It seems simple enough, right?!

But when you see the sheer number of options that available, the process of picking the right paint colour for your room or interior can quickly become daunting, especially for those that don’t have a keen eye for aesthetics!

As designers we draw on years of experience when it comes to picking the right paint colour for an interior… but there are a few tricks of the trade that will point you in the right direction.

1. Consider your surroundings

Just because you saw a home you loved in a magazine painted navy blue, doesn’t mean that you should paint your home navy blue. What looks good in one person’s home or in a magazine doesn’t necessarily mean it will suit yours!

Every home is unique, so first things first, before starting with new, pay attention to existing things.

What is the style of your home? What furnishings are you planning on keeping? Beyond that, the surrounding environment can also influence the colour palette you choose for your interior. We love encouraging those who want to bold to go all in, but ensuring the palette ties back to the original features or existing elements within the home will ensure that the new palette works.

Our Ascot Residence

Our Red Hill Residence

2. Analyse the lighting

Even paying attention to the orientation of your home and how the sun path interacts with the space, will help dictate your decision on what colours suit best. Always try and work with it… not against it. If you have a room with minimal natural light, painting the interior a bright white probably isn’t the answer. Instead, try working with the space and opt for a dark, moody palette that compliments the space.

Our Raby Bay Residence

Our Tennyson Residence

3. Test Patch

Lucky enough when it comes to selecting paint colours we are able to try before we buy… and we could not recommend this enough!

Yes online websites are useful and sample cards are great too, but they are only an indication of what the colour will look like. Every paint colour performs differently depending on lighting and the overall environment. In fact, you can guarantee that the lighting in your home is very different to that in a paint shop. For a bit of extra cost you can take a sample pot home and test it out in your space! Then, be sure to come back at different times of day to see how it looks, how it interacts with daylight and then again at night with artificial lighting. You might be surprised!

Our Redland Bay Residence

Our Raby Bay Residence

4. Think about the finish

If you’re planning on painting your walls, ceiling and trims from the one bucket of paint…. let me stop you right there. It’s important to know that different gloss and sheen levels can be required for in different elements of your homes interior. Your internal walls would typically be either a Matte or low sheen acrylic water based paint, whilst your skirting boards, architrave and doors can be any one of 3 gloss / sheen levels, those being matte, semi-gloss and gloss. A water based enamel like Dulux ‘Áquanamel’ is a great quality product for these hardwearing trims. On top of that (excuse the pun)… your ceilings and cornices should be in a ‘flat’ finish to ensure you avoid any unwanted reflected light. You will be surprised what that light does when it comes to highlighting little defects across the ceiling.

Our Varsity Lakes Residence

5. Commit to your decision

We know trying to select the right paint colour can be quite overwhelming… hence why you’re probably reading this! But, if you take one thing from this, it is to commit to your decision! A single feature wall will never have as much impact as painting an entire room!