I'm having anxiety about choosing paint colors

I'm terrible about picking out paint colors. When we painted a couple bedrooms, I spent a lot of time on Pinterest. I would put in Benjamin Moore and the name of a paint color and I'd find multiple pictures of rooms painted in that color and then other colors similar would pop up. I confidently bought paint and our rooms turned out great.

Once you narrow down your color choices, go buy samples and paint a large swatch on your chosen walls. The lighting in different times of the day will greatly affect what the color actually looks like in your home in your lighting conditions. Don't rely on a paint chip to choose your color!!!

A whole interior house, three levels, painted by professionals would be VERY expensive to change!

Sherwin Williams has paint consultants that come to your home and help you pick colors. It is $95, but they give you a coupon for a free sample quart plus a & 50 gift card, so it ends up being less than $45 out of pocket.

Also, in most large cities, there are independent color consultants you can hire, and they are fairly affordable (at least the one I used in Dallas). I think she was $85 for a full interior color plan.

So I would definitely recommend that. We repainted every single square inch of our house, including all trim. It was exceptionally hard to pick colors when the old colors were on the wall. I painted entire walls - still nearly impossible. I had so much anxiety over picking the right colors I hired BOTH consultants.

In the end, I ended up using some colors I had picked that were similar but a smidge off what the color consultant recommended, and some the consultant recommended. Once it was all done, the colors the consultant had picked were perfect for what I had told her I was going for. I like the color I picked too, but she nailed what I described.

The cost of painting is huge. Get professional help picking the colors. It's a drop in the bucket compared to the time, expense, and stress. If you have a color family you're wanting to go with, read up on potential pitfalls too - like I was going with light grays, and they can often turn lavender. I made sure to mention that to the consultant and she guided away from ones that would do that.

If you're rennovating anything else, like changing flooring or rugs or furniture, have the items or samples of the items when the paint consultant comes. Paint is actually one of the last things to choose in decor, not the first/foundation as many people thing. Much easier to tweak a paint color selection than pick a different rug or flooring or artwork.

Edit: you also need to consider ceilings and finish. I thought standard advice was "eggshell," boom, done. Well, talking to the color consultant and telling her I hate wall texture, she mentioned flat would really minimize its appearance. VERY glad we went with flat in most areas.

It took me 5 years to decide on an interior paint so I get it. I just finally decided it had to be done. I found a nice neutral that had a touch of color that everyone else didn't have. I am so happy now that it has happened. Changed the complete feel of the house.

I would definitely do some swatches. What is the mood and feel of your house? Go with those vibes and not what "should" be the color of the moment. The navy sounds great. My rooms are too dark so I can't go with that but I did just happen to see a bedroom in navy and that totally changed my mind. My bedroom has been Ralph Lauren Khaki for 20 years. Eeep!! Can't believe it has been that long, but I am thinking navy might work in that room. Make it more soothing, welcoming. Do the navy and use white to brighten. Sounds more like I am talking me into it more than you but not really.

I've had good luck searching the "Top 10" colors from Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore, especially for a neutral. I've then done internet searches for those particular colors and looked at rooms. Helped to narrow things down from the million swatches out there.

One of the best thing I ever did when we bought our house was hire someone to come help me pick paint colors for each room. It cost $100 bucks and was worth every penny...

I just sold a home that had a navy accent wall (which was beautiful). They paired it with linens (white cream), gray and then greige. I think that gives you a very basic palette that allows a lot of freedoms per room.

I’m doing similar throughout my first floor and I can say that we swapped the navy room color for a SW Blue Print..... that color is the whole flow of my home’s first floor. Changed front door and toy room to that blue. Now I’m going neutrals and loving it.

I do think second floors and bedrooms are personal. Make your retreat into something that makes you feel comfortable. That is your private space so it should be styled to what ever you like!

Have fun. If it’s to much to think about get help and YES.....paint samples really do simplify!!

I was going to recommend Kylie M Interiors as well - her youtube videos are fantastic! www.youtube.com/channel/UCy1zIiFyCa5WA6a7rpqu4zA

Ha - Hi 😊. When I bought my house everything was perfect except outside color.  After much thought I came up with a color in my head.  The perfect shade of perfect.  My painter primed it white first. To cover hideous yellow.  
Sample after sample after sample was all over the side of my house. Instead of giving in to the pending nervous breakdown ~ white. It looks fine white. Put another coat of that on.  

I love choosing paint colors... I know, you can hate me. I'm sad that I'm getting to the end of our whole house renovation, and most of my colors have been chosen. Having said that, here are my best tips:

• Consider what you want your house to feel like, in the end. Do you have an open floor plan, and you want to use the same color throughout for a nice flow? Traditional floor plan, and you want each room to have its own personality? Do you like moody and dramatic, or light and bright? Do you tend to change your decorations often, buying new rugs or curtains every few years, or are you more of a classic decorator? Do you gravitate toward cool tones or warm? These can all factor in to the color(s) you choose.
• Now you have a general direction, so start looking at pictures online. So many pictures. ALL THE PICTURES. When you think you've seen them all, look at ten more. Pin the ones you like, and you'll start to see a pattern. Perhaps all of your living rooms are blue/green. Or warm white. Or pale tan. When you have them all, you can start to nail down your color preferences.
• Now it's time to hit the paint store. Go get 30 paint chips in your color option, like green, for example. Go for some that are darker, some that are lighter. Some that skew more blue, and some that are more grey.
• Bring them all home and look at them there. With your floors, and your rugs. Narrow it down to 5-10.
• Get samples of those, and get a poster board for each sample. Paint a 12" square in the middle of each board. The remaining white border will help the color stay true, instead of being skewed by the current wall color. Move them around to different walls, and look at them during different times of the day, both with natural light and artificial.
• You probably know that the window direction will change the color slightly, but so will other things. The light, filtered through green leaves, or reflected off of blue water will also change the hue.
• If all else fails, and you're debating between a couple, go with the one that's less saturated than you think you want. Subtle is key, and a pretty pale aqua or green is better than bright turquoise or lime.
• Don't fall for the "lighten by 25%". There's lots that goes into a color, and when you are talking paint and pigments, less doesn't mean an exact lighter shade, it means a different color altogether that is lighter.