How To Choose The Right Interior Paint Colors For Your Home can be overwhelming. No one wants to spend the time, energy and money painting a room only to end up hating the color. Not to mention the many different color choices and paint type to choose from! You can’t just choose the color gray because there are thousands of shades of gray to choose from!
So how do you know which colors are right for your home? I spent a month deciding on paint colors for our home so take your time deciding what’s right. It’s been 4 years since we bought and painted our home and I still love our colors.
In case you’re curious (or in a hurry):
It’s an excellent neutral that works with furniture and home decorations in any color. In fact, in the below pictures, you will see that we’ve used it in several rooms in our home.
I recommend our home’s paint colors to friends and family and those that ask for my help staging their home. Paint is the easiest way to transform a space so if you hate that red wall in your living room, then just paint it! Our last home had more tan/brown paint colors but it still sold in less than 2 days for the asking price so there’s proof that paint can make a huge difference in how your home looks and feels and is especially important when it comes time to sell your house.
How To Choose The Right Interior Paint Colors For Your Home
- Look through past HGTV Dream Homes – they have all of the paint colors used listed!
- Find out what your favorite home decor blogger loves (I know, I’m your favorite, haha, no really, keep reading for my home paint colors below!). Are you are a fan of Fixer Upper? I sure am and I love some of the colors that Joanna uses. It’s okay to copy your favorite designer 🙂
- Choose paint colors that are current neutral trends – especially if you plan to sell your home in the near furniture. Home buyers like a bit of color but also prefer neutrals so they don’t have to paint as soon as they move in.
- Choose paint colors that match your furniture – of course, you can always paint your furniture (see how I transformed our furniture below using paint). Also, just because you have a red sofa doesn’t mean you should paint your living room red. Think about the undertones in your furniture (blue, yellow, etc) and match the undertones so everything flows nicely.
- Choose colors that create the atmosphere you want in a home – our master bedroom is a soothing blue which creates a relaxed coastal vibe.
- Keep things simple by keeping your options small. Don’t go to the store and pick 300 color swatches – that will just make things harder! Instead, look at some of the houses that you love and research the paint colors. Visit a model home for inspiration – and take pictures of everything that inspires you!
- Make an inspiration board – this will help you see your colors and furniture together before starting a major project (keep reading for how-to).
- If you are painting your entire house (like we did when we bought our house) you will probably need to designate a color for every room in the house. To keep things simple, try designating 1 color for the main living spaces and 1-2 bedrooms. All of the colors that I picked were used in at least 2 rooms in our home so we didn’t have color overwhelm.
How To Create an Inspiration Board
Creating an inspiration board is different than a Pinterest board. I made my inspiration board by collecting my color swatches, inspirational home decor pictures and attached everything to a physical board as the reference for our home.
I was so excited to make the inspiration board that I had it on display at our housewarming party. My friends laughed that I went through the trouble of making an inspiration board, but guess what? That’s what designers do!
If you’ve seen any HGTV house flipping shows, the designer always presents a visual for the homeowner with the project colors, furniture ideas, etc. An inspiration board puts your ideas in one place so you can easily see how things will flow and work out.
To make an inspiration board, gather the supplies needed:
- Large cardboard box (or poster board)
- Markers
- Tape/glue
- Inspirational interior home pictures
- Color samples
Directions:
- Cut the largest side of the cardboard box so you have 1 large flat piece to work with (this will be your board)
- Write your home address at the top of the board and then just have fun attaching pictures and color swatches! Be sure to label which colors go in which room and any other notes.
Supplies to Paint Your Home:
I’m including the supplies that I’ve used over the years when painting the interior of our home. As long as I have these supplies on hand, I can paint a 10 x 10 space in an hour. Please note, I’m notorious for being efficient but not accurate (meaning, I can get a lot done in an hour, but I may have missed minor details, hehe). Having these items available on painting day will make the process go by faster and easier!
How To Choose The Right Interior Paint Colors For Your Home
Our Home Colors:
Now that you have a few tips with how to choose wall paint color, I’m going to share the paint colors in our home (including painted furniture and cabinets)! I was recently asked what our home paint colors were and I realized that I never shared a post with our colors… so here it is 🙂
The Kitchen
The kitchen did not always look like this. The cabinets were brown, the walls were dingy white among many other changes that we made. You can read more about our kitchen remodel with before and after pictures HERE.
The wall color in the kitchen and breakfast room is Valspar Cream in my Coffee. The cabinet color is Behr Silky White.
The Dining Room
Sherwin Williams Accessible Beige & Eider White
Our dining room did not have a chair rail so we installed one and painted Sherwin Williams Accessible Beige above the chair rail and Sherwin Williams Eider White below the chair rail.
See the Before and After pictures of our dining room in this post.
Living Room and Family Room
The living room and family room are both Sherwin Williams Accessible Beige. I would love to add bead-board to this room since it has the crown molding but that may never happen since the hubby likes it the way it is 😛
As you can see, we have brown, white and gray furniture and these paint colors work with many neutrals.
Entryway, Stairs, and Hallways
Can you tell I like simple home decor? I believe less is more and support minimalism and cleanliness in our home and I really hate useless knick-knacks. The entryway is one of my favorite colors in our house – Sherwin Williams Perfect Greige. It’s not gray and it’s not brown. It’s really hard to find a nice gray that is not too silvery or resembles a dark cloud, lol!
We painted Perfect Greige in the entryway, the stairwell and the hallway leading to the kitchen. The hallway also has a double-door coat closet, the door to the basement and the half-bath.
There is not a lot of natural light in our entryway but this color still looks good because the flow from the living room into the entryway and then into the dining room works. It’s also a great neutral if you have brown, tan, white or gray furniture (we have all of those!).
Master Bedroom
One wall in our master bedroom is painted Sherwin Williams Rain. The other 3 walls are painted Sherwin Williams Accessible Beige (same color as the main living spaces). Our last house had a blue master bedroom and we wanted to keep that rustic coastal vibe. Blue is also a soothing color but I didn’t want the entire room to be blue.
Master Bathroom
The master bathroom is painted Sherwin Williams Rain so the flow from the bedroom wall with SW Rain makes sense. Rain is a very blue color and looks great with white cabinets, furniture, and burlap.
Bathrooms
The kid’s bathroom is painted Sherwin Williams Sea Salt with board and batten that is painted Glidden Bright White. The bathroom cabinets are also painted, Bright White. Be sure to check out this post for how to remodel a bathroom on a budget!
The half bath on the main floor is also painted SW Sea Salt and has a dark wood vanity so you can see SW Sea Salt is very versatile with cabinet/furniture colors. SW Sea Salt would look great in any room of the house if you are going for a coastal vibe.
Our Home Paint Colors – How to choose color palette painting
Here they are all together if you would like to PIN IT FOR LATER…
Our Furniture Paint Colors
I paint a lot of our furniture, including the fabric of furniture! The reason why I paint furniture is because color trends change and sometimes I get bored with the color. Instead of spending the money and buying different furniture, I try to improve what I have.
My favorite paint to use on furniture is Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint. Many competitors have come out with their own version of chalk paint but I have yet to try them since I have a good supply of AS Chalk Paint.
Here are a few furniture pieces that I painted and their colors:
High-back chairs – painted with ASCP Old White
Dresser turned buffet (previously brown) – painted with ASCP Old Ochre
Futon frame – painted with ASCP Old White
Wine dresser (previously black) – painted with SW Perfect Greige
Side tables (previously brown) – painted with ASCP French Linen
Lamps (previously brown) – painted with ASCP Old Ochre
Bench (previously brown) – painted with ASCP Old White
Rocking chair – painted with Behr Fuzzy Duckling
Picking the right interior home paint colors can be frustrating but with these tips and suggestions, you can easily come up with the perfect colors for your home. For more home inspiration, be sure to Tour Our Home 🙂
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This is great advice! Thanks for sharing!! BL
I love all the colors you chose, but our trim is stained dark brown. I’d love to paint all that but doubt the hubs would let me do that. Do you think your colors would work? I specifically like the sea salt color. We have an open floor plan and the back splash in the kitchen is tan. Thoughts?
Thanks so much –
Teresa
Hi Teresa,
Yes! In my opinion, Sea Salt and the other colors will look great with dark brown. We have dark brown wood furniture and it flows nicely. Our vanity in our half bath is dark brown and the walls are Sea Salt and it looks great. I personally prefer bright white trim and would paint the brown trim to brighten things up if it were my home – however, that is a huge project! You could start with one room/floor at a time if you really want to do it 🙂
I too have just painted my kitchen 4 times, and wish I had come across your wonderful blog before I started. I’ve always felt my brown, taupe, beige, cream taste was rather dull and boring so I went totally in the opposite direction hence the 4 paint jobs, Needless to say, I am color challenged, but my 5th color of Annie Sloans French Linen went over my my kitchen cabinets beautifully, I did get intimidated by the fear of waxing so I did a second coat of an ASCP dupe. My kitchen has very little natural light and only one wall with chair rail and breadboard opposite the cabinets. I am struggling with what color I should paint that wall and the beadboard, which continues on the soffit all the way around the cabinets. I love your color pallet, and was hoping you could give me some suggestions of color that would help tie the wall and cabinets together? I would appreciate any help you can give me.
Hi Ellen, Thank you for the compliments! I think you should choose a lighter color for the rest of the kitchen since your cabinets are a darker color (ASCP french linen). A nice crisp white paint would brighten things up since you don’t have a lot of light in the room. I used Behr silky white on our kitchen cabinets but you can use whatever bright white paint you may already own. I love neutrals because you can add pops of colors as seasons/holidays change and aren’t married to one particular theme.
Hi Melanie,
Thanks you so much for your great advice and keeping it simple! I have some Sherwin Williams Pure White, but I can purchase any white you think would look good. I have a friend that thinks I should use white on the trim, beadboard and soffit, but paint the half wall above the wall Sherwin Williams Sea Salt continuing it in to the family room. Any thoughts on that idea?
I was just getting use to the all white idea when my friend offered this option.
Your house colors are amazing, I just love your colors.
Hi Ellen, Thank you! I like the idea your friend suggested 🙂
Hi Melanie. Your colors are beautiful. I have been eyeing the sea salt but I’m lost for color. We are redoing my 25 year old home. So it’s pretty 90’s throughout. We did one bedroom new hardwood floors crown molding (white). We are going from dark dingy wood to white. So now we are doing our bedroom it’s not a big elaborate room but cozy. I just purchased our new bedding it’s coral, beige, and lighter beige. Multi. I absolutely love it but want to put the right color with the coral. What do you suggest?? I prefer bher as we live close to home Depot. No sherwin williams around unless I travel. Any input would be welcoming. I’m at a stand still on the project and really want my cozy retreat thanks jeanne
Hi Jeanne,
You are too kind 🙂 Your home sounds lovely and I bet the updates make it feel new again! If you have a Sherwin Williams color in mind, just tell Home Depot and they can match the color using Behr or any other brand paint 🙂 Sea Salt is a great color and would compliment the coral and beige colors in your master. It’s subtle and soothing – perfect for the bedroom! If you want a bolder color you could do SW Rain or a Navy on one wall with the rest light beige color like SW Accessible Beige. Have fun updating the space!
Hi Melanie- We’re building a new home & were struggling with paint color choices, but I think your palette is an answer to prayers! Question: We’re doing painted trim and wondered if most of your trim is all the same color, and if so, is there a SW color name? Question 2: our family room will have a more rustic Adirondack look (think wooden rocker with bear/moose cushion), so do you think the Beige/Greige would be fine with that?
Thanks, Holly
Hi Holly, Congrats on your new home! All of our paint trim is the same color and is an off-the-shelf trim white, I believe it’s Behr. I’ve never been a fan of painting trim anything other than white (even older homes with brown trim, I’d paint white). It helps to brighten your home and gives a cleaner look. Yes, I think greige would look great with rustic furniture in your family room. Let me know if you have any other questions and enjoy your new home!
I enjoyed your blog, but find myself as confused as ever! We moved onto a 20 year old house. The kitchen, breakfast nook, living room and foyer are all within sight of each other. The foyer and family room are very dark. The kitchen and breakfast nook has a bright bank of windows. All are currently a dark gray. I’m at a loss, any suggestions for a paint color that would work for all areas?
Hi Patti, Since your foyer and living room are very dark, I’d stick to light paint colors. Do you like the dark gray in your kitchen? What color are the kitchen cabinets? Even with the bank of windows adding more light into the room, I’d still choose a light paint color in the kitchen. White, cream or light gray will help the space feel “clean” if you know what I mean.
I have an open floor plan..living room, dining room and kitchen. The carpet is beige and my furniture is chocolate brown fabric. The walls are also beige. The kitchen cabinets are light oak. With that said, I wanted to do a bold dark brown wall until I remembered the furniture. Our home has tons of windows and natural light. Please help with color ideas.
Hi Melanie, I enjoyed your blog so much! Timing of it appearing as a suggestion for me was perfect. I was struggling with colors, but I think you have helped me with that. I do have a question for you, I have two wonderful wing back chairs that I would love to keep. They are old, but the fabric is perfect, but out dated. How do you paint them? I was amazed when I saw your photo of the before and after pictures of your chairs! Please advise.
Hey Deborah, Thanks so much! Here’s the tutorial I followed to paint my wing back chairs https://www.anniesloan.com/techniques/how-to-paint-fabric-with-chalk-paint. The pattern might be difficult to paint over unless you choose a dark color. My chairs were an off-white with a striped pattern that you could definitely still see the stripe after 3 coats of paint. Also, the fabric after painting feels similar to outdoor pillows/fabric, just so you know what to expect as far as the texture afterward. Good luck!
Hi Melanie, Loving your home paint colors. Would love to use the SW Rain in our master bdrm but our furniture is dark brown. Do you think it would go? Also our kitchen has honey walnut cabinetry. What color would we use there?
Hi Melissa, I think SW Rain and dark brown will look fine as long as you incorporate bright white somehow (all white linens, pillows, throw blankets for example). In your kitchen, I think a subtle blue or green like SW Sea Salt or SW Grassland would look nice with the honey walnut cabinets.
Hi Melanie, I live in a small Florida Condo. all the walls are white. I decided to paint my kitchen orange (I love it)!! with white cabinets. I have a breakfast bar, which puts the bar chairs in the living room. I painted the wall that surrounds the bar area, Behr Creamy Mushroom. My question is I need a color for the rest of the living and dining area. Something that is lighter than the Creamy Mushroom, but, I do not want white. All my wall boards are going to be white enamel. I was contemplating painting the walls the same creamy mushroom.. But, with the shadows and lighting in my living/dining area, I am afraid it will be too dark.
Hi Judy, Do you remember the name of the orange in your Kitchen?
Hi Melanie. Our home has the standard 90s oak cabinets and baseboards which need to stay as is. I painted my kitchen Sherwin Williams Haven. I am struggling what to paint my living room hall and foyer in our open floor plan with bar type area between rooms. The carpet is med gray. I want a warm and inviting colors but not to dark
Looking for advice on a paint color to give my kitchen some color. My cabinets were painted by the previous home owner and are repose grey by SW. The floor is a light cream tile. The counters are currently a sage green, which I plan to change in the near future. I am considering using Rain by SW for the walls, but am not sure this would be a good color for a kitchen. I have used Sea Salt in my bathrooms, but am looking for some different for the kitchen.
Casey, Unless you change your countertops sooner rather than later, I would stick with a neutral color or white (Eider white would look good) for the walls. The sage green counters probably already bring enough color variation/statement to the room. Once you have a neutral countertop color, then I think adding more color on the walls would look fine. A blue-ish color (like Rain or Tradewind) since repose gray has some blue undertones.
Thank you so much for all of this information. I’m looking to decorate my bedroom soon and your advice will definitely come in handy and hopefully prevent any costly mistakes.
By the way, your home is fab and I love the SW Sea Salt colour.
Hi Veronica, You’re welcome!
Love the colors of your home! Have oak hard wood floors in all of my home except kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms. Have dark cherry cabinets & bedroom furniture. All walls are China Doll with white trim & doors. What color laminate flooring would you suggest for bedrooms, baths and kitchen? May try some of your wall color changes also. Thanks!!
I live in duplex apartment my living eara is open plan my kitchen units are white there is lots of light and the ceiling is 15ft high. Which colour would you suggest.
I have cathedral ceilings in living room with taupe leather sofa loveseat. Ottoman. To liven things up I selected orange and brown sheer scarves to drape over rod.I have orange,accents throw pillows and orange vases and candles What color should I paint the wall with orange brown scarves?
I LOVE SW Sea Salt! We used it in our master bedroom and have SW On the Rocks in our master bath.
Nice!
What color is your ceiling? We are using believable buff for main living spaces.
Hi Heidi, our ceilings are 0ff-the-shelf ceiling paint white.
How do you paint a chair that is fabric?! That’s awesome
Hi Renne,
I used chalk paint watered down (half paint, half water ratio) and applied to the fabric with a brush. I let each coat dry completely and applied several coats until the desired color was achieved.