6 Simple Steps to Selecting the Perfect Paint Color for Your Home

Do you have trouble picking a new paint color for your home? Does it give you anxiety or when you do pick a color it doesn’t turn out the way you were hoping?  I have been there. It’s aggravating, but it doesn’t have to be. I have a few simple steps to help you pick the right color for your home.  You might only need to use some of them, or you may want to follow all of them. Either way, I hope you find them helpful.

1. What do you want your room to look like? Let’s start with Pinterest. If you haven’t used Pinterest before, don’t worry, it is user friendly and I’m going to warn you, addicting.  Download the app and create an account.  Follow the prompts and create a new board with images of what you would like your room to look like.  Search ‘coastal living room’ or ‘farmhouse kitchen,’ whatever you are looking for and you will be flooded with images. You can check out examples of my boards by clicking on the Pinterest icon on the home page.
2. Next, the colors…Review your board and start searching Pinterest for similar color palettes that are in your favorite images you’ve already pinned. There are hundreds and hundreds of beautiful color palettes that you can add to a new board of just color palettes. Once you have a few pins posted to your new board, review the board. Are you drawn to one of the images? Yes, then that’s probably the color palette you should start with. No, then keep pinning. You will eventually notice a pattern on your board. Similar colors or tones. One of those is likely your new wall color.
3. Time to go to the local hardware store. Be sure to take your phone or tablet with the Pinterest app so you can refer to your favorite pins. Now, if you are super careful like me, you will just pick some paint chips similar to the colors you’ve chosen from your Pinterest boards.  If you are feeling pretty color confident, skip to step 4, if not, take the chips home. See how they look in the room with the different lighting and your furniture, etc.
4. Sample time…Hopefully, step 3 has helped you narrow down your choices. Time to buy an 8 oz. sample of the color or a few colors. Purchase the samples in the finish/sheen you need/want for the room you are painting, i.e. flat, eggshell, semi-gloss. They range from $2-$6 depending on the brand and finish. Don’t know what sheen you’ll need? Well, it depends on how much traffic the room your painting receives and how you want the walls to look. See below.   
   • Flat is perfect for ceilings and low traffic areas. It has a low sheen, almost none really, non-reflective finish. We use this for all our ceilings. We also used it to paint the textured wall in my office that will be behind me when I record my videos.
   • Matte seems to perform similarly as flat but has a low luster reflective finish. According to the Behr website, it works well for low to moderate traffic areas, such as bedrooms. Full disclosure, I did not realize there was a matte finish. I might try this for our bedroom.
   • Eggshell is a good choice for areas with moderate traffic like living rooms. It has a soft sheen, not really shiny. Behr describes it as velvety which is pretty accurate.  The finish makes it easy to clean.  This is what we normally select for our living spaces.
   • Satin is meant for moderate to high traffic areas like kitchens and bathrooms.  This has a similar finish as the eggshell, maybe just a little more luster.  This is what we have used for our kitchens and bathrooms.
   • Semi-gloss is what it sounds like, a little glossy. We use it for all our trim work. It’s meant for high-traffic and high moisture areas.  
   • Hi-gloss is for high-use surfaces. I have never used it, but according to Behr it has a shiny glass-like finish.
5. Swatch watch time…Paint small swatches of the colors on one or more of the walls you plan to paint. I only test on one wall.  You can test on multiple walls. It depends on the size and lighting of the room. If you are testing multiple colors, be sure to number the samples and swatches so you know which color is which. Use a pencil or chalk on the wall so you don’t have to worry about any ink bleeding through the paint later. Review the colors throughout the course of the day in the different light.
6. Buy the damn paint…It’s time to pick one and go get your paint people! Don’t forget your paint chip because you will have all of the color names running through your head if you are like me.  

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Here are some tips and tricks once you do get your paint home. Most of which I’ve learned from my husband.  I pick the colors, but he paints the walls.  He is very particular with paint finishes and does not approve of my interior wall painting skills. Works for me. I spend my time doing other things I enjoy while he’s painting.

• Paint the trim first. It is easier to cut in around the trim with the wall color than vise versa. You have more room. Try it out and see what you think.
• When you are done painting for the day but have more to do tomorrow, wrap the roller with aluminum foil to keep it from drying out overnight.  
• Make sure you have plenty of light in the room. Take the lampshades off of the lamps and put brighter bulbs, 100 watt, in so you can avoid drips and have a smooth finish.
• Maybe keep the pets in a confined area…see photo.

There you have it. It’s a simple list from my personal experience because paint is not as cheap as it used to be, and if you are like me, it will really irritate you if the color is not quite right and you have to decide whether to live with it or go through the expense and effort of painting again. I hope it helps you pick the perfect color and make your home feel exactly the way you want it. 

Be sure to check out https://www.facebook.com/sincerelyyourssaltycactus/ for photos of our living room and dining room completed in Rio Sky from Behr in eggshell.

Go enjoy your day!

Be sincere, stay a little salty and always beautiful.