Elisabeth Stubbs

9 Tips to Help You Choose Interior Colors

BY ELISABETH STUBBS

Having a hard time deciding on a color? You aren’t the only one. Almost everyone struggles choosing paint, carpet, hardwood flooring and window treatment colors. Here are nine tips to help you pick the right colors in your home:

1. Determine the direction of your room. If the room faces … • North — dark colors will look darker; light colors will not be as vibrant. • South — dark colors will appear brighter; light colors, particularly white, can make the room look washed out. • East — colors will feel much cooler in the evening. • West — colors will feel darker in the morning and lighten as daylight increases.

2. Choose your paint color last. There are thousands of paint colors. If you pick the paint color first, you limit all other selections.

3. Decide the focal point of the room. Is it the walls, the fireplace, the backsplash, the view out the windows, the floor or the rug? The focal point should be the boldest and most vibrant color(s) in the room. Other colors should be milder, more neutral, with minimal designs.

4. Color intensifies as it covers more area. Select a shade lighter than what you actually want.

5. Get as large of a sample as possible. Move the sample around the room or home for a few days. Different lighting will affect how it looks over the course of the day. Take your time. Make sure you love your color in daylight and in the evening, when the sun is down and artificial lights are on in your home. 6. Look for undertones: pink, yellow, green, blue. Undertones can change as you go from room to room. Surfaces in your room, such as walls, countertops and cabinets, reflect onto the color and can intensify the undertone or cause it to recede.

7. A room in dark tones seems smaller and more compressed, while light tones visually expand a room, making it seem more spacious with higher ceilings. Generally, crisp whites can make a space feel bigger and more open, while warm colors create a sense of intimacy. Large rooms usually can handle more color than small rooms. 8. While you definitely should sample multiple color options, avoid putting the samples right next to each other. They will compete with each other, distract you and make it harder to make a clear choice. Rotate the samples in and out of the room(s) you are renovating.

9. Never select a floor online or from a picture. The color will not be true. Your computer monitor, the settings on your phone and tablet or your printer quality can distort colors. Use actual flooring samples for color selection.

Elisabeth Stubbs is one of the owners of Enhance Floors & More, one of Atlanta’s top-rated flooring dealers, located in Marietta.