Choosing an Interior Paint Color

Choosing a paint color for your interior paint job can be overwhelming — who knew there could be so many shades of beige? You don't need a decorator to help you pick paint color for your walls, floors, or ceilings. Find the paint colors that achieve the effects you want by using these tips from the professionals.

• Know your color scheme. The three categories to keep in mind as you evaluate colors for your room are complementary, analogous, and neutrals. Complementary decor combines a primary and secondary color found opposite each other on the color wheel (example: red and green). Analogous colors fall into two groups: warm (shades of red, orange, and yellow) and cool (colors in the green, blue, and violet range). Neutrals are browns, beiges, taupes, whites, and blacks. Neutrals are not included on a color wheel; they're considered non-colors.

Evaluate natural and artificial light. Before selecting paint, consider lighting. Look at paint chips under direct, indirect, and artificial light. Evaluate the samples against furniture and rugs. After you narrow your choices, get a small jar of each finalist and brush each on a piece of white poster board. After the paint dries, tape the poster board to the wall and evaluate again. Assessing larger color samples ensures that you're making the right choice for your room.

• Create a mood with color. Color affects mood and the way you perceive the comfort level of a space. For a calm effect, select cool colors. To energize your home, look to the warm color palette. Pair a warm color with a cooler complement to create energy.

• Change a room's size with color. Warm colors advance and cool colors recede. If you want to make a small room appear larger, paint it a pale, cool, less intense color. If you have a large room that needs downsizing, use warm colors or darker, more intense hues.

• Consider colors in adjacent rooms. You don't have to use the same color scheme in adjoining rooms, but you have a more peaceful ambiance if one room naturally flows into the next. Select complementary color schemes, or vary the intensity of one hue, going from the lightest shade to the most dramatic. Don't create a hodgepodge of loud, conflicting colors — if each room is competing, you won't be able to relax.

Coordinate with furniture and flooring. Using a favorite painting or rug to inspire a color scheme highlights that piece when the room is done. The trick is to choose a paint color that blends with the piece instead of matching it exactly. Paint stores have cards that show coordinated colors; you see a decorated room, chips of dominant paint, and colors that go with them.

• Play it safe with neutrals. Neutrals blend in, are flexible, and cooperate with other colors. White is especially good at opening spaces. Warm neutrals work well in rooms with few or small windows. Black is a great accent, but use it sparingly. Neutrals are considered "safe" wall treatments. If you're selling your home, neutrals are the way to go. Most potential buyers can visualize their furnishings set before those freshly painted walls.