Cracking the Color Code: A Guide to Paint Color in Your New Home

Color breathes life into everything. The right color can elevate a home from ordinary to sensational.

Is your living space in need of a transformative refresh? Opt for some new paint colors to revitalize your home. Mixing up hues and tones in your abode is an easy way to lift a room’s mood, and it’s a renovation that’s easy on your wallet.

Choosing the oh-so-perfect paint color will bring any room together, but it’ll also instantly relax any homeowner. After all, feeling laid-back and calm is a major perk of any home upgrade. While furniture, lighting, and decor all set the stage for a home, the right shade opens up new dimensions. Whether you hire a crew or do-it-yourself, paint color is the foundation for a seamless and serene space.

With a complex array of shades and hues on the market, a person can get lost in paint samples. Don’t fret! We got you covered with the best insights and tips for choosing the right paint color for every room in your home. Whether your abode is turn-key and just needs some personal touches, you’re bracing for a substantial redesign, or you’re staging your space to sell, the perfect paint color makes a world of difference.

Ready to transform your space with just the swipe of a paint brush? Review our tips before opening a paint can, and check out the room-by-room paint color guide below.

Before You Begin

Selecting the right paint color can seem like a monumental task. Any homeowner who has spent more than five minutes in a hardware store can agree: sifting through endless swatches can feel a bit exhausting. Even if you landed on a specific color, such as a haint blue, a shade of sky-blue paint wards off evil spirits — and stinging insects — when painted on porch ceilings, finding the exact right hue can be mind-numbing.

Paint color shopping doesn’t have to be crazy complex. Before buying a few buckets, here are a few simple steps to get the right shade each and every time.

1. Size up your Space. Before you start, take full stock of the room you’re priming to paint. Be aware of measurements and size, natural lighting, window treatments, floor texture, moldings or trims, and other details like hardware and fixtures.

2. Clearly Define your Budget. Painting a room, or several rooms, can be an inexpensive upgrade in the long run. However, paint costs can certainly add up. You may find flat-finish paints starting as low as $15, but to truly revamp a room, you might want to consider higher-end paints instead. Premium paint begins in the $30 range, but can surpass $100 per gallon. With this in mind, you’ll also want to factor in wear and tear alongside the longevity of the paint itself. After you measure a room or hallway, assess how many gallons you’ll need and define a budget around those parameters.

3. Research Trends. Now, the fun part begins. Examine your favorite publications, Pinterest boards, and Instagram inspirations to find vibrant hues that are up and coming. But also, gather mood boards that truly speak to you. From researching and finding new trends, you’ll be able to get an idea of what you crave, what aligns with your budget, and how the colors themselves stand out in a fully finished room. This is also a great opportunity to probe colors that heighten rest and relaxation. From there, define trends and aesthetics that fit into your personal style.

4. Own your Sense of Style. You’ve pinned, made mood boards, double-tapped on Instagram, but what about your own personal preferences? With inspiration and your style top of mind, it’s time to be realistic. Some crave-worthy colors might not work in your home, or a new trend might fall flat in a year or two. This is the time to keep trends in mind while completely and utterly owning your personal sense of style. Don’t be afraid to go with your gut and choose something timeless and classic versus a shade that’s simply of the moment. At the same time, if you want to dip into a trend without total commitment, keep them in mind for trims and accent walls. This way, any homeowner can obtain new and fresh with classic and elegant!

In short, when it comes to choosing a paint color for your home: do some research, know your home, keep tabs on trends, but ultimately, be yourself, and don’t be afraid to express yourself. The worst thing that can happen? You repaint a space in the months or years to come because your style simply changed its course.

Bedrooms with Personality

Bedrooms should feel open, airy, and free. These rooms are soothing sanctuaries for rest and coziness. Look for restful neutral shades that heighten a sense of optimal ambiance. Neutral shades like ivory, white, taupe, or grey will also lengthen smaller rooms.

Over neutrals? Aim for elegance with pastels like yellow, periwinkle, and lavender.

That being said, if you’re a bold and vivacious homeowner, stay true to yourself. Orange, teal, and red are strong hues for fabulous accent walls.

Guest Room Retreat or Home Office

Odds are, many homeowners entertain various loved ones, friends, and relatives in the home. No matter a guest’s style or interest, everyone benefits from an ultra-relaxing room. So, opt for a laid-back and soothing paint color like rose quartz , an earthy orange, or pale blue.

Guest rooms are often functional as dual spaces. If your guest room moonlights as an office or hobby room, include colors that increase productivity and boost moods. This palette can include mint, sea glass blue, pale grey, and yellow honeysuckle.

Living Room Wakeup Call

Aside from the kitchen, the living room is one of the most trafficked places in a home. From lounging and relaxing to entertaining and hosting, the space gets quite a bit of action. While a living room is just as much a chill zone, it’s also a hub for socialization. And, many homeowners crave a versatile paint color to reflect a flexible, adaptable atmosphere. Multifaceted wall shades include moody tones, earthy hues, and dazzling neutrals. Crisp, classic whites, muted amethysts, light terracottas, solid navys, slate grays, and mindful sage greens will stand the test of time. Those aren’t the only colors out there, either! Discover a world of blushes, oranges, deep blues, pinks, and blush purples to suit your moods, too.

Serve up a Stunning Kitchen

The kitchen is a social hub and a central part for togetherness. Between the art of cooking and the connective process over sharing a meal, paint color should reflect hospitality, warmth, and interactivity. In addition to these moods, a kitchen often evokes adventure and creativity. Consider shades that bolster creative juices and social moods while making the decor and appliances sparkle and shine. Breezy white, ocean blue, beeswax yellow, shipyard grey, muted apple green, and neutral taupe or beige are top notch options.

Perk up your Bathroom

In today’s world, bathrooms are turning more and more into personal spas. The quickest way to make a bathroom feel like a lush, zen-like, oasis escape is to change up the paint color. A bright cream seems like an obvious choice, but think beyond clean and minimal. A soft stone slate, a high gloss white, deep charcoal, marble grey, earthy jades, light clay, and stone lavender are superb options.

Connect the Dots

Sometimes, you may want to create radically different effects in adjacent spaces. In that case, you can use accent colors to create a cohesive feel. A particular client of Hershman’s wanted a living room that also doubled as a media room. So, she created a masculine effect using a dark taupe color and room darkening shades in the media room and she painted the adjoining open dining room white. Blue accents in both rooms helped meld the neutral whites and grays.

You don’t need to know color theory to choose the right paint colors. Follow the steps above and you’re well on your way to creating both color and design harmony in your home.