Choosing paint colors paralyzes some homeowners. It feels like a lot, trying to pull everything together with shades that set the right mood in each room of the house. Using the concept of a color palette makes the selection easier. A color palette is a set of colors (usually three) that look good together and that can be used in one room or throughout the home. Here are tips for choosing paint color palettes for your remodel.

Choose Colors You Like

Look at your wardrobe—there’s probably a theme in the clothes you like to wear. You choose clothing colors because they please you and flatter your appearance. Surrounding yourself with similar colors in your home will make you feel comfortable in your new space. You’re remodeling your home to upgrade and improve your living space; when it’s done, you’ll want to live with it for a long time.

Follow the Rule of Threes

Most designers recommend that you choose three colors for your remodeling palette—a dominant color, a secondary color, and an accent color—and proportion them at 60%, 30%, and 10% of the room. Colors that are close together on the color wheel or graded shades of the same color can work. Other people choose three colors that are opposite one another on the color wheel. You can also use a neutral gray or beige for large walls, which will pair nicely with just about any color you choose for large pieces such as rugs and couches. Save the accent color for trim or accessories, such as pillows.

Work from Big to Small and from Bottom to Top

Start with the biggest, most formal rooms in your house, such as the living room, entryway, and dining room. Notice which other rooms you can see into from each space. Consider how color will flow from one room to the next. It’s okay to choose a different color palette for the upstairs, where more private spaces are located.

Choose colors you like from the largest piece or pattern in the room, such as the rug or couch. Use the neutral from the rug or furniture piece for the walls, and use the other colors in the pattern to inspire your décor choices for that room. Then, you can tweak that palette for the rest of the house. For example, if the rug has a light Wedgewood blue, you can deepen that color in an adjacent smaller space to add some drama. If you have a forest green, you can lighten it to willow to use as a gentle accent in an office or kitchen.

Another rule of thumb is to work vertically from darker to lighter. Colors on the floor should be darker, working up through medium shades in the furniture and on the walls to a light shade on the ceiling, mimicking the progression of colors you see naturally outside from the ground to the sky.

Make It Personal

You may admire décor that you’d never put in your own home, and that’s okay. Expressing your own style in the colors you choose makes your home unique. The architectural style you like, whether modern or traditional, will also help you choose colors to highlight your home’s bones.

Gannage Construction is a whole-home remodeling contractor in Paso Robles, California. We provide a complete design-build service, caring for every detail of your remodeling project.