Paint Changes Everything: How I Choose Colors for My Home

Choosing a color palette for any room can be daunting. Believe me, I know! Last time I picked out paint for my home I made a huge mistake by not realizing what it would look like once it was done. Especially when it was on every. single. wall. in my house.

It is hard to picture what a color will look like on your walls from a tiny paint chip. It is even harder to imagine it once furniture and accessories are added to the mix

Here are some things that helped me this time around.

For my kitchen, I googled and googled and googled. I looked through hundreds of pictures of kitchen. I searched for kitchen color ideas, color pallet ideas etc. and I found myself gravitating toward similar ideas.
 

Image from housebeautiful.com

Image from housebeautiful.com

Photo from hookedonhouses.com

They all seemed so bright and fresh. Once I had an idea of the color I wanted, I searched for fabric next. I was looking for fabric that had a perfect blueish/teal color to it.

I love Joel Dewberry's fabric. Once I found my fabric I went to Sherwin Williams and matched the light blue color until I found the right color family. I ended up painting my walls with Raindrop SW6485.

If you are still nervous about the color, most paint stores have a tester size you can take home and paint a good size square to stare at.

Image from Sherwin Williams Raindrop SW6485

If you are not a fabric person, another really cool site out there for color palettes is COLOURlovers.  If you go to their website and click on trends you can find awesome color palettes taken from fashion, media, weddings, etc. You can also create custom color palettes. They even give you the HEX and RGB numbers. You can print out your custom palette and take it to a local paint store and have them match it.


Here is one of my walls.

I think they look a little more blue in the picture than they actually are but I love the color. It brightens and freshens up my kitchen. I actually painted it while my hubby was away on a business trip and didn't tell him. When he walked in the door he said "Wow. I thought you were going to go with a nice tan or something."

Nope. No tan here. No yellow for that matter either.

For all you mommies out there, Mr. U (my two-year-old) christened my newly painted walls, only a few hours after they dried, with a fresh scribble. Guess he had to welcome the new walls home.

I know not everyone will love my color choice because it is personal. My biggest piece of advice is to pick something you love. A color that makes you happy.

What about you? Are you afraid of painting color in your home? Are you stuck in a color rut? How did you pick the color palettes in your home?

Well I am off to feed the kiddos.