How To Make Paint Colour Work For You

Choosing the paint colours for your home is an exciting experience as you decide the overall look and design. However, as such a crucial feature of your home, it can be a daunting process to choose the right colour. 

It’s important to educate yourself about how colours work in the home, and you will then have the confidence to express yourself through colour. From neutral colours for their entire house to exciting statement colours, there’s endless opportunity when it comes to your home’s paint colours.  

How to pick your home’s paint colour 

There are some tried and true principles about using colour in interiors. One of the key things here is to understand the difference between dominant and recessive colours and how the application of colour can change the visual proportions of a room. Dominant colours like yellow and red will feel like they’re jumping forward, while recessive colours like purple and blue will feel like they’re going back. 

Contrasting light and dark colours

Pairing dominant and recessive colours can be used to create focal points in a room, create an illusion of depth and space, or draw attention to statement pieces. Light colours don’t necessarily make a small space appear bigger. For example, even using dark colours such as charcoal on all four walls and using good lighting to highlight objects away from the walls can actually diminish the boundaries with the room, making it appear spacious. The best interiors use colour on walls to provide interest and contrast. 

The effects of light

One of the classic mistakes people often make is to buy sample colour pots and paint them directly on their walls. However, the colour on your walls is influenced by the light that the room receives at any given time of the day, as well as your flooring colour, lighting and furnishings. Colour reflects all of these elements and will not stay the same throughout your house. 

The colour in the space

A clever trick is to paint your chosen colours on a piece of A3 cardboard and move the piece of cardboard throughout your house – place it on your walls, floors, windowsills – and view it in all different aspects of your house. 

Understanding the theory behind the use of colour in interiors and viewing your chosen colours in different aspects of your house will give you the confidence to make clever colour decisions. It’s about trusting yourself and ultimately, remembering that you can always paint again if the result is not what you had planned. 

The most popular home paint colours 

Whilst there’s always trending paint colours, there a few colours that remain most popular for home interiors and exteriors. These colours are most frequent in-home designs due to their versatile look that can be adapted to a range of styles and needs.  

• White: White painted walls have become a classic for homes for good reason. You can rely on this colour to bounce light around the room to keep it feeling open, clean and airy. White paint in your home also provides a blank canvas for you to style, letting other elements stand out.  
• Beige: Beige offers homeowners all the benefits of white’s neutral base, whilst providing warmth. With variations like eggshell and ecru, beige is a great option to create a comforting and inviting space that is a softer alternative to white. 
• Grey: Many leading home design styles, such as Scandinavian, have incorporated the colour grey. This colour offers a range of shades from light to dark and creates a sophisticated and modern look in interiors and exteriors alike. 
• Blue: Blue is a favourite palette for trending home styles like Hamptons, as it provides a calming and soothing colour that gives a rustic touch. This colour is especially popular in bedrooms and bathrooms. The array of shades can have different effects, with lighter shades of blue opening up spaces, while darker shades create a cosy and intimate atmosphere. 

Best paint colours for your home 

With G.J. Gardner Homes, our friendly design experts can help you decide the right colour palette for your home design.  Our customisable home designs offer you the freedom to find the right paint colours for your dream home. Get in touch today.