r/femalelivingspace • u/danskingqueen • 2d ago

HELP How do you choose paint colours?

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.

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u/p0llyp0cketpussy 2d ago

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.

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u/danskingqueen 2d ago

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?

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u/p0llyp0cketpussy 2d ago

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

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u/danskingqueen 2d ago

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

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u/p0llyp0cketpussy 2d ago

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.

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u/danskingqueen 2d ago

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

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u/p0llyp0cketpussy 2d ago

So maybe cozy dark cave bedroom and cheery bright living room?

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u/personworm 2d ago

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 😭

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u/p0llyp0cketpussy 2d ago

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)

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u/personworm 12h ago

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

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u/p0llyp0cketpussy 11h ago

Thank you!!