Guest Post: Finding the Right Color Scheme For Your House

image via LDA Architects

By: Tom Gilmore

For many people, decorating is one of the most enthralling parts of being a home owner. You'll get to pick out curtains, choose frames for pictures in the living room and, of course, decide on a color scheme. While painting can be redone, it's not something that's necessarily easily changed. How can you make sure you choose the right color scheme? Read on to find out :)

 Room by Room

If you try to look at your house as a whole, you are going to get overwhelmed and not have very much luck in terms of picking out a color scheme. Instead, think of each room as its own entity.

image via housepaintingtutorials.com

Each room does not have to be within the same color palate, but you might want to establish a sense of continuity. This can vary depending on the ultimate themes you choose, the size of your home, your budget, etc. A light blue room next to a burnt orange one can really have a striking contrast, but you also don't want to convey a sense of gawdiness.

 Establish a Theme

Before you make the final decision on the colors, you should consider what the theme of the room is going to be. Perhaps you want to have a beach-themed living room.

image via timticks.com

  In that case, a light blue is just perfect for the walls; you might even want to do an off-white if you're going to have blue couches. Perhaps you want to have a kitchen that reminds you of Italy, and you could select a deep red shade as your color.

 What You Like

 Sometimes, people get so caught up in what colors they want to paint their house that they forget part of it is about their own personal preferences. For example, if you detest yellow, do not feel as though you must incorporate this color into your house simply because it will match. In certain cases, it is easier to start with your dislikes. Cross the colors you absolutely do not like or want off of the list. After that, it will be easier to narrow down your choices and pick the colors that are just right for your home. You want your home to be warm and welcoming - if you're not even comfortable in it, it'll be hard to pull that off.

 Test Them Out

Take those little samples out of the book you have and put them up on the walls of the room. This method might not be enough to really get an idea of what colors the walls should be though. If that is the case, then you can buy some of your final choices and put samples of them on the wall. In doing so, you will actually get to see what the paint will look like in the final version. You can try out a few different examples to get a sense of the best fit for each room of your dwelling.

image via westcoastrenovationonline.com

 Picking up colors for your home can be difficult, but that does not mean it must be impossible. Of course, you do not want to be constantly painting and re-painting your own. However, remember that paints colors can be changed. This fact might help take some of the pressure off your shoulders and give you some ease in the decision-making process.

 Tom Gilmore writes about his career in the design industry. His recent work is about how make the transition from interior design to a graphic designer.