Creating a Paint Color Palette for your Home

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Ugh, color. {cringe} We all love it and we all hate it. I mean, seriously paint manufacturers...how are we suppose to pick colors for our huge homes from your tiny paint chips?! Ridiculous. And Designers - can we decide what's in and what's out already? Colors, neutrals - what are we doing? Let's all get on the same train and stay on it so I can stop re-painting my house!

Actually, I have a better idea. Instead of what's on trend, what if you could determine what your favorite paint colors are? Brilliant, I know.

Here's the skinny. When you're selecting a color palette for your home you want to think about three types of colors - core colors, accent colors, and impact colors.

CORE COLORS

Core colors are the background colors for your space. They set the tone for the room and act as the backdrop to all the other colors, patterns, and furniture items. Think of them as your canvas. They are your muted framework on which you display everything else. Notice I said muted, not neutral. Core colors can be actual colors. They aren't limited to white, beige, and grey. Although, those are typically core colors. You can also select a muted blue or green or yellow or any color - as long as its subtle enough to be a backdrop and not compete with your main objects.

ACCENT COLORS

Accent colors are meant to compliment and enhance your interior design. If you envision a front yard that has been beautifully landscaped, green and brown (grass and trees) would be your core colors and yellow, red, purple (in the flowers) would be your accent colors. They are used a little more sparsely than core colors in a space. They are meant to enhance not overwhelm. Typically, there are around 3 accent colors in a room. This doesn't mean accent walls. Although an accent color can be painted on a wall. Your accent colors are brought in through paint, furniture, textiles, decor, and art.

IMPACT COLORS

An impact color is a bold, bright, daring color for your space. I usually recommend introducing 1 impact color into your space through the use of small decorative items or a versatile furniture piece. The impact color usually makes a bold statement and gives your room that "WOW!" factor. When selecting an impact color for your space, try to select something that you have loved more than six months - this will prevent you from picking something that's just on trend. However, if you like something that's on trend right now, say like dark fuschia, introducing it in a throw pillow versus painting it on a wall will save you time and money and it's a great compromise.

HOW TO FIND YOUR CORE, ACCENT, AND IMPACT COLORS

Ok, ok. So now we know what these terms mean. But how do you find your favorite core, accent, and impact colors? Don't just go with grey as a core color because it's on trend. Remember, we are designing a home YOU love, not a home for someone else.

Use the color inventory worksheet to go snooping in your home. What colors are in your closet? What color is your car? What colors are your purses, shoes, accessories? What colors do you like in your home now? What color are your plates, bowls, and other dishes? See if there are some common colors among these items. For example, half the shirts in my closet are navy, my car is blue, two of my area rugs are a mixture of blues, and my dishes are blue and teal. I would say I'm drawn to blue, right? So I have grey/blue as well as navy listed for my core colors and teal as one of my accent colors.

Easy Peasy! Now I go with what I am drawn to and what makes me feel comfortable rather than what's on trend.

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