When people think about renovating a house, success often looks like the obvious problems — fixing structural issues while maintaining the unique architecture of the house and cultivating a more modern aesthetic. However, many homeowners miss the final step to creating a modern house in Oakville — colour. Skillfully chosen paint can be the secret weapon that enhances the overall look and feel of a home.
As the open-plan home continues to rise in popularity in Oakville real estate, colour is often utilised to give structure to spaces and draw attention to specific areas. However, the challenge lies in choosing the appropriate paint colours and determining their placement, which is something anyone can do with the right guidance.
Choosing the right paint colours
Plan a colour scheme around the furniture
New paint doesn't have to mean new furniture. In fact, it really shouldn't. Oakville real estate owners can take stock of furniture they already have and use it to come up with a new and inventive colour palette. Unless it's time for a furniture update, use a beloved couch, throw pillow, or painting to create a whole new colour scheme for a home.
Here's how. Choose one object in a home from any room, but make it something that's well loved and has a lot of colours to explore. For example, a multi-colored throw pillow. Take three colours from that object, and then from those three colours, narrow the possibilities for the main colour down to one colour. That's the colour that will dominate the room, and the two colours left will be used as accents.
This is known as the 60-30-10 rule, the idea that the primary colour occupies 60 percent of a room, the secondary colour contrasts taking up about 30 percent of the room in an accent wall or furniture, and the 10 percent adds pops of colour here and there.
Of course, each colour comes with a world of possibilities. Green, for example, features a wide variety of options from light to dark in the paint section, and the way colour, as well as tone, psychologically affects humans is something this article will discuss further and something that homeowners can explore for themselves by imagining different hues in a room.
Make sure the colour aligns with the feeling
Paint professionals are slightly obsessed with the psychology of colour. They advise choosing a colour based on the room's function and the desired mood.
While psychologists have noted that research into human behaviour and colour is largely circumstantial, colour can affect how humans feel, if only for a short period of time. Homeowners who choose to paint their reading nooks a deep blue, for example, may not feel calm the entire time they're reading, but the immediate effect upon stepping from a red social space into a deep blue reading nook is one of calm.
Some examples of the way colours can affect mood include associations like red indicating anger, boldness, and power, yellow projecting optimism, and blue promoting trust and calm.
Everyone responds differently to colour, and homeowners should remember that it's their home when choosing what colour suits the mood of a room. Not everyone may feel welcomed by the orange colour in the entryway, but it's only one person's home.
Get familiar with shades of white
Eggshell, pearl, alabaster. It can be overwhelming to discover the high amount of white colours there are. Knowing which one to pick is important to a space.
Clean whites have no tint and are great for showing off stand-out artwork or unique furniture. This type of white is also typically used on ceilings.
Other white shades typically have warm undertones such as brown, yellow, or pink, or cool undertones such as grey, blue, or green. Consider using warmer white shades in dimly lit rooms or to create a cosy atmosphere in a larger space.
On the other hand, cool white shades can help to make a room feel more spacious. Try testing multiple shades at once to determine which one complements the other colours in the room the best.
Using paint colours in a home
Inject continuity into an open floor plan
While flow is crucial on the ground floor, utilising colour can help divide a large open space into different zones. For example, colour can help separate the living room from the kitchen without needing to use one paint colour or even solely warm colours or solely cool colours.
Using muted colour tones increases the likelihood that chosen colours will blend well with each other. Look for colours that have been muted with grey, and instead of using vivid colours for large areas, use them as accents throughout a home.
Create the illusion of a larger or smaller space
What colours create the illusion of more space?
Lighter colours can make a room seem larger, while darker colours can make surfaces appear closer together. To create the illusion of a larger and more open space, it's best to use cooler white colours. On the other hand, warm colours will make a space feel cosier and more intimate. When it comes to room size, larger rooms can typically handle more colour than smaller ones.
What colours create the illusion of less space?
To create a warm and cosy atmosphere in a small space like an entryway or study, using warm, dark colours will typically be more suitable than a light, cooler colour.
Highlight subtle architectural details with colour
To add a subtle emphasis, consider painting moulding or doorways just slightly lighter or darker than the primary wall. Draw attention to existing elements, such as a ceiling medallion, by painting a metallic glaze directly on top of it.
To ensure a harmonious look, make sure the trim colours in adjacent rooms complement each other. For a seamless appearance, it's best to use the same trim colour in rooms that are connected by open doorways. In open floor plans, it may be wise to paint all the trim white, regardless of the wall colour.
Modernise a home with colour
To make a modern house in Oakville pop, utilise these tips and give a home some fresh new coats of paint. Colour is the secret, overlooked key to increasing the resale value of Oakville real estate, and it's also one of the easiest home renovation projects.
If you're interested in selling or buying local real estate, contact the top Oakville real estate agents at Invidiata today to learn more.
