8 Steps to Picking the Perfect Interior Paint Color

When you’re thinking about choosing interior design and paint colors, it’s always a good idea to review a few basic color terms. Incorporating color wheel ideas can help you imagine your house color schemes more easily.

The Color Wheel
The color wheel identifies which color family interior paint colors belong to and how they relate to each other. Color wheels are important to help you coordinate the look of your home. Read more about using the color wheel in our guide on choosing paint colors.

Primary Colors
All colors, except white, come from the primary colors: blue, yellow and red.

Secondary Colors
Mix equal amounts of two primary colors to create secondary colors. The results are violet (red and blue), green (blue and yellow) and orange (red and yellow).

Tertiary Colors
Mix one primary color with larger amounts of another primary color to create tertiary colors. For example, mix one part blue with two parts red to make red-violet.

Other Colors Terms

• The hue of a color is the basic color. For example, blue is the hue for both light blue and dark blue.
• Tone is changed by adding white and black (gray) to a color. Tone makes colors more pleasing to look at than pure pigment.
• The value of a color describes the amount of white or black in the color. The value ranges from light to dark on a grayscale.
• The saturation of a color refers to its strength or weakness in different light. Think about it in terms of bright or dull.

Different wall colors and paint color schemes affect our moods in different ways. Let’s say that you’ve decided emerald green will be the main focus in your living room. Before you buy gallons of emerald green paint, you should consider the effect it’ll have on the appearance and mood of the room. Knowing more about what each color represents will help you choose the best paint option for every space.

Warm and Cozy Colors
Warm and cozy colors, located on the right side of the color wheel, convey a message of togetherness and strength:

• Red represents energy, power and passion. It’s also been found to stimulate appetite, so it’s a common choice for dining rooms.
  
• Orange is less aggressive than red and creates warmth and a sense of joy. However, it’s very hard to tone down and is often used as an accent color only.
• Yellow has different effects, depending on how much you use. Generally, yellow is a happy and uplifting color, but when it’s overused, it can become distracting and overwhelming.
  

Cool and Soothing Colors
Cool and soothing colors, located on the left side of the color wheel, provide a sense of calm and feelings of trust:

• Green conveys a sense of renewal and growth. It’s also one of nature’s most prominent colors and blends easily into any room.
• Blue is generally a peaceful color. Light blue can make a room appear bright and refreshing, while a deep blue creates a sense of regalness.
  
• Violet combines the calm of blue and the energy of red. Violet is one of the best bedroom paint colors. A subdued version is calming and relaxing, while a vibrant violet can be energizing.

Pastel Colors 
Pastel colors are the result of adding a large amount of white to a color. They create a comfortable, airy feeling in any room.

Neutral Colors
Neutral colors include shades of white, beige, taupe, gray and black. Neutral colors are the easiest colors to use for one simple reason: They blend with most surroundings. Neutral colors can also be stylish and dramatic. For instance, black and white are neutral colors that create a wonderful palette for additional colors. If you choose neutral colors, use bold-colored accessories to accent the walls and add visual interest. And when you’re ready for a change, you can simply change the accessories.

A color scheme is any set of colors that work together to create a visually appealing layout. Here are some suggestions, but you can let your imagination run wild.

Complementary Colors
Complementary colors are located opposite one another on the color wheel. Each color brings out the richness in the other. When using complementary colors, one color should be subtle, and the other color should be more dominant. As shown in the dining room image, a soft pink living room color for the walls pairs well with deep green chairs.

Split Complementary Colors
Split complementary colors offer a daring color palette. Select the main color. Next, find its complementary color and then select colors from each side of the complementary color.

Related Colors
Related colors are located next to one another on the color wheel. These colors produce a less contrasted effect than complementary colors. For example, a dark blue-green combined with a light blue can give the feeling of floating in a blue ocean.

Monochromatic Colors
Monochromatic colors share a hue but have different tones, values and saturation. Picture a paint swatch card: It has different values of one color. Using two or more monochromatic colors, like a black wall paired with white home accents, creates a stylish and modern look.

When planning your house paint interior colors, it’s also good to plan how you can incorporate patterns and accent shades to create a focal point in your design. This will help you figure out paint schemes for the living room, wall colors for the drawing room, paint shades for the bedroom and more. 

• Consider how adjacent rooms will work together. Think about how much of each space is visible from the next room and plan your color scheme accordingly.Pick the colors you like best — four core colors and two patterns should be the maximum. Use as many accent colors as you like and select a dominant color from the core colors to start. Then choose a color scheme: monochromatic, related or complementary.
• If you decide to start with a favorite pattern, match your colors to the pattern. Colors that are dramatically different in the pattern can be accented with light or dark tones of the same color. You can also use one main color with several tones to create an energetic color scheme.
• The wall color is usually the most dominant focal point in the room, so make sure you know what your wall will look like when it’s finished. Paint a 2-foot-by-2-foot color test and allow it to dry. Paint usually dries one to two shades darker. Now, imagine that 2-foot-by-2-foot section extends throughout the entire room and make sure you like it. A light peach, for example, can make a room very pink in a particular light.
  
• Decide where you’re going to use the colors in the room. The general rule when decorating is to use three different values: light, medium and dark. Walls and floors are usually done in light colors, depending on the effect you’re trying to create. Walls should be a little darker than floors to keep them from looking like they’re floating. 
• Window coverings and large pieces of furniture are often done in a medium value to pull the light walls and floors together. The darkest of the colors should be used as an accent color scattered throughout the room.

Use colors to create an illusion of a bigger or smaller room by contrasting different values — light and dark, warm and cool:

• You can visually lower a ceiling by painting it darker than the walls.
• Make the ceiling seem higher by painting it a color lighter than the walls.
  
• Use dark neutrals or warm colors on walls and floors to visually scale down a large room.
• Make a small room look larger by using light colors on the walls, floors and ceilings.

Use accent colors, whether bold or subtle, to pull a room together:

• Use one wall in a room as a focal point. Paint it a complementary color or a darker shade of the main color in the room.
• Add white to a room to make patterns and colors appear lighter. If you add a dark color, such as black, the darkness of the pattern comes out.
• Paint your walls in two bold colors to tie in with a pattern on a rug or chair.

Chips and swatches are helpful in the color selection process. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• When choosing color chips, branch out and consider similar shades in all directions. Keep in mind any furniture or artwork that’ll go in the room. After you gather all the colors you like, narrow the selection down to three or four hues for your specific project. View the colors in the same type of light as your home. You can compare them by holding them next to a sheet of white paper.
  
• Paint a 1-foot square poster board for each color scheme.
• Live with the various colors for a week. Look at them during different times of the day and in different lighting. Move the poster board swatches around the room — high, low, in corners and near windows — and see how they change.
• Still don’t think you’ve found the right interior paint ideas? Look out for color cues in items you already own, like a favorite piece of art or furniture. Pull colors and color combinations from what you know and love. Bring a pillow, piece of fabric or even a favorite pair of shoes to Lowe’s, and an associate can custom blend a paint shade to match.

Paint color chip displays can look like an overwhelming rainbow of choices at first glance. But the displays are organized to help you come up with color schemes for your interior.

• Most brands are organized by temperature first with warm and cool colors grouped together.
• Secondly, they’re arranged by saturation, with the brighter colors traditionally on the outer sides of the display.
• A good rule of thumb is to stay within the same saturation level to ensure consistency.