When it comes to a paint colour concept you really need to think about the whole home. We just finished meeting with some clients earlier today to put together their paint colour concept – they have hired a painter to start later in the week and during our paint consultation we discussed the idea of a paint colour concept for the whole home – even though they aren’t thinking of paitning the entire home at this stage.
Photo credit : HomeBunch – This mudroom is painted in ‘Stonington Gray’ by Benjamin Moore
What is a paint colour concept?
Basically it is a plan with a series of colours for the whole home. The colours all work together even though they may be different – there is a fluidity to the whole look, so as you walk through the home room by room the colours will work in a cohesive manner.
You may not be ready right now (for a variety of reasons) to paint the entire home now but if you have a plan you can focus on the rooms to paint now and still know what the overall look and feel of the space will be. Be sure to record and file all of the paint info – so brand, name and code – you can refer to it when you are ready to paint the next set of rooms.
What to know when making your paint colour concept?
You really need to understand the lighting in your home. Which rooms have a lot of light (natural or otherwise) and at what time of day. Paint looks different in different lights – natural vs artificial, it also looks different depending on the amount of light and time of day. So we always suggest to clients to paint test swatches on the wall and take a look at them at various points in the day. Be sure you like the colour at all times of day before fully committing.
Our clients wanted a light and airy look with some ‘beachy’ inspiration without going too literal – their furniture is most neutral (think light warm grey sofas and coffee hardwood floors). the home is an older home with original interior doors and baseboards, they wanted to maintain that character but give the home a fresher and more current feel.
Here is the paint colour concept we put together for our clients:
Benjamin Moore ‘Balboa Mist’ OC-27 is perfect for their hallways and guest bedroom – it is a soft and warm grey tone and it is one of our favourites to work with.
Benjamin Moore ‘Stonington Gray’ HC-170 is another favourite of ours – it is a true gray that adds some really pigmentation on the wall without being too deep and it has a great freshness about it too. This is for the dining room (and will be paired with a farmhouse inspired table)
‘Silver Half Dollar’ 2121-40 by Benjamin Moore is a colour that’s really inspired by the beach (not just in name). We chose this for the living room – it is one of the brighter rooms in the house and they wanted a bit more colour in the room that they spend the most time in.
There master bedroom is on the top floor in an attic space – so the sloped ceilings add architectural detail to their master but the ceilings are also a bit lower – so we opted for a light and airy white. This is a clean and calming tone for the room and offers with great contrast to the dark coffee floors plus this means they have a lot of options for accent colours in bedding and more – We selected ‘White Heron’ OC-57 by Benjamin Moore.
The homeowners are happy with some of the existing colours in the home – such as the kitchen and bathrooms (so previous owners must have really focused on where to spend their money when prepping the home for the resale market as the bathrooms and kitchens all had a fresh coat of paint). So we worked with those tones along with their own tastes to create a a whole home paint colour concept.
A paint colour conept is a great way to stay focused on your style and have a designer look in your home…
