5 Common Mistakes Made When Choosing a Paint Colour

Choosing the right paint colours for the interior and exterior of your home is essential. Here are our top 5 common paint colour selection mistakes people make.

1. Choosing a Paint Colour that Perfectly Matches Your Décor

Interior paint colour should compliment your favourite objects and existing décor. However, they shouldn’t match perfectly. Matching colours will drown out your favourite objects, not make them stand out.

If your couch is a dark blue, for example, opt for a lighter, subtler shade of blue, or a warm neutral. A colour wheel can help you choose a colour that will allow your favourite accent pieces to pop. A shade either side or a hue opposite should do the trick.

2. Choosing Colours that do not Compliment Each Other

When repainting your exterior, you’ll probably have to choose more than one colour, especially if you are looking for Queenslander house colours. And they have to look good together – it’s easier said than done!

Take a look at the exterior before and after below – the cream and brown dates the property, whereas the crisp grey (Dulux Silkwort) paired with the white trim (Dulux Lexicon Half) modernises the property. Best of all, this colour combo won’t go out of style.

 

Colours chosen by clients with the help of Willow Colour Consultancy

3. Choosing a Paint Colour that is too Bright

We love bold colours on walls, but intense, overly saturated colours can take over a space completely.

In-trend colours, such as cobalt blue, often look better when incorporated into your décor. Different textures, such as the sheen of a vase or the knitted texture of a throw, can tone down the impact of a bright colour. Walls are very big and very flat, so colours look much stronger.

This doesn’t mean you should avoid colour all together. Try out muddy, dusty versions (i.e. colours with brown or black added to them) of your favourite colours. Instead of red, go for a brick or berry tone. Instead of green, go for a sage or olive hue.

4. Choosing Colours Straight from the Paint Chip

Paint chips can be misleading. There’s no way you can experience the feel of a colour, or how it will look inside or outside your home with a paint chip alone.

Always purchase sample tins of paint in a few different shades, and paint a large area of your wall. You won’t believe how much a colour changes when it’s painted over a large space.

5. Picking Paint Colours Unsuitable for the Space

Choosing a paint colour is not about choosing your favourite colour. It’s about choosing a colour that suits your space.

Warm colours are generally suited to energetic, busy spaces. Cool colours create a calm, relaxing atmosphere.

Paint colour can also influence how big a room feels. Dark colours can box a room in, and light colours can open it up.

Check out this stunning living space we painted in McDowall. The client chose the colour with the help of Willow Colour Consultancy. The dark brick colour closed the room in, and took away from its architectural features. The bright neutral (Dulux White Duck Half) makes the space feel larger, and highlights the fantastic wooden ceiling. It also creates a calm, quite mood – perfect for unwinding on the couch!

Read Shailer Park painting project case study for further inspiration.

If you’re ready to invest the time and money into repainting, picking the wrong colour can be incredibly frustrating. A professional colour consultant can take the guesswork out of choosing the right colour. Here at Kraudelt Painting, we offer a free colour consultation with Willow Colour Consultancy for jobs over $2000. Give us a call on 07 3829 5735, or send us an email for an accurate quote.