Choosing the paint color for your interior
Finding the right color for your home interior is like finding the right partner. If you choose the right one, it'll make you feel so relax and comfortable at home. While choosing the wrong one, you will be reluctant to go home every day. However, with thousands of choices available out there, choosing the right one can be a daunting and painful experience. Whether you are in the predicament of choosing the right partner.... or in this case.. the right paint color, you'll find a relieve after reading these 5 steps.
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Research Research Research
The most important step to do before making any decision is doing a lot of research. Pinterest is the Tinder apps for house design. Save the images of rooms that catch your heart. After having a collection of 20 beautiful and attractive rooms, you'll get a feel for your preference and likes. Once you go through this stage, you would have eliminated three-quarters of the available options out there and believe me.. Things get much easier from here.
Get to know him/her
Sun Tzu once said, "Know thy enemy, win a thousand battles". Information is the key here. Check out what's his/ her hobby, favorite food, movie genre, music, etc.
As for paints, knowing this guideline for the different finish choices will save you big time:
- Flat (matte): No shine at all. Perfect for low traffic areas like living rooms and bedroom
- Flat enamel: Has almost no shine but it is a bit easier to clean than flat paint. It is a better choice if you have kids or pets. Perfect option for living room and bedroom.
-Eggshell enamel: Has a bit of shine. Good choice for moderate traffic areas like living rooms. Most dirt can be wiped off of this surface with a damp cloth.
- Satin enamel: Has more shine than eggshell enamel. Perfect choice for high traffic areas or areas that have moisture, like kitchen and bathroom as it's easily wiped off.
- Semi-gloss enamel: Shiny but not glass-like. Best used for cabinets and trim or for rooms with high moisture areas.
-Hi-gloss enamel: Shiny and gives almost glass-like finish. Perfect for railing or furniture.
Don't forget to also make a board that consists of pictures of each room and try to choose one theme for the entire house. It doesn't mean you have to paint the whole house with the same color. But aesthetically it would look much better if the entire house has the continuation of spatial view when the paints have a theme. For example, if you choose to paint your living room grey, you may choose white for the bedroom, and lighter or darker tones of grey for the other rooms.
Be faithful to your choice
At this stage, chances are you'll be very sensitive and would suddenly notice a lot of house designs wherever you go. It's very common for you to change your mind for other seemingly more attractive, more alluring, and more charming designs. But if you change your mind all the time, tell yourself to stick with your choice, and move on to the next stage.
Go on a date
Just like how the image in Tinder is different with the real person, sometimes the color from the color wheel might look different on a big surface. And you want to avoid the disappointment of having to re-paint the entire wall because the color doesn't look as beautiful as you expected. The best thing to do is to take the color you have selected from the color wheel and place it on an actual wall.
Buy the testers in a few shades. It's well worth spending the money to buy testers before purchasing gallons of the color. Paint it on a 1 m x 1 m area and have a feel of how the color will look like.
Take action!
Head to your local hardware or paint shop and grab what you need. Don't forget you'll need the paint trays, brushes, rollers, thinners etc. If you're unsure how much paint is needed, always check with the vendor as they have a pretty good idea what's required.
If you're undecided whether to engage the professionals or do it yourself, do read ​the cost of professional painting vs DIY
Now with the above 5 steps, you can confidently choose not only the right color for your home but also the right partner of your life.