How To Choose Paint Colors and Feel Great About It

Getting called to select paint color is a common occurrence at Gogo Design Group.   Whether it’s a color for a bedroom or an entire house, the process can be daunting to the person who reached out to us.  However, if you look at the process as a methodical challenge, as opposed to a scary process it can all fit into place smoothly and efficiently.

Let’s say you are building a new house and the contractor has asked you for your paint selections.  Where do you begin?  The first question we ask is what colors do you dislike and like?  What is your favorite color?  Which colors to you feel aversion to?  I next ask, what is the overall feeling that you would like your home to possess?  Would you like it to feel light, airy and breezy, or warm, cozy and nurturing?  This can be a tricky question because everyone wants their home to feel warm, cozy and nurturing, right?  We just have to determine just WHAT colors and what level of saturation would achieve that for them specifically.  Easy, right?  Yes!  Just stick with Gogo!

Once we have determined these things, we shelf that information and move forward.   We begin the selection process in the kitchen.  The cabinetry, counters and flooring in the kitchen are what set the tone for the rest of the house.  Whether your kitchen is on the small or colossal side, it is where you and/or your family spend a great deal of time.  The energy and feel of your home can be determined by the color palette of the kitchen.  Coordinating the paint color with the kitchen finish colors is very easy to do.    I typically select a neutral palette for the kitchen area and blend it with the finishes, as opposed to a bright color.  I use bright bold colors when the kitchen is on the smaller side, has less wall space and is slightly separated from its surrounding rooms.

Next, I keep the common areas of the home, namely the great room, entrance and hallways (upstairs and downstairs) in the same neutral color palette that was inspired by the kitchen finishes.  I then pull from the favorite/like/dislike color pool to apply color in the dining, living, study, powder room, and bedroom areas as desired and needed.  I might even recommend wall covering of all things if it is called for.  Sometimes a shift in color doesn’t necessarily mean different colors in different rooms, but different SHADES from the same color palette.  As we move through the process, a constant vision toward consistent flow and continuity is always kept in mind.  As for the bathrooms, we always recommend blending a neutral paint color with your tile and cabinetry.  This way the focus is on the beautiful tile design, as opposed to the walls.

In a nutshell, this is what we recommend:  Begin with a neutral color palette inspired by the finishes of your home, and insert your comfort colors in rooms that have certain functions where you want to evoke a specific mood.  It’s as easy as that.  Now, nailing the perfect color based on the lighting conditions and shading is a little more tricky, but leave that to us.   You don’t have to worry about that, that’s where our expertise comes in!