Picking new paint colors is one of the most exciting parts of upgrading your home. But with all the different options out there, how are you supposed to pick the best color for your interior and exterior needs? No worries—we’ll teach you everything you need to know about paint selection, so you can choose the best colors for your home. Read on for plenty of time-saving tips, tricks, and hacks that’ll help streamline the process!

Things You Should Know

  • Use the existing furniture and fixtures in your room as inspiration for your color scheme.
  • Choose colors that match the function of each room. Energetic hues are great for social spaces while soothing colors are best for private spaces.
  • Pick an exterior paint that complements your home’s features and goes well with the landscaping.
  • Test out different paints at home before making any final selections.
1

Stick to colors that are appealing to you.

  1. Focusing on your favorite hues helps narrow down the selection pool. Don’t worry about specific color combos and recommendations yet—just pick out your favorites for now. [1] Not sure what you like? Take all of the color palettes and designs that appeal to you and place them side by side. Then, find the color (or colors) that are common among them all.
    • Pick designs from calendar pages, magazines, catalogs, panoramic photos, postcards, and fabric swatches—these all have great, aesthetic layouts to choose from.
    • Try narrowing down your options and choosing 3-4 colors that really speak to you.
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2

Use a color wheel to choose hues that go well together.

  1. The color wheel helps you visualize how different hues interact together. Better yet, it can provide you with inspiration for some fantastic paint colors that you can use around your home. Here are a few classic color schemes you can apply to your own design strategy with the help of a color wheel:[2]
    • Complementary colors: Colors that are direct opposites from one another on the color wheel (red and green, yellow and purple, blue and orange)
    • Adjacent colors: Colors that are neighbors on the color wheel (red and orange, orange and yellow, yellow and green, etc.)
    • Monochromatic colors: Different shades and color values from the same color family (light red, bright red, dark red)
    • Triadic colors: Three colors that are the same distance apart along the color wheel (red, yellow, and blue or orange, purple, and green)
3

Choose a color scheme that complements what’s in your room.

4

Pick colors that highlight the function and energy of each room.

  1. Warm colors are great for social spaces while cool colors are best for private ones. Warm colors include hues like red, orange, and yellow hues, which give off a cozy, conversational energy—they’re great for living rooms, family rooms, and other gathering spaces. Cool colors include hues like green, blue, and purple hues. They’re known for being soothing and calming, and are great for bedrooms and bathrooms.[4] Here are some more specific vibes that each color gives off:
    • Red: Stimulating and passionate
    • Orange: Energetic and conversational
    • Yellow: Happy and stimulating
    • Green: Calming and serene
    • Blue: Peaceful and reflective
    • Purple: Relaxing and mystical
    • Pink: Nurturing and tender
    • White: Purity and creativity
    • Brown: Stability and dependability
    • Black: Elegance and mystery[5]
6

Opt for warm colors in well-lit rooms and cool colors in darker rooms.

  1. A room’s physical position in your home affects how much light it gets. North-facing rooms don’t get a ton of direct light, making them the perfect candidate for warm, cozy colors. South-facing rooms, however, soak in a lot of rays during the day and mesh well with cool, gentle colors. [8]
    • East-facing rooms tend to be brightest in the morning. Warmer, more energetic hues might be the best call if you’ll only be hanging out there in the evening.
    • West-facing rooms tend to be brighter in the evening—if you need to head to bed early, you might benefit from cooler paint tones.
    • Not sure which direction each room is facing? Download a compass app on your phone to check.
7

Brighten up your space with light-tinted paint.

8

Paint an accent wall a bold color so it stands out.

  1. Accent walls let you add fun, bold hues into your home’s color scheme. Accent walls are just what they sound like—a single wall that’s painted in a bold “accent” color that draws your attention to a certain part of the room. For a more subtle look, keep your wall part of a monochromatic color scheme. If you’re feeling bold, pick an accent color that contrasts with the other walls.[10]
    • You might choose a burnt orange paint color to accent a room with peach-colored walls.
    • You could choose a deep purple hue to contrast a room with off-white or neutral-toned walls.
9

Contrast your walls and fixtures to create a dynamic space.

  1. Pick paint hues that are lighter or darker than the other items in your room. Let’s say you have a lot of white-colored chairs in your dining room—a light, cream-colored paint wouldn’t help these items stand out, while a charcoal gray or sage green hue would. Similarly, a light-colored wall helps emphasize bold-colored cabinets or other pieces of furniture.[11]
    • If you have an off-white sofa in your living room, you might play around with a bold purple or blue wall to add some contrast.
    • If the desk in your study is a deep, rich brown, you might balance it out with a lighter, neutral-toned paint color.
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10

Select exterior paint that complements your home’s natural features.

  1. Inspect the colors in your home’s roof and other non-paintable features. Maybe your shingles have a blue tint or your brickwork has flecks of orange in it—choosing paint colors that complement these aspects of your home’s exterior can really tie your color scheme together.[12]
    • A home with neutral-toned, gray shingles might look good in a light green paint color.
    • A brick house with dark shingles and dark brick flecks could look good with white trim and dark blue shutters.
    • It’s hard to go wrong with neutral-toned paints, but feel free to play around with different colors and see what looks best for your home.[13]
    • Take a look at the exterior color scheme of your neighbors’ homes before settling on one for your own house. You don’t want to end up clashing with the rest of the neighborhood![14]
11

Show off your home’s exterior with accent colors.

  1. Paint over the architectural highlights of your home with accent paint. Maybe your home has a lovely front porch railing or beautiful trim that dips down below the roof. Show it off with a brighter, bolder accent color—just make sure that you aren’t highlighting any of your home’s less attractive features in the process.[15]
    • Save the accent paint for your shutters and trim, not your air conditioner and gutters.
    • A home with a beige base color could look beautiful with teal- or coral-colored accents, while a blue-painted home would look amazing with white accents.
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12

Opt for an exterior paint color that blends with your yard’s landscaping.

  1. The size and color of your landscaping play into your home’s visual appeal. Factor in how many trees, shrubs, bushes, and flowers you have growing in your yard, as well along with the colors of each plant. Pick a paint color that complements your yardwork without blending in too much—for instance, an earthy green paint might not look as sharp if your yard was filled with trees and shrubs.[16]
    • Play it safe if you don’t have a lot of plants in your yard—in this case, a neutral-toned paint might be the best call.
    • Don’t be afraid to think outside the box with your color scheme! Sunny yellows, gentle greens, and rustic reds all have the potential to be beautiful.
14

Choose a flat or glossy finish that best shows off your paint.

  1. Flatter sheens hide flaws, while glossy sheens are attention-grabbing. Interior house paints come in 5 common styles: flat, eggshell, semi-gloss, Venetian plaster, and high-gloss. Eggshell and semi-gloss are the easiest to care for, while Venetian plaster and high-gloss offer the most dramatic finishes. Think about your biggest priorities as a homeowner and narrow down your decision from there.[18]
    • If you’re renovating an older home, you might choose a flat finish paint to hide some of the wear and tear on the walls.
    • If you have kids at home, you might opt for a semi-gloss or eggshell paint that’s easy to wipe down.
    • If you’re focused on aesthetics, high-gloss or Venetian plaster might be the best options for you.
    • Exterior house paints come in 3 main finishes: satin/eggshell, semigloss, and high gloss. High gloss paint is shiny and good for accents, semigloss is great for windowsills and trim, while satin/eggshell works well as a base color.[19]
15

Test out the paint at home.

  1. See how the paint looks in your home before committing to anything. Stop by your local paint or hardware store and pick up small, sample-sized containers of your paint color candidates. Then, apply the paint to heavy-duty sheets of paper and set them around your home. Examine the paint samples throughout the day and see how they look at different times and in different light settings.[20]
    • To test exterior paint, apply the paint to different sample boards and set them around the outside of your home. Take a peek at the boards when it’s both sunny and cloudy, so you can get a feel for how the paint looks overall.
    • Some paint stores might offer stick-and-peel paint samples of different paint colors, which are super easy to apply and test out.
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Expert Q&A

  • Question
    What are some colors I can use to make the entrance room of my house feel more inviting?
    Juli Roland
    Juli Roland
    Certified Color Specialist
    Juli Roland is a Color Specialist and the Founder of PaintColorHelp.com, one of the first companies in Dallas, Texas metro area that provides in-home color consultations and helps clients create paint color schemes. Juli has over 15 years of commercial and residential color consulting experience, including seven years as a custom-matcher in the paint industry. She earned her certification in color strategy from Camp Chroma and is a member of the Inter-Society Color Council. She has a BA in Advertising from Texas Tech University.
    Juli Roland
    Certified Color Specialist
    Expert Answer
    In general, colors from the “warm” side of the color wheel are more welcoming. Yellows, oranges, pinks and red. Also, near-neutrals from those same color families, which would include most of the tones people think of as gold, beige or "greige." That said, you can spark up a cool or white color scheme by using accents in warm colors or adding warm metals like gold and copper.
  • Question
    Should I paint all my rooms the same color?
    Suzanne Lasky, ASID
    Suzanne Lasky, ASID
    Interior Design Consultant
    Suzanne Lasky is an Interior Designer and the Founder of S Interior Design, a design consulting company based in Scottsdale, Arizona specializing in new home builds, home remodels, and all related design options for residential and small business clients. Suzanne has over 19 years of interior design and consulting experience. She is an Allied Member of the ASID (American Society of Interior Designers). She earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Indiana University and an AAS in Interior Design from Scottsdale Community College.
    Suzanne Lasky, ASID
    Interior Design Consultant
    Expert Answer
    You don't have to, but try to make the colors transition smoothly between rooms, especially if they share some space together.
  • Question
    What color should I paint my walls if I have a red leather sofa and chair and the room has good outdoor light?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Cream goes well with red. Put some cream accent pillows on your couch, too.
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About This Article

Juli Roland
Co-authored by:
Certified Color Specialist
This article was co-authored by Juli Roland and by wikiHow staff writer, Janice Tieperman. Juli Roland is a Color Specialist and the Founder of PaintColorHelp.com, one of the first companies in Dallas, Texas metro area that provides in-home color consultations and helps clients create paint color schemes. Juli has over 15 years of commercial and residential color consulting experience, including seven years as a custom-matcher in the paint industry. She earned her certification in color strategy from Camp Chroma and is a member of the Inter-Society Color Council. She has a BA in Advertising from Texas Tech University. This article has been viewed 49,374 times.
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Co-authors: 16
Updated: November 28, 2022
Views: 49,374
Categories: Paints
Article SummaryX

To choose a paint color for an interior room, go with a cool color, like blue, purple, or pale green, if you want to create a calm atmosphere. Or, if you want to make a room cozier and more intimate, go with a warm color, like red, orange, or yellow. When you're choosing a color, take into consideration the undertones of any appliances, brickwork, carpeting, or hardwood floors in the room, and try to choose a color that will go well with them. For tips on how to choose exterior paint colors, scroll down!

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