Picking Paint colours

[peanut]

I have a whole house that needs to be redone, and I'm trying to decide if and where to change paint colours. How do you make sure the entire house 'goes' together? I love different colours, but I really don't want to repaint trim (taupe at the moment), and I don't want it to jar the senses going from one room to the other. Any ideas?

Right now the entire house is white walls with taupe trim.

Jean

[madhen]

It's going to be hard to do much without redoing the trim. I recently painted my livingroom and dining room in a beautiful sky blue, with white trim. I am going to paint my kitchen yellow. My way of tying it all together is by leaving the ceilings white and by painting any low trim that is parallel to the floor a semi-gloss white (if that makes sense).

One thing you can do is visit a paint store. A lot of them carry take home palettes of complementary colours, so you can see if they will work for you.

[fixer]

I wish I could help, but that is DW's department. What she does is gather paints chips from paint store and tape them to the wall. She also found some companies sell small quantities of paint so you can try them and see what they look like in your house. I know Benjamin Moore does this. Colors can look different at the store so it really helps to see them on your walls.

[missyali]

You can download pictures of your rooms and go the the Behr webiste and try out colors in your actual room, I'm told. I, personally would find many colors that you like, see how they go with the toupe and just have at it. If they are all colors you like, I think they flow. JMHO.

[McD]

I have different colorse in every room, but they all look good together. We have open archways between the living room, dining room, and kitchen so we had to make sure the colors went together.

I painted the kitchen a vineyard-y grape color. I have a chocolate brown accent wall in the dining room and a tan accent room in the living room.

Accent walls are really good ways to add a splash of color to a room without it being overwhelming.

[The Muse]

I love a different color in every room. The easiest way I've found to pull it off is to get the Benjamin Moore fan decks from Pottery Barn and choose colors from there.

A new deck comes out each season and they give them away free in the store. Benjamin Moore paint is spendy, so I just bring the swatches to Home Depot and have them color match into a Behr base. I get tons of complements on my color sense, but in all actuality, I don't have much color sense at all.

[MoonMommy]

I find that people usually like color schemes that go together. For example, my house is all different colors, but they are more muted, earthy tones. I have seen other houses where the people chose all bright colors.

I say...go with your gut, but you may either have to or want to repaint the trim.

[peanut]

Thanks everyone. I'm going to think on this some more. The trim is very nice wide fir (the house was built in 1928) woodwork. It would be a big job to paint it. It has lots of nooks and crannies. I'll talk to DH about it when we get to the dining room. I'd like to have an accent wall there.

Jean

[Momto2Boyz]

I think once you find your decorating style, all your ideas will come together. As long as you like it, I don't think it'll jar the sense to go from room to room.

DH and I both really like earthy tones, so most of our house is "earthy". Our house is easy to coordinate, becuase our living room/dining/kitchen area is all one room. So in that room, the walls are a khaki tan color, we have ugly panelling on one wall, which was painted an army green color, and then I painted the cabinets in the kitchen the same green color. I added a chocolate brown to the doors that go outside in the living room and kitchen with the trim the matching green. It actually all came together nicely.

I think once you get an idea, just go for it!

[ladykemma2]

you are probably going to have to paint the trim. unless you go for eggplant and mustard colors. boy that sounds nice, aubergine?

i prefer whiter whites. beiges and anything "earthy' depress me. i like georgian, federal and colonial colors (screaming), with shining white crown moulding, but, that is NOT your cup of tea.

[Katybird]

I say go with colors that you love. If you stay in a color family, you will be fine, say earths like browns, khakis, terra cottas or Americana like blues, reds and whites, ecrus or sand.

[stinkbug]

You do not have to paint the trim. Just make sure that you stay with a warmer base color and no *clear* colors, or it will look muddy. Also, pick colors that are the same depth or tone. This means.....the same intensity in color. If you are looking at color strips, try to pick colors that are in the same positions, or you can pick colors next to each other for a subtle change from room to room. Stay away from yellows and greys....
When changing colors from room to room...if they are adjoining, make sure to pull some of the colors into each room. (my kitchen is red, but I have lots of red accents in the adjoining family room and other *spots* around the house....even in the entryway) Your colors do not have to match, but the should coordinate. Look around your house and see what some of your other colors choices are and try to incorporate some of those into your paint colors.

[peanut]

You know, we have this print in the main living area that everything revolves around. Maybe I'll just get a piece of that fabric and go paint shopping...

Jean

[stinkbug]

That is the perfect idea!!! You can pull colors from that print and use them in any adjoining rooms. Remember they do not have to *match* exactly, just use the tones and color families....it will look more natural and evolved instead of contrived to *match*.

[MomToTwoBoys]

Home Depot has an awesome paint section where they have the families of primary color paints hanging on their walls. I'd get a strip that has the main color you want, along with the lighter and darker shades to it. Paint and trim are on our list of improvements to make in the Spring, so good luck!