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Interior Painting: How to Choose the Perfect Wall Color for a Bedroom

© Candice Cowin

Painting the walls can be a quick and inexpensive way to make a big change to a home, but color selection can be difficult. You can choose the right paint color based on just one appropriate inspiration piece. To begin, select one special item that can serve a permanent focal point in the room you are planning to paint.

Use Your Bedding or Art for Color Inspiration

Choose an inspiration color from your duvet, quilt or sheets. In smaller bedrooms without much natural light, select one of with lighter colors for the walls and accents. If you'd rather, select a special print, figurine, or other object that you cherish and study its coloring. Get a color-wheel or sample strips from your local paint or home improvement store (most will give you one for free). A color that is very similar to your inspiration color should work, as will colors a shade darker or lighter.

Latex vs. Oil; Satin vs. Semi-Gloss

Once you have chosen a color, you will have to choose a type of paint and a finish. Most walls are painted with latex paints. They are non-toxic and much easier to clean up than oil-based paints.

It is best to use a satin finish on bedroom walls to allow light to bounce around the room. Baseboards look best painted a neutral shade of white with a semi-gloss finish and adds polish to the room and is easy to clean. Satin finish in nice for ceilings, which should be painted in the same white hue as the baseboards.

Always Paint a Test Wall

Even if you feel confident about your color choice before you go to purchase your paint, there is still room for error. It is helpful to first purchase a quart of the color you have chosen. Paint one wall and allow it to dry completely (at least 24 hours). Live with the color for a couple of days and view it at all times of the day next to your bedding or piece of art to test how light plays off of the color.

If you are happy with your test wall, keep in mind that you will have to paint over it once you buy a full gallon of paint. Paint color will differ slightly from can to can, and this difference in hue is more exaggerated from quart to gallon.