If there’s one design decision that can completely transform a space, it’s paint. It’s also one of the most affordable updates you can make, especially if you’re the DIY type and willing to do some of the work yourself. But with thousands of colors and numerous brands, choosing the right shade can feel surprisingly stressful. If you’ve ever stood in the paint store and felt overwhelmed while staring at a wall of tiny swatches, I promise you’re not alone.
The good news? With a little strategy and patience, picking paint colors can actually be one of the most rewarding parts of the design process. Here’s how I guide clients through it.
Start with Inspiration
Before you even look at paint chips, take time to gather inspiration. Scrolling through social media and flipping through design magazines is a great way to start the process. When you see a space that makes you pause, save it. Or if you’re out and about, snap photos of what grabs your attention. Maybe it’s the soft neutral palette of a hotel lobby or a moody green in a restaurant bathroom; collecting images of what inspires you is important.
Next, look for what these images have in common. Are you drawn to light and airy spaces? Do jewel tones keep showing up? Are the rooms warm and earthy or cool and crisp? Identifying those common threads will help define the overall mood you want in your own home.
Create a Mood Board
This step is where things start to click. A mood board doesn’t have to be complicated or fancy. It can be a simple collage on your phone or a digital board in Canva. The goal is to see your paint color alongside other elements in the room — flooring, cabinetry, hardware, upholstery.
For example, if you’re working with existing light wood cabinets or flooring you can’t change, that’s your starting point. Build around it. Maybe that pushes you toward warmer whites, muted pinks, or soft sage instead of cool colors. Seeing the elements of a room together can help you narrow down the overall direction for your palette.
Always Get Samples
If there’s one step you shouldn’t skip, it’s sampling. There are a couple different ways you can experiment with paint samples. Traditionally, you’d go to a brick-and-mortar store to grab some paint chips to bring home. Then, once you’d narrowed it down to a couple of shades, you’d get some small samples of paint made up to bring home and test out on your wall. This method definitely works, but it does mean cleaning paint brushes and potentially getting some drops of paint on the floor.
Another option is ordering peel-and-stick paint samples through various online paint companies. They’re just like peel-and-stick wallpaper: little squares you can stick and re-stick to your walls. Plus, you can easily move the samples to different rooms at different times of the day to see how the paint color will change throughout the day.
Whichever method you choose, testing the color in your actual space is essential.
Sit with the Color
To get it right, picking paint colors shouldn’t be an instantaneous decision. It’s important to look at your samples throughout the day: in morning light, afternoon sun, at night with lamps on, and on overcast days. Colors do shift with different lighting. What feels warm and creamy at 10 a.m. can look yellow at 6 p.m. It’s worth living with samples for a few days or even a week.
And if you’re selecting multiple colors for different rooms, pay attention to how they flow from one space to the next. A home should feel cohesive as you move through it.
Trust Your Gut
It’s helpful to gather opinions, especially if you share your home with family or roommates. At the end of the day, you should feel good walking into your space, so you should ultimately pick what you feel is the best color (even if your decorator disagrees!).
And If You Get It Wrong? Paint Again.
Here’s the silver lining: Paint is one of the most forgiving design choices. It’s not structural. It’s not permanent. It can be changed (though not without some headache or extra expense). Paint wrongs can always be righted, but if you follow the above steps (and have a little bit of patience), you should be on the path to the perfect color.
I’d love to see your paint palettes! Tag me on social media @saltwood.interiors.
Christine S. Cowles is the owner of Saltwood Interiors, an interior design company specializing in residential and vacation rental properties. She is a certified Short-Term Rental StylistTM, member of Santa Barbara Association of Realtors, and a proud WEV graduate. She can be reached at design@saltwoodinteriors.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.