Interior Paint Color Options

Wall Paint - Paint For Inside Your Home

Choosing the Right Wall Paint Colors for Your Home

The color palette you choose for the inside of your home helps dictate the overall feel and style of your interior. There are many aspects of your home’s life to consider when choosing interior paint, from durability to functionality to your own personal preferences. But if you do a little research, a bit of soul searching and some careful consideration before setting out to improve your home with new paint colors for your inside walls, the results can be spectacular and will serve to complement the mood and design inside your home for years to come.

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Interior Paint Color Options
You may want to begin by trying to correctly define your own style spectrum. Do you love big, bright colors, or are you more a fan of classic, neutral shades? Wherever your taste falls on the color spectrum, you will find there are many benefits, not to mention a ton of color choices, in each camp. Using neutral paint for your walls, such as Whiskers or Glacial Ice, gives you more flexibility to change things up by accessorizing seasonally with added pops of color in fabrics and wall-hangings throughout the year. However, rich colors like Burning Bush or Riviera Paradise, while perhaps tying you into a more fixed design motif, make a bold statement and can serve to accent that particular room in a unique and dramatic way.

See Easy Weekend Paint Projects

Neutral entryway

Define Your Style Spectrum

You may want to begin by trying to correctly define your own style spectrum. Do you love big, bright colors, or are you more a fan of classic, neutral shades? Wherever your taste falls on the color spectrum, you will find there are many benefits, not to mention a ton of color choices, in each camp. Using neutral paint for your walls, such as Whiskers or Glacial Ice, gives you more flexibility to change things up by accessorizing seasonally with added pops of color in fabrics and wall-hangings throughout the year. However, rich colors like Burning Bush or Riviera Paradise, while perhaps tying you into a more fixed design motif, make a bold statement and can serve to accent that particular room in a unique and dramatic way.

See Easy Weekend Paint Projects
The color family you choose for your wall paint may also be dictated, in part, by which room of the house you are painting. For instance, a nursery for a small child may require more calm, restful colors such as a Gray Marble or a deeply hued Rum Raisin to help set the tone when it’s time for your little one to snooze away. On the other hand, in your living area or game room, you may want to dial up the fun factor with a vibrant Calypso Berry or a darker, more stark Licorice backdrop. Some homeowners also like to spice up typically drab rooms like the laundry room or mud room with a wild shade like the yellow-splashed Rise-N-Shine to help keep the mood playful even when doing chores.

See How to Prep Your Walls for Painting

Red bedroom

Let Room Use Help Choose the Color

The color family you choose for your wall paint may also be dictated, in part, by which room of the house you are painting. For instance, a nursery for a small child may require more calm, restful colors such as a Gray Marble or a deeply hued Rum Raisin to help set the tone when it’s time for your little one to snooze away. On the other hand, in your living area or game room, you may want to dial up the fun factor with a vibrant Calypso Berry or a darker, more stark Licorice backdrop. Some homeowners also like to spice up typically drab rooms like the laundry room or mud room with a wild shade like the yellow-splashed Rise-N-Shine to help keep the mood playful even when doing chores.

See How to Prep Your Walls for Painting
Additionally, when selecting paint for your walls, take into account the wear and tear your paint may need to endure on a regular basis. As with choosing an interior paint finish for durability, the color you select also needs to stand up to the life happening inside the home. For very low traffic areas, any finish in a color from light to dark should do the trick and be able to keep its crispness. But in high traffic areas, especially if there will be lots of little hands touching the walls, consider using a darker shade such as Crystal Ball or Empress Teal, and be sure to choose a finish of satin or semi-gloss to allow for easier cleaning when needed.

See How to Pick a Paint Sheen

Green dining room

Consider Room Traffic

Additionally, when selecting paint for your walls, take into account the wear and tear your paint may need to endure on a regular basis. As with choosing an interior paint finish for durability, the color you select also needs to stand up to the life happening inside the home. For very low traffic areas, any finish in a color from light to dark should do the trick and be able to keep its crispness. But in high traffic areas, especially if there will be lots of little hands touching the walls, consider using a darker shade such as Crystal Ball or Empress Teal, and be sure to choose a finish of satin or semi-gloss to allow for easier cleaning when needed.

See How to Pick a Paint Sheen
Color also helps communicate and define the space of a room whether it’s a tiny nook or a sweeping family room. If you are dealing with a small living area, one way to open it up and give the room the illusion of greater space is by using a light color of wall paint. Colors such as Aqua Seawind or Cool Cantaloupe offer a hint of color without overwhelming and closing in a small space. However, to decide on the paint for your inside walls in a large room, you might lean more toward a darker, deeper color such as Suede Leather or Romantic Isle. Darker colors tend to make a vast space close in a bit and feel cozier. These color-based space tricks can prove true whether you choose a deep neutral or a dark vibrant hue.

See How to Paint Small Spaces

Pink in washroom

Use Color to Enlarge a Space

Color also helps communicate and define the space of a room whether it’s a tiny nook or a sweeping family room. If you are dealing with a small living area, one way to open it up and give the room the illusion of greater space is by using a light color of wall paint. Colors such as Aqua Seawind or Cool Cantaloupe offer a hint of color without overwhelming and closing in a small space. However, to decide on the paint for your inside walls in a large room, you might lean more toward a darker, deeper color such as Suede Leather or Romantic Isle. Darker colors tend to make a vast space close in a bit and feel cozier. These color-based space tricks can prove true whether you choose a deep neutral or a dark vibrant hue.

See How to Paint Small Spaces
It may seem like a daunting task to land on the right color for paint for your walls, but it can also become a very fun and creative endeavor. And, in the end, there are no wrong answers as long as your home pleases you and functions well for you and your family. So have fun, be brave and get busy covering your home’s interior canvas with the paint colors that you love most.

See More Helpful How-To Articles

Light green in living room

Choose the Colors You Love

It may seem like a daunting task to land on the right color for paint for your walls, but it can also become a very fun and creative endeavor. And, in the end, there are no wrong answers as long as your home pleases you and functions well for you and your family. So have fun, be brave and get busy covering your home’s interior canvas with the paint colors that you love most.

See More Helpful How-To Articles