Oh but ain’t that America, for you and me
Ain’t that America, we’re something to see baby
Ain’t that America, home of the free, yeah
Little pink houses for you and me, oh for you and me
~ John Mellencamp, Lyrics to Little Pink Houses
Unless you are John Mellencamp and want a little pink house, selecting the right color for your home is essential. Everyone wants the colors they choose for their home to complement the style of the house itself, but also reflect their individual personality.
Creating an inviting atmosphere through color can be an overwhelming process. But have no fear! We can help you out! Our team at Select Painting can help you make the right color choices for your home.
Here are some tips for choosing the right paint colors for the exterior and interior of your home.
Exterior Colors
First impressions are important. The exterior of your home helps set the stage for what others can expect to find inside. But selecting the colors for the exterior of your house can be a daunting task.
Better Homes & Gardens suggests that you consider the style of your home when choosing exterior paint colors. If your home is modern, sticking with bold colors is best. Multicolored pastel palettes for Victorian-style homes help to keep the history alive.
Another point to consider is your neighborhood. Take a tour of the houses in your area to get ideas on color schemes. You may even find the perfect palette from a nearby home.
You don’t have to be bound by what your neighbors have done. You also don’t want to be the bright blue house on a street of neutral-toned homes.
The colors on the outside of your home come from more than just the paint on the house. Look up at the color of your roof. Do you have a stone walkway? A statue? What kind of landscaping do you have? Grass? Flowering plants? All of these accents of your home add another element of color and should be considered when choosing a color scheme.
Interior Colors
According to NHAPS, you spend up to 70% of your life inside your home. That’s a lot of time! With so much of your life spent in your house, you want to make sure that you enjoy what you see. The colors on the walls set the backdrop for everything else in your home.
Color Palette or Theme
In the living, dining, kitchen, and entryways it is a good idea to stick with a theme to maintain continuity. In bedrooms, bathrooms, and office spaces you can deviate from that rule–go wild! Start with colors you like, and then follow basic color theory to help you find accent colors.
To create harmony in the hues you choose, Color Matters suggests three ideas for choosing color schemes.
Analogous
Analogous colors are any three colors that are side-by-side on a 12-part color wheel. For a blue scheme, you have two different color sets you can choose from: green, blue-green, blue or blue, blue-purple, red-purple. These monotone schemes generally go well in bedrooms and bathrooms.
Complementary
Found directly across from each other on the color wheel, complementary colors allow you to use boldly contrasting colors that go well together. One of the ones we see every Winter is the red-green combo of holiday decorations. You can choose one color as your primary and one as an accent, or divide and conquer equally.
Nature’s Colors
There are many combinations of colors in nature that defy technical formulas but are as equally harmonious and appealing. You can go outside and look at the plants around your house for inspiration or look through photographs online. The sky’s the limit!
Once you’ve chosen which scheme you’d like to follow, choosing the colors themselves is the next step. Hey There, Home suggests starting by looking at your furniture and other decor, such as paintings or items that are important to you, for inspiration. Better to match paint to furniture than vice-versa.
Once you’ve got your color scheme, go to the store and get paint samples and test, test, test! You can’t tell how the lighting in a room will change the paint color until you put it up on the wall.
Meaningful Colors
When you invite others to your home, what kind of tone and atmosphere will they find? The colors on your walls, and even ceiling and accent colors, will help set the mood of each room. Colors represent different emotions and characteristics. They’re a fun and easy way to show off your personality.
Blue
Symbolizing peace and serenity, blue brings a calming effect. Paint it in your office to help promote productivity. Blue also works well in the bedroom to help you relax.
Green
Color psychology says that green brings balance and harmony, making it an excellent color for any room in your home. Green promotes health and reduces anxiety. It’s another great choice for your bedroom.
Yellow
Wanting to bring a little sunshine and lightness to your entryway or kitchen? Yellow, especially in pale shades, is the way to go! Yellow is associated with happiness, though according to color psychology, it’s not so great for the nursery and can cause a less than peaceful environment for babies.
Red
Bringing energy, excitement, and passion to a room is easy to do with just about any shade of red. Red encourages appetite, so the dining room is a great place to feature this bold statement color.
Purple
Are you someone who likes to be creative? Looking to give your living room a royal makeover? Purple is your color. It’s the color of royalty, luxury and wealth. Having lavender or mauve walls can help stimulate your imagination, while also helping you to relax.
Brown
The color brown evokes feelings of contentment, wholeness, and security. Its earthy tones work well for the exterior of your home. Brown also works well as an accent color.
Black
Want to add some elegance to your kitchen or a feeling of power to your office space? Black is the go-to accent color to add that touch of drama or mystery. Just be careful not to add too much, black can make a room feel gloomy.
White
Symbolic of purity and cleanliness, white brings with it a sense of the new, fresh, and youthful. It can help to create the illusion of space. White works well to bring a contemporary feel to rooms and works well in more formal living spaces.
Gray
Though it is considered emotionless, the color gray is associated with intelligence and discipline. Painting gray accents, or going all out with gray tones, brings elegance and sophistication to a room. It also works well to highlight bold and bright colors such as orange and lime green.
In Conclusion
Once you’ve selected the colors that fit your home and reflect your aesthetic preferences, it’s time to give us a call at (605) 728-2598! Our team at Select Painting specializes in bringing you the highest quality work with the utmost integrity. You can be assured of friendly staff and clean work as we paint inside or outside your home.
