How NOT to Pick Paint Color – 5 Common Mistakes

I just read a recent blog post, from a well-respected source that shall remain nameless, about how to pick paint color – or rather, how NOT to pick paint color.  While I love most design blogs from this source, and even though the designers quoted in the article are incredibly talented, I actually cringed when I read the advice listed.  The five tips they suggested might work when a homeowner is working together with a skilled interior designer who can keep them from making serious mistakes.  But without professional guidance, I’m afraid that the five suggestions on how to pick paint colors will actually leave homeowners more confused, or worse, lead them to make bad choices.  

 

So, I’d like to weigh in on why the suggestions in the published article are NOT how you should pick paint color, and tell you what to do instead. 

 

If you follow interior design, you will have heard these suggestions before, but this was the first time I’d seen all five offenders in one article.  I’ll tackle each one below, and why I think there are better ways to pick paint color, but first, here’s the underlying reason why I think these five tips fall short:

 

Picking paint colors for something large-scale (your home) is vastly different from choosing a color for something small (a chair fabric, say, or a blouse to wear).