Choosing Interior Colors

By: Deborah Baldwin, This Old House magazine (Page 5 of 5)

Photo: Susan Seubert

COLOR EFFECTS
Painting walls in complementary colors, like the deep red and gray-green at left, and furnishing with neutral hues of similar intensity creates a harmonious look. Red walls make this large dining room more intimate, while highlighting the white wainscoting and trim. Red overhead also lowers the ceiling visually, making the space feel cozier and more convivial—a plus in a room designed for conversation.

Photo: Alan Shortall/Cornerhouse Stock Photo

COLOR TESTING
The paint chip strip is only a guide. To really see how a color will look on your walls, paint a large piece of foam-core board with it, then move it around the room for a few days. Different lighting will affect how it looks over the course of the day. While yellow looks cheerful in this sun-filled space, a similar warm color used in a room that gets no natural light can quickly start to look dingy.

Photo: Patrick Barta/Cornerhouse Stock Photo

COLOR COORDINATING
One way to give adjoining rooms in ground-floor living areas a harmonious look is to paint them in colors with the same undertones, like the yellow-based red, khaki, and pumpkin used here. Keeping trim color consistent from room to room helps avoid any jarring transitions. Private areas that typically remain closed off from view—home offices, bedrooms, and powder rooms, for example—don't need to tie in as closely with their neighboring spaces.

Photo: Patrick Barta/Cornerhouse Stock Photo

COLOR PSYCHOLOGY
Colors evoke an emotional response. In general, cool colors (blues, greens, and clean whites) are perceived as restful and soothing while warm colors (like red, orange, and yellow) create a sense of drama and energy. Cool colors are calming in private rooms—like the ice-blue that covers the walls in this bath; warm colors are a good way to enliven social spaces.

Photo: Patrick Barta/Cornerhouse Stock Photo

COLOR ILLUSION
Use color to call attention to a room's architectural details or to distract from its negatives. In this bedroom, using a pale green all over elongates the short walls by blending them into the dramatically sloped ceiling. The color is nuanced enough to take on different shadings depending on how the light hits it, adding more depth and dimension. Crisp white trim highlights the room's built-in features, including the fireplace and a pair of French doors.

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Q: When I go to choose a white, I get overwhelmed by all the choices. How do I pick the right one?
A: Whites do come in a staggering variety. Pure, "clean" whites are formulated without tinted undertones. These are favored by designers looking to showcase artwork or furnishings and are often used on ceilings to create a neutral field overhead. Most other whites are either warm—with yellow, rust, pink, or brownish undertones—or cool, with green, blue, or gray undertones. Mary Rice says: "Use warmer whites in rooms without a lot of natural light, or to make larger spaces seem cozier." Cool whites, by contrast, can help open up a space. Test several at once to see which one works best with the other colors at play in the room.

Q: In general, are there any colors to steer clear of?
A: When it comes to emotional effect, of course, one person's welcome-home orange will be another person's signal to scram. Debbie Zimmer, for one, declares that "red will increase your appetite—and your blood pressure; blues and greens are naturelike and calming; purple is loved by children but not necessarily by adults; yellow is inviting; and orange can be welcoming but also a little irritating, depending on the tint, tone, or shade." Research done for Behr indicates that yellow can stimulate the brain, so it might be worth considering for rooms where homework is done; but avoid yellow in bedrooms, where the goal is generally to chill out.

Q: How much does paint color really matter?
A: The psychology of color is a minor obsession among paint professionals. Many say you should choose a color based at least in part on how a room is used and the mood you want to establish. So paint social rooms (dining rooms, kitchens, family and living areas) warm colors like daffodil-yellow, coral, or cranberry, suggests Gillingham-Ryan, and give private rooms (home offices, powder rooms, bedrooms) cooler hues like sage-green, violet, or sky-blue. Let the mood shift from room to room, he says, to establish a visual rhythm: "Warm, cool, warm, cool—it's like breathing in and out. It's flow."