Tips for Choosing & Painting Colors with Color Swatches

One of the thrilling parts of doing a paint project on your living spaces has to be: choosing a paint color. But don’t get too excited! Mismatches between color swatches and actual painted colors are always a possibility. For your next DIY painting project, avoid color discrepancies and mismatches. Yes, you can with these tips and suggestions!

Color Swatches and Color Discrepancy

Picking colors for a wall or a surface in your home involves a little more than choosing a simple color. And color swatches or paint chips can help. Paint chips are a compilation of paint colors that you can use as a visual guide on how a paint brand’s variety of colors would look on your work area. These swatches contain technical information about a specific color’s identity, that you can share with a paint expert or a hardware store personnel so that he or she can get you a can of the correct paint color. 

It’s important to know though that having paint swatches alone does not guarantee that there won’t be color discrepancies in your project, as there are many factors that influence how colors appear. Consider the following for example: 

• Size. What appears nice on a small handheld cardstock can look different once applied across a wide stretch of surface. 
• Light. Unless your room has the same lighting as home center paint aisles, your color will likely appear different when applied and left to set. 
• Application. Surface preparation plays a role in how long a paint keeps its vibrance. Done wrong, a paint’s color can fade in months instead of years. 

To minimize color mismatches from can to wall, there has to be the proper use of paint swatches, plus thorough planning and using the right paint products.

Making the Vision Work with Color Swatches

A well-executed project always starts with a well-thought vision. So take your time in planning, choosing and applying your colors. Try these tips for your paint project.

• Establish a Mood and Function

  Start by determining what the goal is with your space. Is it a cozy little library? Maybe a new home classroom for the kids? Or maybe a work room or home office for a family member?

• Study the Conditions of Your Area

  Do a quick check on the conditions of your work area. Is it bright or low light? Will you be needing to sand and clean the walls before repainting? What are the current furniture pieces that you’ll be working with? These elements, along with your mood and function, help narrow down a look for your space, as well as help you determine the right tools and paint products to use.

• Do a Bit of Pre-work

  Once you’ve decided on what you want your space to be, search the world wide web for inspiration in terms of what color to use, furniture arrangement and the like. Mood boards may sound old, but for some interior designers, these are still go-tos for visualizing how a space or a room will be put together.

• Pick your Colors

  Paint swatches are your friend when planning your colors. Traditional types would have variations of shades of one color laid out on a strip. Now, remember that in choosing colors, it does not always have to be your personal favorites. As mentioned previously, look to sources such as the internet for inspiration on what colors will work for your mood and function. Looking for a posh area to set up your video call station? Try these gram-worthy colors.
  
  Can’t choose one? You don’t have to! Keep your options open until you are able to test your colors. List down the color codes of your chosen hues and pay a visit to your local hardware or home center.

• Test Your Colors

  Ask your hardware store personnel for paint swatches that you may take and test at home. At home, check how a color would look like in the conditions that your work area is in. Other homemakers and DIYers would work with sampler cans of paint, and would paint their color options on the work area for a blown up way of checking how the colors would appear in their space.

• Using the Right Paint Product Matters

  Don’t just go for any paint product. Choose one that offers a variety of colors and a long-wearing quality. Island Premium Paints’s Roofkote for one, is especially formulated to keep its color and integrity under the extremes of the Philippine weather.

Island Premium Paints is the first and only locally produced paint with a Product Satisfaction Guarantee.