7 tips for coordinating paint colors

Choosing the right paint color is a daunting task, but some easy guidelines can make it a little less overwhelming. 

Professional painters understand that people often struggle with not knowing where to begin choosing a color to paint their home – interior or exterior. In this post, we’ll walk you through some of the basic things to know about choosing a paint color and different ideas to consider for your next project. 

Using the color wheel to choose paint

Most people remember the color wheel from elementary school art class. It had primary, secondary, and tertiary colors arranged as a rainbow around a circle. Well, professional painters still use the same color wheel theory when they’re choosing the right color of paint to use. 

You can do a quick Google search to see an example of a standard color wheel. Although you probably aren’t going to be painting your house a bright purple, you can imagine that an eggplant shade, for example, would fall somewhere on that color wheel around purple. From there, you can start building a color scheme to use as a guideline. 

How to coordinate colors 

Each color on the color wheel relates to the other colors in some way. When you combine those colors, you’ll build yourself a handy color scheme to make the painting and decorating process a little easier. 

Here are some of the types of color combinations we may use in interior and exterior paint projects to form a color scheme:

Complementary colors:

These are colors opposite each other on the color wheel, like red and green or purple and yellow. Many people create a color scheme using complementary colors by choosing one color as the dominant color and the other color as an accent color. Translated into house painting, this could look like painting your exterior a dark blue and staining your wood trim a warmer brown to add a bit of an accent. 

Split complementary colors:

If you want to have a little fun with your design, a split complementary color scheme can give you a lot of inspiration. Choose one color to start and find the complementary color that is direct across from it. Select the colors on either side of the complementary color. For example, blue could be your dominant color, and then yellow-orange and red-orange are the split complementary colors. So, you could paint your bedroom a warm neutral color and then add in blue and warmer orange accents to complete the look. 

Related colors:

These colors sit side-by-side on the color wheel and form a more cohesive color scheme. For example, purple and blue are related colors, or orange and yellow. In house paint terms, these often get referred to as warm and cool colors. 

Monochromatic colors:

Another easy way to create a color scheme is to start with one color and selecting different hues of the same color. If you look at a paint chip, you’ll see the different hues of color, and you can work from that same paint chip to achieve a monochromatic color scheme.

Get even more detailed with the color coordination wheel

Understanding how colors relate to one another is one thing, but you will also need to account for how that will translate into house paint. 

For example, you will want to consider the saturation point of your paint or the color hue. If you will be using more than one color in a room, it’s a good idea to stick with colors with the same hue. In other words, your room may not look cohesive if you choose a bright, vibrant blue and a dusty, light orange. 

You can match saturation points by locating the paint color you’re using on a paint chip. Maybe it’s the second-lightest shade on the chip. Any other color you choose should also be the second-lightest on its paint chip. Of course, this isn’t a strict rule you need to follow, but it is a good way to get ideas flowing as you create a color scheme. 

Why color-coordinated paint matters 

Following these basic theories of color, coordination enhances your design style by helping certain features of a room or home stand out and making it easier to decorate and style the rest of the space. If you go ahead and decorate a space without considering how the colors relate to one another, it can look messy and disjointed. 

A professional house painter can help you identify the best paint to compliment your ideal color scheme and give you ideas for matching and coordinating colors to create a cohesive space. They can also help you with trickier color paint combinations that don’t necessarily fall on the average color wheel, like gray and beige. 

Spectra Painting Contractors is based in the greater Boston area. We proudly serve both residential and commercial clients. Visit our website where you can learn more about our services and read more blog posts about painting and home improvement.