[music playing] hi. i'm sarah fishburne, director oftrend and design at the home depot. the first step of any new paintproject is to pick your colors. paint chips are the besttools to begin the search to find the perfectcolors for your home. they are free and easy to findand come in thousands of colors. when selecting paintcolors for your home, you can let the room help you decide.
start by picking a focal point that therest of the room is designed around. this can be a piece of art, a pieceof furniture, a rug, or even a pillow. then coordinate everything elsein the room with that item, including flooring,additional furniture, drapery, lighting, and of course, the paint. a great way to make sure you're pickingcolors that coordinate perfectly with your room is to bring fabricswatches, pillows, or other accessories from your house into thestore to help you choose. after you've selected somecolors you want to consider,
it's time to test thosecolors in your home. it's important to consider how theroom's lighting may affect the colors. a lot of natural light may tendto make colors appear brighter, while lower light levelsmay make them seem darker. this is why it's importantto test your colors in the actual room you'll be painting. get multiple shades ofthe colors you like, then paint small patchesalong the wall to see which color works best in the room.
you'll want to try this whenit's sunny and cloudy out, since the look of the color will changein different types of natural light. also consider testing the colorin multiple spots in the room, close to the window, up alongthe trim, and down by the floor, so you can see how the colorswork with these elements, so you can get to your room toexactly where you want it to be. once you've found yourmain color, use it as a springboard tocreate a complete palette. painted trim can reallymake your room pop,
but it doesn't have tobe a shade of white. you can also consider trimcolor like taupe or black. the color of the ceilingalso plays a big role in determining the feel of the room. an accent color can be a nicedesign touch for the ceiling. but if it's a smaller roomwith neutral tone walls, you'll want to paint theceiling the same color to give the room theperception of a greater space. a foolproof way to create asophisticated color palette
is to pick one colorand use it in many hues. for example, if blue is your color, trypairing gray-blue upholstered pieces with a navy rug and light blue walls. the layering withinthe same color palette will create a rich lookwithout taking a lot of risk. before you go to pick upyour final paint colors, a tip to make sure you get theright amount of paint and supplies is to measure the space youintend to paint and bring that information with you.
i hope these tips help you on your wayto a coordinated palette that will give your entire room a perfect refresh. to find more tips, tricks, andinspiration on ways to use paints to beautify your home,visit homedepot.com/paint.