Wall Color – To Paint or Not To Paint

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Change the Wall Color… That is the Question

Wall Color - To Paint or Not To Paint

There are a lot of things to consider when deciding to re-decorate, but should your wall color be one of them? For most, saving money and making affordable updates is important. We’re all about creating beautiful spaces working with things you already have, keeping what’s working, and getting rid of what’s not. Honestly, unless the walls are a mess, or you hate the wall color, there’s no need to re-paint. Changing the wall color can be expensive if you’re not the do-it-yourself type. And then, there’s the question of what color, and where to start and stop the paint? Personally, unless it needs it, I forget about it! With a few good tips, you can change the color of a space without painting the walls. Below are three spaces where we kept the wall color starting with a neutral wall color, then working toward stronger wall colors.

Neutral Wall Color

Wall Color - To Paint or Not To Paint
Before

The homeowner had grown tired of the eye-catching color red in the dining chairs, which highlighted all the red elsewhere in the space. Wanting a new color theme, but not wanting to use the budget for new paint, here is the approach we used to make a colorful change. Maybe you’ve heard of the Rule of Odds, which suggests that odd numbers are more aesthetically pleasing to look at than even numbers. This basic design principle can be used to decorate with color. The idea in using The Rule of Three suggests using the color at least three times in a room. For my favorite “fun” analogy, check out Dressing in Three Colors. Dressing ourselves is not unlike dressing our spaces.

Wall Color – To Paint or Not To Paint

Now, let’s dial it up a bit with my own design secret. I like to use three different colors (Gray, Aqua, Green), on three different items (Art, Rug, Chairs), within three items. Below, are those three items where all three colors are represented in them. To see the full project, CLICK Downtown Living!

 

Gray Wall Color

Before Gray Wall Color
Before

This space was dark and uninviting. The gray wall color along with the contents were not helping. Until…! We ignored the wall color accepting it as a neutral color and added three, new, neutral white items (drapes, a rug, and a coffee table) to help lighten and brighten the space. Then, taking our cue from the homeowner’s existing art for the Perfect Color Palette, we added three new items, in three different colors (Red chair, Yellow lamp, and Aqua sofa) for some fun POPS of color! To see the full project, CLICK The Pop Art House!


After Wall Color 

Yellow Wall Color

Before Yellow Wall Color
Before

The predominant color in the space was the yellow of the walls. It made the space feel disconnected from its contents.

With this space we incorporated analogous color schemes which use adjacent colors from the Color Wheel. The result is a visually-pleasing and calming display of color. When using this concept, one of the colors in the analogous color scheme is used as a dominant hue (Yellow walls). A second color is then used to support the dominant hue (Orange pillows, throw and candle), and a third color is used as an accent (Green lamp and plants).

The idea here was to use colors that come straight from nature. Using orange and green accessories, pictured below, we added because these two colors are adjacent to yellow on the color wheel. Now the space feels warm and cohesive!

To see the full project, CLICK The Bird House!

After Yellow Wall Color

Happy Tweaking!

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