Paint Colour Trends

Paint colors for walls are a key element in all design plans. The right shade can define a decor style, set a mood or highlight any of your favorite simple room design colors. For this reason, decorating with paint requires research and preparation to ensure that the new space perfectly embodies your desired look. The first thing to consider prior to narrowing down any new wall color ideas is the overall palette you wish to work with. Whether you are looking for beautiful neutral colors or a bold vibrant hue, all shades fall into one of two major categories – warm or cool. Today’s great wall paint color ideas feature a palette of hues that all fall into the same shade category. This will ensure that, no matter which hues you select, all will coordinate harmoniously. Remember that cool tones should be selected when creating contemporary designs, while warm color schemes can be chosen to evoke a more elegant style in traditional homes.


If you are nearing the end of your remodeling project and still have not narrowed down a final color palette, we have a few helpful tips to point you in the right direction. First, begin by browsing our popular galleries of home design photos. Oftentimes, indecisive homeowners simply need a little inspiration to discover the amazing potential of a space. When evaluating décor pictures and matching paint colors for your own home, be sure to look at the surrounding finishes such a flooring, architectural accents and trim work. A popular wall colour that looks fabulous against dark wood floors and crisp white trim may not translate the same in a home with neutral carpet and beige woodwork. You can easily avoid this design mishap by purchasing samples of today’s most popular interior paint colors.  Cover a small portion of your wall and observe how the hue appears in the room throughout the day under varying light conditions then pick your favorite shade.


Understanding how to choose paint colors varies from room to room. When experimenting with unique color trends for interior spaces it is important to understand the best looks for each type of area. For example, the best bathroom paint colors include light, neutral hues such as tan and grey, as well as organic shades like a cool crisp blue or green. Light soothing colors are preferred for bathrooms because they illuminate and create the illusion of more space in these generally small rooms. When choosing a wall paint color for other areas of the home like a kitchen or living room, there is more flexibility to get creative and have fun with bold new shades. Our favorite choices for paint colors for kitchens are vibrant hues that stimulate your appetite while creating lively environment to entertain and prepare meals. Consider rich teals and bold reds or, for a more muted palette, a beautiful crisp cool grey paired with eye catching accent colors.
While some areas of the home encourage whimsical experimentation with wall colors, other rooms must rely on a more understated design statement with paint. For example, designers agree that modern bedroom paint colors should not be bright and overwhelming. This space should be filled with subtle neutral tones that create a calming atmosphere to promote relaxation. Selecting lighter color trends does not mean a room will be drab and devoid of style. Consider wall color schemes in cool crisp greys or subtle relaxing blues with imaginative pops of vibrant orange or a bold cranberry accent color to infuse design interest. These simple do it yourself design ideas can be carried to paint colors for a living room. Rather than selecting bold wall color schemes, pick a trendy neutral for walls then develop visual interest via rich textiles or a bright shade for the ceiling. Have fun with color and think outside of the box to create an unforgettable space.

Montes Painting 2014

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Pick Paint Colors For Your House

How to find the best color combinations for your exterior painting project

If you're planning to paint an older home, you'll probably want to use a historically accurate color scheme. You can hire a pro to analyze old paint chips and recreate the original color. Or, you can refer to a historic color chart and select shades that might have been used at the time your home was built.
Paint Color Idea: Historic Colors at Roseland Cottage
2. Jazz Up the Past
In some neighborhoods, homeowners fly in the face of history. Instead of choosing historically accurate colors, they paint their houses modern colors to dramatize architectural details. Using bright colors on old architectural details can produce startling and exciting results. But before you buy 10 gallons of bubblegum pink, it's a good idea to look at what your neighbors are doing. A fluorescent colored Victorian that looks splendid in San Francisco will seem wildly out of place in more conservative neighborhoods.
Paint Color Idea: Green and Pink Antique Shop in St. Augustine, Florida
3. Consider Your Neighbors
The house next door can give you paint color ideas, but don't copy your neighbor exactly. Choose colors that set your house apart, without clashing with nearby buildings.
Paint Color Idea: Colorful Cottages
4. Borrow From Nature
The landscape around your house is blooming with color ideas. Trees may suggest an earthy palette of greens and browns. A beach setting might suggest vivid blues, turquoises, and coral colors. Even the garden in your front yard can inspire exciting color combinations.
Paint Color Idea: Garden Colors of Yellows and Blues
5. Check the Roof
Your house is your canvas, but it is not blank. Some colors are already established. What color is your roof? Slate? Terra cotta? Metal? Clay? Your paint color doesn't need to match the roof, but it should harmonize.
Paint Color Idea: Seafoam Green Victorian Cottage
6. Look For Things That Won't Be Painted
Every home has some features that will not be painted. Does your house have brick walls? Vinyl windows? A natural wooden door? Will steps and railings remain their existing colors? Choose a color scheme that harmonizes with colors already present on your house.
Paint Color Idea: Brick and Stone on a Queen Anne
7. Find Inspiration in Your Living Room
It may seem comical to paint entire house based on the pattern of a pillow case, but this approach does make sense. The color of your furnishings will guide you in the selection of your interior paint colors, and your interior paint colors will influence the colors you use outside. Once again, your goal is to harmonize.
Paint Color Idea: Frank Lloyd Wright's Red
8. Focus on Details
Depending on the size and complexity of your home, you may want to choose two, three, or as many as six colors. In addition to color for your siding, select accent colors for shutters, moldings, doors, window sashes, brackets, columns, and porch decks. But beware: too many colors will overwhelm your house. Too few can make your house seem flat and uninteresting.
Paint Color Idea: Four Colors Chosen for a Florida House
9. Use Light to Add Size
It's no wonder large, grand estates are often painted white. Light colors make a building look larger, and white is the favored color for traditional classical architecture. In fact, there's a very famous White House in Washington, DC! You can add to your home's sense of size and dignity by using white or a pale cream color.
Paint Color Idea: Classic White of Hill-Stead in Farmington, Connecticut
10. Go Dark For Drama
Dark siding or dark bands of trim will make your house seem smaller, but will draw more attention to details. This technique of accented banding can be found in many of Frank Lloyd Wright's interiors. For exteriors, accent recesses with darker shades and highlight details with lighter tones. Traditionally, the window sashes of Victorian homes are painted with the darkest of the chosen historic color combination.
Paint Color Idea: Dramatic Dark Red Trim Accents a Harvest Gold Home
11. Discover Color Families
Contrasting colors will draw attention to architectural details. But, extreme contrasts will clash and actually detract from details. To be safe, consider staying within a single color family. For some accents, try using a darker or lighter shade instead of a different color.
Paint Color Idea: The Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Hartford, Connecticut
12. Strike a Balance
A burst of a single color on just one part of your home may give it a lopsided appearance. Strive to balance colors over the entire building.
Paint Color Idea: Balanced Colors on a Los Angeles Cottage

Montes Painting 2014
http://architecture.about.com/cs/repairremodel/a/pickcolors.htm

Modern and Fresh Interior Ideas In Grey

The latest decorating trend is painting the spaces in your home in varying shades of gray. It’s a fabulous elegant neutral backdrop to set off any color, adding depth to subtle hues and making bold tones pop. Whatever shade, warm or cool, gray is the new white and is one of the hottest go-to shade for designers. As the dominant color, it’s a great choice for layering shade upon shade upon shade. The opposite of depressing, as its name implies, it is urban and compelling. But getting gray right is tricky: The “temperature” of a particular shade—cool or warm—can evoke very different feelings and have an enormous impact on the mood of a room. Light gray walls feel crisp and airy, while darker tones create a sultry, sexy, cozy mood. A common mistake that people make when selecting gray is using a ‘cold’ gray for a wall color. Grays with brown undertones can really help to warm up a room. Try playing with dark charcoal for dramatic dining rooms and use foggy gray for relaxing bedrooms full of natural light.

We have compiled a list of 51 incredible gray spaces to help you find that perfect shade of gray and to inspire you to select a space in your home where gray would fit perfectly. What’s your favorite shade of gray paint? Have you painted any spaces in your home with gray, please tell us in the comments section, we would love to know!

Is it gray? Is it blue? A blue-gray is a nice way to get the best of both worlds. It looks amazing with rich wood or brown leather furniture.

Use flat paint, not semigloss or high-gloss, on walls. “Otherwise, any beautiful gray you choose will look like industrial metal—imagine a Dumpster,” says Mark Chamberlain, a New York City painter and a color columnist for apartmenttherapy.com. Although flat white wall paint is often avoided because it shows smudges and fingerprints, “gray actually hides flaws.”

With gray walls, opt for creamy trim, says Erica Islas, a designer in Culver City, California. Stark white can look too jarring. White Dove paint is a good woodwork choice with both light and dark gray walls (from $41 a gallon, benjaminmoore.com for stores).

In this gorgeous living room, warm-tone charcoal provides the backdrop for different colors, patterns and lines. It gives the room a nice weight and feels a bit more formal than white would.

Gray walls grow up with the child and transition nicely to a teen room.

If you are going to use the cool gray in a nursery, you may want to warm it up with some yellows or pinks. Not every child’s room has to be a kaleidoscope of bright colors. A small colorful banner and the odd pops of color are all you need. The rest of the space can be kept simple and plain so as not to overwhelm a baby’s developing senses.

Introduce lots of light sources, like table lamps, sconces, and floor lamps. Says Jessica Becker, a Rhode Island interior designer: “Gray is already the color of shadow—you don’t want to cast more with an overhead fixture. Layered lighting keeps the room flattering.”

Gray and yellow are a winning pair. Gray’s subtleness allows yellow to shine in all its cheerful glory. The crazier the combination of bright and colorful patterns in your upholstery or home accessories, the more welcome a gray background becomes as a way to counterbalance all the visual activity with cool simplicity.

Cool Grays: Dark. “Adds excitement and a sort of modern glamor. I love it for a dining room,” says designer Abigail Ahern.

This gray wall in the living room is a sophisticated backdrop for enlarged black-and-white family photos. The white sofa with white curtains keep the space casual and on the lighter side.

Gray used in bathrooms with white wainscoting and white ceramic plumbing fixtures feels crisp and classy. It complements the natural gray in the flooring as well as the silvery tone of the mirror.

Cool Grays Add Light. “Like a summer cloud,” says London designer Abigail Ahern. “Wonderful on ceilings as well as walls.”

Gray painted walls are a wonderful backdrop for a collection of black and white photos set up in a gallery wall. The white matting and white floor base create a dramatic contrast.

Using cool charcoal as an accent in a lighter gray room is the perfect way to create a focal point.

Cool Grays. Ethereal and breezy, these grays have undertones of blue. “Think of the darkening sky before a storm,” says New York City interior designer Jennifer Moore. In a sunny room (where some grays could look dull), cool grays hold their color. Zen and peaceful, these are also perfect for a crisp, clean feeling in a bathroom.

Using Warm Grays. The hints of yellow in warm grays telegraph earthiness, comfort, and coziness. When you test on walls, check colors morning, noon, and night, says Moore: “In some light, a yellowish gray can look taupe.” For rooms without much natural light, pick a warm shade; its slight golden hue will make a dark space less dreary.

Montes Painting 2014

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