Choosing colors for the faux finish on your walls can be one of the most difficult decisions to make when embarking on a faux painting project. What colors should I use? Nine times out of ten, the clients I have faux painted for in the last ten years left that answer up to me.
A great place to start in choosing colors is to match any colors that appear in the existing decor of the room, whether those colors are found in the tile, curtains, bedspreads or even bathroom accessories. Using at least two colors is preferable. For instance, in one bathroom I faux painted, the tile, tub and toilet were all different colors. By incorporating the 3 colors on the wall, it brought unity and sense to the existing features.
Another suggestion is to go with a contrasting color. This works great, especially when you have solid color fixtures or furniture. In other words, if you have a solid brown sofa with solid brown curtains, you don’t want to faux paint a brown color on the wall. Rather, you should choose a contrasting green or golden color. Don’t be afraid of adding dramatic colors to your walls. Besides, it’s just paint and you can always paint over.
Visiting model homes or scanning through some Home Decorating Magazines can give you ideas, also. There are some neat programs online where you can actually view a variety of color choices using an existing room.
Many years ago, I made up my own faux painting color swatches so matching colors to the decor in a room was made easier. Choosing faux painting colors for any job after that was never a guessing game, thank God. Although I used to make up my own colors with acrylic paint, I decided to help others by picking the most popular colors I used and matching them to existing latex paint colors. This way, picking colors for their projects will save them time and lots of leg work. These color swatches have an actual paint chip that can be matched with any computer system at most paint stores and are now available for a low cost. At Murals and Faux Painting, our slogan is “Faux Finishing just Got Easier!” We hope you agree.