How Do I Choose Behr Paint Colors?
Whether you’re painting your living room or the entire exterior of your home, it’s important to choose the right color so that you’ll be happy with the finished product. If you’ve decided to use Behr brand paints, this guide can help you find the right colors for the job.
How Behr Categorizes Its Paint Colors
Behr offers a simple breakdown of colors that can make it easier to choose from different shades and hues in the same color family. You can choose from white, gray, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple as meta-categories. If you don’t want to see the full range of available colors, you can choose to view a breakdown of the most popular colors in each category.
Working With Palettes
Choosing a paint color isn’t just a matter of picking out something you like on your computer or phone screen, though. You’ll often want to choose more than one color, especially if you’re painting your home’s exterior. You can choose a main paint color for walls and a few others for details like trim, doors or windows. That means it’s important to make sure all of these different colors look good together. If you aren’t confident in your ability to independently curate multiple colors that coordinate well, you can look at pre-made color schemes or palettes featuring a color you like. Behr’s website features some color schemes for rooms arranged by dominant color, but you can also look on Pinterest and other sites for further inspiration and then find similar colors from among Behr’s offerings.
Choosing Your Own Color Combo for Exterior House Painting
You don’t necessarily have to work with pre-made palettes and color schemes if you’d rather come up with your own combination of colors. For best results, you should think carefully about the effect you want to have. For example, if your home is a modern minimalist construction surrounded by beautiful trees with mountains in the background, you may not want to paint it with bright colors. Conversely, if you have a Victorian-era home with a lot of details on a dreary city street, adding some bright pops of color could have a nice effect.
Choosing the Right Interior Color
Choosing interior colors is a bit simpler, especially if you aren’t planning on painting anything other than the walls. You can pick different shades of your favorite colors or use the color wheel to pick complimentary colors (e.g., blue and orange) for contrast. You can also opt for neutrals such as gray, beige or off-white, which are an especially good idea if you plan to sell your home soon.
How to Properly Test Paint Colors Before Buying
No matter what color and brand you choose for your paint, it’s important to do more than look at swatches before making your final choice. Things like sunlight and even your home’s surroundings can change the way a color looks. If possible, buy a small quantity of a few paint colors you’re considering and paint them on your walls. Use the same application method you plan to use for the entire space, whether that’s a roller, sprayer or brush. That way, you’ll get an accurate feel for what the paint will look like. Paint a generously sized test strip, and make sure to let it dry before you judge whether you like it or not.
