin Moore’s pearl finish, that has just a hint of a glimmer adding elegance to a room.
For bathrooms I often paint the ceiling the same color as the walls. See Elegant Master Bathroom in Projects. Bathrooms have many elements contained in a small space. To eliminate unnecessary geometry that a white ceiling and a different wall color can sometimes offer, using the same paint color for the ceiling and walls can soften the look of a room, make it cozy or just bring a room together.
For bathrooms with wallpaper, I love painting the ceiling a metallic paint color, especially a gold tone for some glam!
What colors to choose – Select colors you love and that you feel will go with your furnishings, area rugs or artwork. Inspiration for wall color can come from any furnishing or accessory that will be in the room. Order paint color samples or a sample can of paint and put two coats of a 12” square in several areas of the room to be sure you like the color at different times of the day. Do this before you schedule your painter. He/she will thank you!
Have fun making your space reflect who YOU are!
