Have you ever walked into a friend’s home and thought how warm and welcoming it feels?  Or maybe you felt a bit depressed or closed in? Color can totally change your mood. It can enlarge a space or make it feel more intimate.  

How color can change a room

Colors can invoke memories, both good and bad.  Years ago, back in the 60’s, Hospitals were painted a very distinct color of green.  To this day, I have a strong dislike for the color! In the late 70’s/early 80’s, peach or coral was the rage! (& it’s made a comeback this year!) but it reminds me of my high school years when I painted my childhood room a beautiful color of soft coral.

If you’re looking for a soft neutral color, my go to choices are Sherwin Williams Accessible Beige SW7036 or Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter HC-172.  These are both calming taupe colors.

 

My number one tip for people trying to pick out a color of paint:  the color will always be darker or brighter, depending on the color choice, on your entire wall.  It may look great on that tiny color sample, but over the entire space, it may be too much! A lot of the color decks will have a series of colors going from darkest to lightest on the strip.  If you don’t like the darkest color, you won’t like the lightest!

My GO TO colors!

A good thing to try is buy a small color sample.  Most big box stores sell these, where you can have your choice of color made up into a small jar of paint.  Paint a 3 foot by 3 foot area in the room and on a couple different walls. Then over the next few days, in different times of the day, look to see if you actually can live with this color!  It’s way easier to paint over a small patch on the wall, than to re-paint your entire two-story great room!!

 

What’s your GO TO color these days?  I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to comment below.  Color is a beautiful thing!!