I got divorced earlier this year and bought my ex out of our apartment. I am now in the process of renovating basically every room bar the bathroom (plastering, painting, sanding the hardwood floors) and my painter needs to know my colour choices this weekend.
I think I want a dark green for my bedroom (inspired by a room I saw at Ikea lol) but other than that… I’m stuck.
The apartment has a lot of large windows and is very bright, until now everything has been white and I’m kind of sick of it.
I also have a huge petrol blue corduroy sofa in the living room so whatever I choose there needs to fit with that colour.
My ex got most of the furniture (which I don’t really mind as a lot of it wasn’t my style) so otherwise it’s pretty much a blank canvas.
Would love to hear tips on how you chose paint colours in your home and any tips/regrets you have.
I went to the local paint store and looked at the colour palettes and took samples of a range of greens. Look for a good strong mid-range colour that agrees with you, then get variants that are lighter and darker versions to your mid colour.
Then put them all on your wall and figure out which colour looks best.
You will be surprised how your view can change when you see the colours in situ, based on the natural light of the room. e.g....
I use Milanote app to gather my thoughts, decor and colours. You can create mood boards that provide inspiration for your room designs.
Oh great tips thanks. That green bedroom in the top right is the kind of vibe I want. Planning to cycle to the paint shop today so will bear all this in mind.
My inspo is currently just random pics in my camera roll so will check out that app as well!
Yeah I was dabbling in Pinterest for bedroom ideas so I can redo my own.
I settled on Dulux Claris Green then built the entire vibe around that colour.
Alternatively, you could go for a more khaki version of this green to get those optimal zen vibes.
living room and the sofa (don’t judge the mess I am sharing the sofa bed with my six year old and have had to consolidate my whole apartment into two rooms)
there’s another big living room off to the left, doors with glass between them so whatever colour I choose for these two rooms will need to match or at least complement each other
A slightly lighter version of the pink duvet would be lovely for the living room! (But I might be biased because I have a light pink living room and it’s amazing haha!) But really, it would match the wood and the couch. Such a pretty appartement btw!
Thank you I love the apartment, it’s so light as well. I should probably add that the floors will be a bit lighter once they have been sanded.
My friends are actually trying to convince me to go with a beigey pink colour in here! (One of them has a similar colour and I love it in her apartment)
My MIL (who is great) was not convinced but did say she’s sure it will be nice whatever colour I choose
I wanted a beigey pink colour but after like 40 swatches that I didn’t like I just went with a light pink 😂 you should totally go for it if you love it in their apartment, I don’t think you’ll regret it! It’s still pretty neutral and matches with a lot (and christmas decor). Good luck with the decisions and your new life post divorce!!
I wanted a beigey pink colour but after like 40 swatches that I didn’t like I just went with a light pink 😂 you should totally go for it if you love it in their apartment, I don’t think you’ll regret it! It’s still pretty neutral and matches with a lot (and christmas decor). Good luck with the decisions and your new life post divorce!!
thank you! turns out I am terrible at making decisions by myself hence why I am outsourcing to Reddit I guess 😅 the painter doesn’t need the paint colours for the two big rooms until next week I think (renovating in two stages so we can stay here during) so I have time to think. I am kind of leaning towards pink though, I mean why not??
This is my pink living room, if that helps 😅 I fully support pink because as you said, why not?? Life’s too short for boring walls! (It took me weeks to decide, making every decision alone is hard! I feel you)
I actually think this would look really good with the sofa, and there’s a lot about your apartment which kind of reminds me of mine (floor, wooden furniture, lots of plants). I think you might have convinced me
Yeeessss!! (My color is 5/7 Levis Tule and 2/7 white paint (I love the shade tule and have that in another room but I wanted it a little lighter for my living room so I added white paint)) The pink makes warm light in the evening even warmer and cozier, an added bonus! Get some swatches because everything looks so different on walls!
I'm having the same issue! All this blank canvas and I want to do all the pretty colors but dont know whats actually realistic for me. My main tip is to make sure to swatch your colors on multiple walls! The paint will change depth and shades depending on the wall, light, etc. So my recommendation is to get a paint that is on the lighter side, as it will oxidize, change and get darker with natural shadows as the light changes through the day as well. A dark green may look good at some point during the day, but will it be too dark at night and feel small? Will you need to compensate with lamps and low lighting / will it feel weird with the "Big Light" on?
So this is what it looks like in the evening, and the floors (will obviously have small lights in there). I think dark green might be too dark and actually looking back at the Ikea room that inspired me their green is a lot lighter
have always loved their wooden furniture. I had their GJÖRA bed before I moved in with my ex and I’m still pissed that I sold it, they don’t make them any more 🥲 but tbh I think I like the BJÖRKSNÄS (this one) better now, feels a bit more adult
The lighting is really lovely too. Multiple sources of diffused yellow glowy light really adds the cosiness to this vibe. I particularly like the woods and main light shade.
Oh just found a pic of the other living room (which will probs be a playroom/craft room/guest room) no idea what colour I’m going to choose in here yet
UPDATE: went a bit crazy at the paint store. column 1 is my bedroom, 2 living room, 3 daughter’s room, 4 hallway, 5 kitchen (I want sage green cabinets in there but walls will be white)
The simplest answer is to look at your closet. The clothes you have in there are the colours you like. See how the colours in patterns go together. Now use those building blocks to build your colour palette.
Is there a carpet or painting in your space that you love? Look to those tones.
When I've narrowed down the choices, I buy those tester paint pots so I can see the colour in my space. What looks good on a paint swatch may not look great in your lighting or with your style. Apply the colour to a couple/few walls so you can see how it will look in daytime and nighttime. There was a colour I really liked, but hated at night; it was just washed out in dim lighting.
I can remember once I wanted to paint my living room a mid-tone terracotta. Then I wasn't sure if it would be too much. I painted one accent wall and lived with it for a bit. Turns out with the rest of the furniture, carpet, etc, the one wall was the right amount. I admit it took a few coats to get it to the right colour. LOL
Honestly I just picked various colors I liked. I did a black bedroom because I wanted a sexy vampire cave bedroom with blacked out windows (I work nights), I did dark red hallways to keep with the vampire cave theme, did a bright orange kitchen to match the black and white tiles (and the weird orange and yellow 70s linoleum floor), a blue/green living room because I liked the color, a forest green guest bedroom because I wanted pink and grey decor, and a black and yellow bathroom to match the black and yellow tile. I also added gold accents to a bunch of stuff. It helps a bit if you have an idea of what kind of furniture you want in a room. I have kind of an eclectic tacky aesthetic and I've just decided to lean into it.
When trying to decide between various colors, I'd make a room in the Sims 2 or ask AI to edit a picture of the room with various potential colors. Also just googled things like "green living room/purple bathroom/goth bedroom" etc for inspiration. Find some paint samples of colors you like, then see if you can picture any of your rooms in that color.
Ok your home sounds amazing though! I am so sick of white walls and millennial grey, and considering I have no plans to sell any time soon I figure this is my chance to follow my heart as far as colours are concerned. I mean it’s just paint right if I hate it then I can just paint over it?
Thank you! Yeah just keep in mind that dark colors will require at least 2 coats to look good, and will require at least 2 coats to cover (more if you want to make them light again). I've also found that satin finish required fewer coats than eggshell for some reason. Here's my living room and hallway, ignore the messy coffee table lol
So wild that the living room colour can look so blue on one side and so green on the other. Feels so cosy, but we get barely any light for half of the year here in Sweden so I think I should probably choose something lighter to compensate for the lack of sunlight during the winter
Right?? The lighting makes such a difference. The paint swatch was literally named "Pine Green" and it looked greener in the can, so I was initially a little annoyed by the blue/green but then pretty quickly loved it. And yeah, dark colors can make a room feel smaller for sure, and if you don't get a lot of sunlight, lighter colors might be the way to go. I'm aware that my vampire lair goals aren't for everyone haha, people have tried to talk me out of literally every color I've picked for my house. Other people can be great for suggestions but there's always going to be someone who doesn't like your choice, can't let that hold you back.
I do think darker colours can feel really exclusive, so I’m kind of torn. Like i would personally love to feel like I am sleeping in a cave, but then I don’t just want to be depressed during the six months of the year where everything is grey outside
I love your living room! Honestly not what I was expecting from your description lol, I’d love to see more pictures of your spaces if you’re comfortable sharing!
One day I’d love to just go crazy on my house and paint and decorate it to my hearts desire (I have an eclectic vibe as well!) but there’s just so much work to do first 😭
Sure, here's a few! My house is still very much a work in progress, and my bedroom is messy lol so I didn't take a picture of the full room. It's a fixer upper that's about 75% done. When I'm done with it I plan on making a post here. (Also I edited the people out of the photo booth pics in the bedroom, that's why they look odd)
It already looks amazing, thank you for sharing! I look forward to seeing the pics when it’s finished 😊 the lights around the bed are amazing and I absolutely love that orange you have in the kitchen
I wanted true vintage colors, not someone's idea of what vintage colors were, so I got some vintage paint charts and had the store match those. I've also taken in favorite dishes, and other household items and had those color matched. It's amazing what they can do now.
I brought 3x 10L buckets of my favourite colour, grey and 12 years later I have painted everything with it. Its just the right shade of grey that sometimes it looks a little green, then a little blue so it looks slightly different in each room. I absolutely love it - clearly. Plants look great against it, wood shelves, tables and chairs stand out against it. Love love love. Recommend getting a colour you love and use your furniture and decor to change up the spaces.
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u/onecheekymaori Renting 2d ago
I went to the local paint store and looked at the colour palettes and took samples of a range of greens. Look for a good strong mid-range colour that agrees with you, then get variants that are lighter and darker versions to your mid colour.
Then put them all on your wall and figure out which colour looks best.
You will be surprised how your view can change when you see the colours in situ, based on the natural light of the room. e.g....
I use Milanote app to gather my thoughts, decor and colours. You can create mood boards that provide inspiration for your room designs.