Painting: How to Decide on a Color Scheme in Your New Home

Moving into a new home is an exciting and life changing opportunity. Once the moving companies leave you can think about home improvement projects like remodeling and painting.

Painting is a great way to "jazz" up a home with minimal commitment - if you don't like a color you can simply re-paint it. To start this type of project, you will need to choose a color scheme that reflects both your style and theme of your home. You can do this be analyzing your space and assessing your current furniture. Do you have modern furnishings or eco-chic? A lot of what your place looks like will be reflected in what paints you choose. 

If you will be both buying new furniture and repainting the walls – the world is your oyster, so the next step is that you should choose any color scheme you desire, but you will still need to consider the size of the rooms to be decorated. In general, if a room is small, light colors will make it look bigger, whereas on the other hand, if the room is large, bright or dark colors may be used for a dramatic effect. It is easy to make a small room appear much bigger than it really is if you stick to one main color and then add a contrasting color to highlight the effect. For example, paint the walls in a light cream color, hang curtains and lay wall to wall carpeting in the same shade. Use glass or Perspex coffee and side tables if in a sitting room, as they will not seem to take up any space. Choose a small print or thin stripe for upholstery as a contrast and then add pictures and eye catching ornaments in bright colors to liven things up.

Kids rooms are a lot of fun to decorate. You can opt to go the usual pink for a girl and blue or something different like yellow and white for a small baby girl’s room; or turquoise or light green for a baby boy. As they grow up, these colors will last a lot longer with their changing tastes.

Painting is a fun and interactive DIY project that the whole family can enjoy. It is also a great way to start fresh as you get excited about settling into your new home.