Andi Dyer

Let me help you find your future home

  • About
  • Contact Page
  • Refer a Friend
  • News
You are here: Home / Uncategorized / A Brilliant Way to Create a Color Scheme for Your Dream Home

A Brilliant Way to Create a Color Scheme for Your Dream Home

June 23, 2020 By Andi Leave a Comment

The only strategy you’ll ever need to get the colors you’ll love.

Have you ever been invited to a painting party? Yes? No? Well, if you’ve never attended this event of a lifetime, let me explain.

Friends buy their dream house. They’re ready to move in. But first, they send out a painting party invitation to their closest and handiest friends to give each room in their new abode a fresh new makeover. They supply the pizza. You arm yourself with rollers and brushes. It’s fun and productive and provides a super fresh feel to every new dream home. 

The problem is most folks don’t plan ahead and end up needing to repaint later. It wastes money, time, and energy. Pretend you’re seeing a crying emoji face right about now. 

You see, homeowners may have had the best intentions. The problem isn’t the act of painting ahead of moving in. The problem is the lack of planning when it comes to creating the new home’s color scheme.

The Best-Laid Painting Plans

Every new homeowner should plan their dream home’s color scheme way before breaking out the rollers. In fact, you can actually start the planning process when you first tour a home with your real estate agent. Ask them questions about the house to learn details that can help you pick the right color scheme and make your next house more like heaven. 

Details such as house history and house layout can be vital information when it comes to the color scheme too. Here are some important questions to ask when you first start planning:

  • Is it historical? You may want to consider using a historically correct color for the year it was built. A paint specialist at your home improvement store can help identify those options.
  • Does it have any original features? Those original features may be highlighted with an original color.
  • Is there any architectural detail that makes this place special? Architectural details can pop with color or fade into the background with white or black.
  • What rooms get the most light? Light can change the way the color is perceived, so it’s important to know.
  • Is this open concept with views of different rooms? If wall colors are seen next to each other, will they look good together? Keep these facts in mind when choosing your palette.
  • What size are these spaces? Larger spaces and higher ceilings can intensify certain colors.

Here’s one method to put together a color scheme that’ll work for your family so that you can get your painting party underway. 

Find Inspiration for Your Rooms

Discover the colors that you’re naturally attracted to by simply flipping through magazines and catalogs and tearing out your favorite photos of rooms. You can do this online with sites like Pinterest, too. 

The key is to gather all of your inspirational photos together and find common threads in colors. It may be that all the photos have gray walls or blue accents. You may discover other things about your style, too, like your furniture preferences or your light fixture style. 

Focus on the colors alone, and write down the list of hues that you find attractive. This will be a good “true north” for you if you become overwhelmed with all the options. If all the inspirational rooms are neutral with punches of color, then remember, you like neutral. If the rooms are white walls with high contrast, you like white. If the rooms are dark walls with moody accessories, you like dark.

Monochromatic, analogous, complimentary color hues

Image: Bower Power

Decide On Your Vibe

Now that you have your true north established, get a deck of paint swatches so that you can determine if you like monochromatic rooms, a more punchy room, or something complementary. Choose one neutral color that you like. Then see what you’re most attracted to when it comes to pairing colors with that neutral. There’s no wrong answer.

For this example, I picked greige (that first color row above) as my neutral to see what would work with it. You might go with analogous colors, which are pleasing because they sit next to each other in the color wheel, and they’re found in nature. Or maybe you like drama: Complementary colors are high contrast, so they create a vibrant look. 

Research more about color theory to understand this idea better. Whatever those colors are, know that you are deciding your vibe by picking three main colors you love.

Pick Out Textiles

Now that you have your inspiration and your vibe established, it’s time to go shopping! This could mean that you’re simply shopping your stash, or it could be that you’re finding new wares.  

Whatever it means, figure out what upholstery, curtains, and rugs are going to live in the rooms, and get fabric swatches of those items. This way you can group all the fabrics for one room together. This will help you determine the color to pick for walls. It’s also a great time to purge items that don’t fit into your new style or don’t go with that room’s color scheme.

Whip out your paint deck again and see what works with your textiles based on your established vibe and your inspiration. You may have dark curtains and dark furniture and want to lighten up the space. Pick out a lighter color for the walls. If you want to make it feel more like a cocoon, pick out something dark. 

But remember, it should go with your overall desired vibe. For example, if you want to have an industrial vibe, steer clear of bright, sunny yellow. 

You don’t need to know the exact color right now, just that the living room is going to be light blue and the dining room is going gray.  

Also, keep in mind adjoining rooms. When you stand in a room and see the color on the walls in neighboring rooms, this is called a sightline, and the colors that are in those rooms need to look good next to one another.

Determine Accent Colors

Now that you have your textiles and a basic idea of what room is going to be which color, it’s time to choose accent colors. True accent colors can come directly from fabrics, throw pillows, artwork, or even your favorite stationery. 

I like to pick at least two accent colors for each space. That accent color is used sparingly throughout the space – but enough to make it feel intentional. It should go well with the textiles in that space. An accent color can be the hue you use on an accent wall. 

Also consider using a wall color from one space as an accent color in a neighboring room.

Test It Out

Now that you’ve determined your idea for a wall color and the accent colors that coordinate with your textiles and align with your style, it’s time to test some specific paint shades. 

Remember that paint colors look different in natural and artificial lighting, often dry darker, and can coordinate or clash with undertones in flooring, stone, tile, and even cabinetry. 

It’s very helpful to search for images of the specific colors online to see if you like the look in others’ spaces. I like to pick three to five paint colors for the walls before getting samples of that color. Then just make sure you test all your options in the room before choosing the specific hue and color plan. 

Double-check that your chosen wall color coordinates with all the existing features, furniture, and textiles. Then write down your picks for the walls and any painted accent areas or furniture.

You did it! All your colors should play nicely with the neighboring rooms because of your hard work! Now you can confidently say that you have a plan for all the spaces and it’ll definitely work well with the other pieces in your space. Time to text your friends, break out the rollers, and order the pizza! Happy painting!

HOUSELOGIC

HouseLogic helps consumers make smart, confident decisions about all aspects of home ownership. Made possible by REALTORS®, the site helps owners get the most value and enjoyment from their existing home and helps buyers and sellers make the best deal possible. 

This article was contributed by Katie and Jeremy Bower, home and lifestyle bloggers for “Bower Power.” They spend every waking minute loving to create, improving homes, and teaching their four little boys (all ages six and under!) how to laugh, love, and learn.

KATIE AND JEREMY BOWER

Katie and Jeremy Bower are the DIY duo behind the blog “Bower Power.” They first met on a blind date, spent their nine-month engagement renovating their first home, and now spend their free time completely smitten with all things DIY.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Bellingham, DIY, real estate, Whatcom

About Andi

World-wide traveler. Excellent shot. Lover of Cairn Terriers (specifically Shaymus). Vegetarian. Enthusiastic, yet amateur beer brewer. Licensed, independent Real Estate Broker and Designated Broker for Sterling Real Estate. I have the inside knowledge of the 'diamonds in the rough' hiding throughout Whatcom County. Want to learn more? Contact me at AndiDyer@gmail.com

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

  • The 7 Worst Habits Homeowners Need to Break Now
  • What You Need to Know About Researching Home Prices
  • Home Upkeep Tips for People With Better Things to Do Than Chores
  • Filing Taxes After Divorce: Tips for Homeowners
  • 7 Cleaning Tips for Keeping Your Home Spotless When Selling It

Testimonials from Happy Homeowners

Andi is a very motivated and talented professional who considers all aspects of any project before quickly moving forward with precise action.
~ Teresa

Andi quickly discovered our parameters and made sure we didn't waste time looking at properties we wouldn't be interested in and stay within our budget.
~ Trulia Reviewer

Andi has a keen instinct for smart marketing and is very responsible to her clients. She is a committed Real Estate broker and has a very sunny disposition. No matter what your needs are, be it finding a home or selling your current real property, her years of experience in the field are a huge asset!
~ T.W.

It has been a pleasure working with Andi. She always has a smile and a positive attitude. She put a lot of time and effort into selling my house and I couldn't have happier with anyone else.
~J.M.

Selling a house is STRESSFUL. There are so many things to do and so many cracks to slip into. Thanks to Andi, there were no cracks with her timely checklists; she showed me that selling doesn’t have to be so stressful. A good selling experience is possible! She is the broker to keep in your back pocket.
~ Rose W.

Andi was always on our side working to make our house purchase as simple and successful as possible. The best part about working with her was that she was always more focused on answering our questions, giving us good advice, and finding homes that met our needs than she was on closing a deal. All throughout the negotiations and closing she was there quickly handling any issues that may have risen. We would recommend her to anyone. If the time ever comes when I will be looking for a new home, there isn't any question on who my Realtor will be!
~Zillow Reviewer

About Andi

World-wide traveler. Excellent shot. Lover of Cairn Terriers (specifically Shaymus). Vegetarian. Enthusiastic, yet amateur beer brewer. Licensed, independent Real Estate Broker and Designated Broker for Sterling Real Estate. I have the inside knowledge of the 'diamonds in the rough' hiding throughout Whatcom County. Want to learn more? Contact me at AndiDyer@gmail.com Read More…

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

I can help you find your dream home.

I am located in two offices to support my Whatcom clients. Come visit me soon.

Office Locations

Downtown Bellingham Office
2011 Young Street, Suite 101
Bellingham, WA 98225

See Location

Ferndale Office
1820 Main Street
Ferndale, WA 98248

See Location

Sterling Logo   Realtor logo   Sterling Logo       Sterling Logo

Copyright © 2021 · Log in