Whether you’ve decided to paint your home to refresh your living environment or to improve the chances of a quick, well-priced sale, choosing the right color scheme is of paramount importance. To make your selection task easier, here are five colors to avoid when painting your home.
- Black: While a nice pair of black shoes or a black suit can make your heart jump for joy, using black to paint your walls isn’t the best idea. According to interior designers, black walls are a great fashion statement, making a room stylish, mysterious, and soothing. However, there are a few things to consider before painting your walls black, such as the size of the room (black makes rooms look considerably smaller), the other elements (combining black walls with dark furniture and/or carpets can turn your home into a “grave”), and lighting (since black absorbs light, picking the right type of lighting is essential). The same reasoning applies to other dark colors, such as navy, dark gray, and deep browns. To avoid a decorating disaster, we advise you to steer away from these shades when picking colors to paint your walls.
- Bright yellow: Though bright colors are excellent choices especially for kitchens, you should stay away from bright yellow. Unlike orange, red, and green color schemes, which deliver some great paint options for your kitchen, bright yellow is way too intense. Furthermore, don’t paint your baby’s room yellow. According to specialists, yellow activates the “anxiety center” of the brain, making small children cry more. If yellow is the color you want, we recommend that you select a very light tint, which looks almost beige on the color fan deck. That’s because yellow is more intense when applied across large areas.
- Strong shades of purple: Deep, bright purple is one of the colors to avoid when painting a room. While purple in its darkest values (e.g. eggplant) can deliver a chic and sophisticated color palette, many people find strong shades of purple very disturbing. Furthermore, researchers have discovered that a purple bedroom may cause trouble sleeping at night. Stimulating cerebral activity and encouraging creativity, lighter versions of purple, such as lilac or lavender, are wonderful options for living rooms and home offices.
- Fire-engine red: Red is another great wall color choice, allowing you to make a definite statement. However, fire-engine red is one of the colors to avoid when painting walls. Over-stimulating, bright red can keep you from relaxing. Additionally, saturated shades of red tend to bring the walls inward, making the space feel smaller. Opting for a muted red, such as Marsala, can help you get a more subtle feeling, while making your décor stand out.
- Pure white: Just like beige and gray, white is one of the safest colors you can choose when decorating your living space. Though using pure white (white with a blue tint) may seem like a great idea to create a neat, stark interior, it can make the area feel too “cold.” Additionally, keep in mind that pure whites make a sharp contrast with dark furniture and flooring. This will disrupt the comforting, inviting atmosphere you’re trying to create. For a warm, homey feeling, go for a reddish or creamy white.
Though finding the perfect color palette for your home requires a lot of time and effort, picking the right shades will make all the difference. With more than 20 years experience working with all the colors in the world, our professional painters can help you choose the right color scheme for a truly unique paint job. Call us at 904-641-4800 for more information.