Avoid 3 Common Mistakes When Choosing Colors

Imagine hearing the following sentence in the deep baritone of dramatic movie announcer guy: “In a world where colorless homes dominate America’s residential landscape, a hero emerges from the world of interior design who chooses colors with confidence, banishing forever the scourge of the bland beige box.” You can be that hero. You can bring color into your home like a kick-butt chromo warrior! Half of the battle is learning the three color-choosing mistakes you must avoid and how to solve them.  

Read on, chosen one. Read on. 

Common Color Mistakes (and their solutions) 

Mistake 1: Fear. It may sound silly but believe me when I tell you that one of the biggest barriers for choosing colors in a home is flat-out fear. Fear you will choose the wrong color. Fear you will hate the color once it’s introduced into the space. Fear that colors you choose won’t work well together. Unfortunately, the common solution to this common fear is to shrink from color by keeping everything white, or beige. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with incorporating white or beige into your home design, it should be because you want those colors not because you’re afraid to bring in colors you secretly love and are willing to deprive yourself of using. So I implore you to have no fear. The number one thing you can do to give a room personality is to bring in a purposeful color palette.  

Solution: Start slowly and ease your way into a more colorful home. You might start with one accent wall, an area rug, or a beloved piece of art. By taking these and similar smaller steps and living with the results, you will slowly gain confidence. Keep progressing little by little. Continue to gauge how your ever-colorful home makes you feel. You can always dial it back and change it up, and you can push for more color when you like the direction you are going toward a more colorful space.  

Mistake 2: Rushing. When choosing colors, it’s easy to feel pressure, as if every color decision needs to be made right away. This can especially be true if you are remodeling a space or maybe moving into a new home. We live in an overdrive world where taking your time can seem unthinkable. However, when it comes to choosing colors, slow down.  

Solution: Take your time, get in touch with your feelings, and explore options to avoid later disappointment in the choices you have made. Follow a thoughtful plan. If you are choosing paint colors, make sure you get samples of colors you are considering. Paint the big section on your wall. Look at it during all times of the day to see it in different lighting. Consider how it looks next to flooring and furniture that will be in that same space. Check to make sure the color you love on the sample card doesn’t include sneaky undertones that will distort or be distorted by other colors in your space.  When choosing accent colors, get swatches and keep an inspiration board to assess if you like the way your choices work together as your palette progresses. 

Mistake 3: Overdoing it. You may have several different colors you absolutely love. However, often if you include too many colors into one room, you may find your room feels chaotic and unsettling.  

Solution: Leverage focal points. For example, if you have a favorite painting with colors that speak to you, let that piece be the focal point in the room. Use a more subtle, subdued color palette for your walls and furnishings. This will not only keep the space feeling more balanced, it will allow the artwork to make a strong statement. Then you can consider pulling one or two of those colors from the painting as accent colors in the remaining space to achieve a harmonious feel.

In summary, don’t fear, don’t rush, and don’t overdo. I hope today’s post will help you avoid these three common mistakes and give you confidence to bring more color into your life.   

Now, what will you do next to love where you live? 

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