Just bought a new house and you want it to reflect your style? Live in an older home that needs a little freshening up? Are you staging your house for sale? Tired of the colour palette in your space? Paint is one the simplest and most inexpensive ways to personalize your space and give it a new look. The perfect paint colour is a renovator’s secret weapon! But choosing that ideal colour can be overwhelming. While there are no hard and fast rules for picking hues, the following are some tips and hints for choosing colours that will make your space sing.

• Use your room for colour ideas: The floors, countertops, rugs and furniture in a room can help determine what colour will best work in your space. Look to the shades already present for ideas. 
• Look for inspiration: Magazines, catalogues and the internet provide decorating inspiration. Paint stores often show ways to use colour in your home while social media sites (Pinterest, Instagram) also offer colour ideas.
• Utilize colour theory:  A simple colour wheel can help you see how colours will relate to each other. The wheel makes colour relationships easy to see by dividing the spectrum into 12 basic hues: three primary colours, three secondary colours and six tertiary colours. You can rely on the wheel’s segmentation to help you mix colours and create palettes with varying degrees of contrast (monochromatic, analogous, complementary, triadic).
• Get creative with neutrals: If you opt to use neutral colours, be creative with how you use them. Stripes add a relaxed style. A neutral wall with a pastel ceiling can bring a soothing vibe. 
• Get your colours from a print: Start with a print fabric (throw pillows, bedding, table linens, a rug). Choose the boldest colour in the print or look at the colour in the smallest details. Take a swatch to the paint store for help with matching. 
• Look to nature: Bring the outside in by reflecting colours from the setting in which you dwell. Live near the sea? Use sandy neutrals, nautical blues, soft yellows, and easy-going white paint colours. Reside near the mountains? Try gray, tan, putty, oak, burgundy and/or cobalt shades. Live in a dry, sunbaked area? Use coppers, gold, silvers, grays, umber, and ochre. Reside near the forest? Try rust, muddy brown, moss green, taupe and ivory.
• Find inspiration in artwork: Have a favourite piece of art in your home? Choose complementary colours from the piece to create a colour scheme. 
• Consider undertones: An undertone is a colour lurking beneath your favourite paint colour. For example, a simple beige can have a green undertone. The surfaces in your room (curtains, rugs, furniture) have undertones that change the way a paint colour appears. Take these into account when choosing your colour palette. 
• Utilize paint samples: Once you’ve selected the colours you think you want, visit your local paint retailer to pick up paint samples. Paint a large enough area on each wall so you can see how the light reflects on the colour. Examine the patches under natural and artificial light at different times of the day. 
• Try a paint colour app: The best paint colour apps give you the ability to match a colour you see in your surroundings with a colour palette and paint hues. (Lowe’s Color360 Paint Visualizer, Color Muse, Glidden Room Visualizer,  Behr ColorDiscovery etc.)
• Use the psychology of colour: Colour has an effect on your mood so pick hues that set the tone you want for each area of your home. The colour you choose should reflect the mood you want to create in the room while complementing its contents and style. Paint social rooms warm colours. Give private rooms cool hues. 
  • Red raises your energy, increases appetite and stimulates conversation making it a perfect choice for the kitchen and dining room. 
  • Yellow evokes positivity, happiness and creativity while sparking communication. It makes small spaces feel large and welcoming. Use it in kitchens, dining rooms, halls and entries. 
  • Blue has a calming effect. Concentrated shades add drama while paler shades enlarge the feel of a space. Try it in the bedrooms.
  • Green reminds us of nature promoting tranquillity and health. It’s suited for almost any room. 
  • Purple blends excitement and serenity bringing an exotic tone to a room. Try lavender in the living room and pastel purple in a bedroom. 
  • Orange stimulates appetite and brings energy to a space. It’s a great choice for a dining room, kitchen or fitness room. 
  • Gray brings serenity and sophistication. Try a light gray in a bedroom, a tan-gray in the living room or pair it with white for the kitchen and bathroom. 
  • Brown is an earth tone that makes you feel warm and welcome. Use it in living and dining rooms. 
• Consult with your professional painter: An experienced residential painter can provide paint colour ideas or a custom-designed colour palette for your home. Share your ideas and inspiration with them so they understand your style and taste.

Colour helps define an interior space and create focal points in a room. Try these tips to find the paint colours you love and determine where best to use them. Confused by the many choices of hues? Consult a local painting contractor. They have the knowledge and experience to help you select the best paint and colour palette for your project. 

Need help choosing the perfect colour for your interior space? Want a paint job that looks great for a long time? Need the help of a professional residential painting company? Call the Calgary residential painting experts, Cal Res Coatings at (403) 917-0556. We have experience with exterior and interior painting. We’re a residential painting contractor that strives for quality, has an eye for detail and colour, and will not rest until your job is done to your satisfaction. Request a free quote today.