Maree Homer
Colour matching
Once you’ve found a colour you like and you think it will work with the room, what about matching other colours to it? Whether you’re looking to create a feature wall or painted accents, or if you want to add colour with furniture, accessories and textiles, the colours need to sit well together.
Work within a spectrum of tones
Paint specialists spend days of their lives carefully organising the colours on paint charts for ease of use. Tones and shades arranged in the same vertical lines will always complement each other.
Create a moodboard
Find rooms that have used a combination of shades you like, or mix and match colours, whether it be paint, curtains, cushions; you’ll soon get a sense of what you like.
Consider the proportions
Consider which colours you are using together, but also how much of each. This is usually driven by the architecture and proportions of a room. Using two colours in equal measure can be surprisingly effective, but normally you will achieve a sense of balance by using more of one colour and less of another; a grey hue with an accent of yellow, for example.
Buying paint
Yes, you can repaint if you decide you got it all wrong, but that takes time, energy and expense, so try not to rush into anything. Instead, pick up paint samples and start testing colours. Ensure you paint a large enough area to really get a sense of how the colour will work in the room; we suggest painting an A4 piece of card or a cereal box. Watch your swatch at different times of the day: how it looks in the morning will be very different from the evening, depending on the direction of the light. Also, consider how will it look under artificial lighting.
How a paint appears on the wall will vary depending on the brand, but paint finishes can roughly be categorised into:
- Matte: generally considered the standard for interior walls, this is the least reflective sheen and has a velvety texture. It offers the greatest depth of colour and is good for hiding imperfections on walls.
- Eggshell: some reflectivity and reasonably durable, this paint is most commonly used in kitchens or bathrooms by those looking for a durable, easy to clean paint without the gloss finish.
- Satin paint: like eggshell but slightly glossier.
- Semi-gloss and gloss paint: the most reflective finish and the most durable, easy to clean paint, it’s traditionally used on baseboards, mouldings and doors, or occasionally in bathrooms. Trends have seen gloss paint used more frequently on wooden floors or to create a feature, but be wary of highlighting imperfections when using it this way.
