7 Tips for Choosing the Right Paint Colors for Your Home

Ask any experienced real estate agent: A new coat of paint is one of the most effective — and cost-effective — ways to revamp your home. The right color for a room can make the space feel welcoming, cozy, and intimate, while an ill-advised color can make that same space uncomfortable and anxiety-inducing.

So how do you pick the right paint colors for your home? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but with a mix of caution, boldness, intuition, and some basic design principles, you should be able to get the job done. Read on for our seven best tips on picking out the right paint colors for your home!

Remember that your paint colors won’t exist in a vacuum

Repainting your home is one of the most exciting aspects of homeownership, and it’s easy to walk into the paint store and get carried away by all the vivid, novel shades on the shelves. But don’t forget that the color of your walls will have to coexist with your existing furnishings, including your furniture, wall hangings, and floors. The most arresting paint color in the store won’t work in your living room if it clashes with your sectional sofa.

Many experts suggest taking an object from the room you’re painting — for example, a pillow or cushion from your sofa — to the paint store, and comparing it with the color strips there to make sure everything’s compatible. The prettiest color isn’t always the right color.

Don’t overlook finishes

Whether you choose a delicate eggshell or a cool charcoal blue, the finish you put over it can completely change the color’s inflection. Consider high-gloss, semi-gloss, flat, and satin finishes, depending on what effect you’re aiming for. The higher the gloss, the more bright and shiny the color will look when light hits it. On the other end of the spectrum, a flat finish will create an understated matte effect.

Combine different colors and finishes to create different effects, or use different finishes on the same color to explore its potential. If you want to go for really subtle effects, consider using different finishes on the same color in the same space — for example, in a room where both the walls and the trim are painted off-white, consider a matte finish on the walls and a high-gloss finish on the trim.

Use color to delineate spaces

With so many American families moving into homes with open floor plans, many designers have started to use color to define separate spaces. For example, using a lighter color on the dining area and a darker color on the living room area can help define these spaces without detracting from the layout's openness.

If you decide to go down this route, make sure you use paint colors that complement and smoothly transition into each other. Consider using muted, cooler tones so the contrasts between colors won’t be so jarring. If this doesn’t fit your aesthetic, you can also go with a palette of brighter, vivid colors — something like a natural grouping of yellow, orange, and red.

Use color to enhance spaces

If you’ve saved yourself some money by buying a fixer-upper, your initial decisions on paint colors will have a massive effect on how your home looks and feels. For example, white rooms seem larger and more spacious, while darker colors can make a space feel smaller and more intimate. Vivid colors like red or yellow can have a physically stimulating effect on people, while pink is scientifically proven to have a calming effect.

You want to pair the effects of a color with the function of a space. For example, you wouldn’t want to use a dramatic, exciting orange in a library or bedroom, while a muted, subtle off-white could leave a playroom or dining room feeling too sterile. Opt for lighter colors in small spaces, and make larger spaces feel more intimate with dark tones.

Mix it up

If you opt for bold, vivid colors in certain rooms, build in transitional spaces to keep those rooms from clashing too directly. For example, if you opt for an electric blue in your kitchen and a bright yellow for your dining room, paint the connecting hallway a flat off-white to provide a visual transition between the spaces. (Designers sometimes refer to this as a “palette cleanser.”)

Even if you decide on a more consistent color palette, there are still ways to inject some spontaneity into your home. If you opt to use the same color on the entire main level of your home, use slightly different tones of that color to differentiate between spaces. If you’re decorating on a budget, you could also opt for just one single dramatic “accent room” — say, a busy communal space like the kitchen — that you paint in a vivid color not found in the rest of the house. This creates a surprise contrasting effect that can serve to set off the rest of your home too.

Don’t forget the ceiling

Many designers call the ceiling the “fifth wall.” While conventional wisdom states that ceilings should be painted white to make the space feel airier, there are more creative ways to achieve the same effect. In a large or normal size room, painting the ceiling a lighter tone of the wall color will make the ceiling look more distant. In a small enclosed space, painting the ceiling the same color as the walls can have an enlarging effect.

If you have very high ceilings, painting them a darker color can bring them down. In a room where occupants are seated most of the time, like a dining or family room, this can invoke a very intimate vibe.

That said, if you have low ceilings, then painting the ceiling white, and the crown molding the color of the wall, is a time-tested way to make the ceiling feel higher.

Less isn’t always more

Designers use something called the “60-30-10 Rule” when it comes to color. According to this theory, 60% of the color in a space should come from the walls, 30% should come from furniture, windows, and floors, and 10% should come from accessories. Falling below any of these percentages can leave a room looking unfinished and underwhelming — something to keep in mind if you’re thinking about painting all your walls a flat, featureless white.