Interior Designers Share Their Best Tricks for Choosing Paint Colors
Stuck between swatches? Designers share the strategies they use to find the right shade.
A fresh coat of paint is one of the fastest ways to transform a room. But choosing the right shade can be surprisingly tricky. That's why we tapped designers for their tips on choosing a paint color you'll genuinely love.
There are plenty of challenges that come up when you're choosing a paint color. You might find that you love a certain color when the morning sun comes through the window, but you're not a fan of it through the rest of the day. You might want a shade that's dramatic and bold, while your spouse prefers a calm neutral. Or you might genuinely love two, three, or four different shades and find it difficult to decide which one you like best.
Luckily, designers have plenty of experience in guiding people towards the best paint color for a space. Some of the clever methods they shared include looking to your closet for color inspiration, playing with shadows, and looking at the furniture and other pieces you want to put in the room to see which paint colors play best with those items.
Below, designers share their best tricks to help you choose a paint color.
Be Informed by Architecture
Want to paint your space a different color, but have no idea where to start? Designer Barrett Oswald recommends leaning into your home's bones. "We like to let the style and vibe of a home guide our paint color choices," the New York designer explains. Here's a rule of thumb worth following: Oswald typically paints traditional homes in a neutral home to "create a timeless backdrop that doesn't compete with the home's character." As for more modern residences? She gives you her blessing to add a bolder shade.
Work With Your Wardrobe
For the ultimate paint inspiration, Galey Grimes recommends looking to your closet. "The colors you naturally gravitate toward in your clothing often reflect tones that make you feel comfortable and confident, making them great inspiration for your walls," the Memphis designer explains. She has a point: Chances are, your closet features a palette that not only brings you joy, but is flattering. And, at the end of the day, doesn't everyone deserve to look fabulous in their own home?
Photo by: Jennifer Saltsman
Make Way for Muted Tones
We love bright, bold colors as much as the next person, but Kristin Keyes makes a strong case for subtlety. "Choose a muted gray green over forest green or a pinky beige over pink," the Nashville designer explains. "The muddier colors create a calmer mood and blend well with a variety of furnishings and textiles. "Most paint decks show colors in a bunch of saturation levels, so take a cue from Keyes and stick with lighter colors that have "muddiness and ambiguity."
Photo by: Native House Photography
Consider Your Furnishings
A paint color might set the mood, but don't overlook the rest of your belongings. "Harmonizing your paint color with these elements ensures the space feels cohesive," Grimes notes. For the ultimate test, take a cue from designer Caroline Kopp and set up a vignette near your swatch.
"I stick with the tried-and-true method of gathering my finishes and fabrics together to look at the paint as part of a larger palette," she explains. "I am also a big believer in large swatches of real paint, in the actual room, as the best way to eliminate losers and hone in on what you really want."
Photo by: Rikki Snyder
Switch up Your Swatch
Swatching your wall is a time-honored way to see how a shade will look in your room. The catch? Since most people spot-test a teeny, tiny part of their wall, you may not be understanding a color's full impact. Instead, designer Eva Bradley asks her painters to create "a large-scale brush out on a movable sheet."
"The larger size makes it much easier to see the full effect of the color, and being able to move the sample from wall to wall allows us to observe how light interacts with the paint in different areas of the room," she explains. "This is especially helpful in spaces where lighting varies dramatically, because it ensures the color feels consistent and balanced throughout."
Copy this idea at home by grabbing a piece of poster paper, throwing on a fresh coat and attaching it to your wall with some painter's tape. And, of course, feel free to move this sheet around as needed. Keep in mind that the paint color might look slightly different once you add it to your walls, but this will give you a general idea of how a color interacts with natural light.
Photo by: R. Brad Knipstein Photography
Throw Shade (Really)
Many interior designers will tell you to assess how a shade interacts with natural sunlight, but Jen Stevens of Fonde Interiors says don't discount the dark side.
"The shadow test reveals how diffusion levels transform a color's perception," says the Dallas designer. "A shadow cast through sheer drapery softens the paint's appearance, gently blending undertones, while a harsh shadow from a solid object creates stark contrasts that expose the color's underlying qualities."
Stevens recommends deliberately casting different types of shadows on paint samples to see how each of the undertones will show up in your home. "It's about understanding a color's true character beyond its most," the designer explains. "From the soft filter of gauzy curtains to the defined edges of a solid object's shadow, uncover subtle nuances that direct light conceals."
Photo by: Becca Lea
Try the Squint Test
If you're really torn between two colors, designer Brianna Scott says a change of perspective can help. "I always play the 'squint test,'" she shares. "I hold up both colors together near the item I'm trying to coordinate with and whatever color looks the closest while I'm squinting is the one I choose." When selecting an off-white, Scott always compares her sample to a true bright white so she can understand each shade's nuances. Ultimately, you want to find a shade that's easy on the eyes—literally.
Photo by: Marco Ricca
Kelsey Mulvey is a freelance journalist who has over a decade of experience in print and digital media. She covers interior design and lifestyle content for a breadth of publications, including Good Housekeeping, Country Living, House Beautiful, Veranda, and more. Her hobbies include themed spinning classes, Netflix, and nachos.
