Sharing my best tips on how to pick the perfect paint color and my top five neutral paint color picks!
When building a new home or starting a room makeover/renovation, the list of decisions you have to make can seem overwhelming at times. Cabinets, lighting, flooring, paint colors, upgrades, decor choices… and the list goes on.
Although paint color decisions may seem minor (how many names and variations are there of beige paint?!?), picking the right paint color can set the right mood in your home. By starting with an excellent base color, you can always add cohesive accent colors down the road to help limit some of the upfront choices you need to make during your build or room makeover.
How to Pick the Perfect Paint Color
If selecting a paint color seems daunting, try some of these tips and tricks to envision how the color will look in your home.
- Most paint lines can mix sample pots of paint for a few dollars. Pick up some large white poster boards and cover with the paint colors you are considering. Because, let’s face it. Most paint chips are not large enough to really get a feel for how the color will actually look in your home. Tape the poster boards in different areas throughout your home to see how the color looks in a variety of lighting situations. This small investment will be invaluable in selecting the color that is right for you.
- Don’t forget to compare your paint samples with cabinet/backsplash/flooring/furniture selections to the ensure color doesn’t bring out odd tones around other household items.
- If you find a color you love, but your builder or painter uses a different paint line, don’t worry! Typically paint colors can be color-matched by other brands. I still like to get a sample of the color-matched paint though, as I feel some lines match better than others. Make sure it is the color you are going after! It is also my personal preference to never color-match white paint. I’ve had too many bad experiences where the “matched” color wasn’t even close!
- When you grab a paint swatch, pay close attention to the most saturated version of your color at the end of the paint strip. That is likely the strongest base that you’ll see, and even when you select a much lighter color, that saturated version is the color that your choice will likely read (in a lighter version). This can be very important when selecting white paints or neutrals. It’s a quick way to see if the undertones are more yellow/blue/purple, etc.
- Leverage Pinterest, Google or other search engines. I have selected a variety of paint colors for our home, simply by searching out paint colors online and seeing how the color reads in other homes. It can be so helpful to see paint colors in real-life spaces before selecting a color.
The Best Neutral Paint Color Picks
Following is a list of a my top five neutral paint color picks that seem to work well in most homes.
- Behr Castle Path
- Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter
- Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray
- Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray
- Behr Wheat Bread
- The Best Warm Gray Paint Colors
- The Best White Paint Colors for Interiors
- The Best White Paint Colors for Exteriors
- The Best Blue Gray Paint Colors
- The Best Navy Blue Paint Colors
- The Best Blue Green Paint Colors
- The Best Green Paint Colors
- Paint Colors In Our Home (and Every Color We’ve Ever Used)
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I think we’re getting ready to use revere pewter on our entire main level of our house. I think it’s a great neutral that makes the trim pop!
I like your paint picks Sarah! I have BM Revere Pewter in my living room, hall and family room and then BM Titanium in the bedrooms and office – they go great together. I’ll go go over and read your guest post now, thanks!
We had our builder do our entire house in the SW Agreeable Grey. Everyone really loves it and comments on it, but personally it reads a bit green sometimes to me.
I am in process of repainting all the main areas in our home with Behr Wheat Bread 🙂 I love it! It looks grey and a soft tan at the same time – a perfect greige! 😉 I tried a sample of Castle Path but for some reason it had a green hint in my home.
We painted our living room, dining room, kitchen and upstairs hall all in BM Revere Pewter. I just love it!!
I used Sherwin Williams Accessible Beige in most areas with Repose gray in the kids bedrooms. I have loved it. Very calming.
I love Pale Oak by Benjamin Moore
Sequence is important, too, especially when moving into a new/empty home. After many mistakes, I’ve learned not to rush into painting walls. Better to pick out furniture and furnishings to establish your color theme, and THEN select paint color(s) that will pull everything together (i.e., icing on the cake).
I’m thinking of going to BM revere pewter for the entire living area of my NYC apartment. I have Taos Taupe now throughout, and just want to lighten it up a bit. The apartment is on a high floor and gets tremendous amount of light—so want to maintain a warm, inviting space. Thanks for the suggestion.