@Kimba Young, If you were one of my nieces or my daughter I would tell you to stop painting and take some time thinking about the story you want your home to tell.
Our homes should reflect who we are. I look at your picture and see a young woman with a soft, natural beauty and a radiant smile. I don't see dark and moody or gray and sedate.
When someone walks into your home what story do you want your home to tell? What are the colors that make your heart sing? What colors make you feel like a 10? When you look at the clothing you buy, the coffee mugs you have bought, the puzzles that you build, your jewelry and art there are usually themes to the collection of colors. Most of us are just vain enough to love the colors that look really good on us. The colors that make us feel like a 10 also make us happy.
Imagine yourself sitting in your living room in that outfit that makes you feel like a 10. What colors complement your outfit? What style represents your personality? These are the colors you should be using in your home. Each room should complement the next room and each room should have an energy that matches how you want to feel when in that room.
The trickiest part is figuring out how to make the colors we love work with the colors we can't change. For most of us there are some elements in our homes that we simply cannot afford to change. These often include cabinets, countertops and flooring or possibly a fireplace or bathroom wall tiles or components. You can't just ignore these elements. So I always start with an inventory of what cannot change, then add the colors I love. I like to line up these colors as they would be seen as I walk through my home. I may need to move things around a bit, may have to brighten or subdue my choices to find a color scheme where the colors that must stay work with the colors that I love.
Once I know where I want to use each of the colors that I love I pick my neutral. It is the backdrop for the colors you love.
There are 10 neutral tones.
Pink beige
Orange beige
Yellow beige
Gold beige
Green beige
Greige (green gray/beige)
Green gray
Blue Gray
Violet Gray
Taupe (pink/violet gray/beige)
Within each family the colors may be lighter or darker, more or less subdued.
Find the neutral tones that work with the colors that must stay and the colors that you love.
I usually pick one main neutral to use throughout my home. I have used a deep version of the neutral in one room and a lighter version in the next room, but I like the consistency of the same hue flowing throughout my home.
Once I have defined the colors and neutrals that I want I pick a white that complements the colors and neutral.
I usually use the neutral wall color in the main public living spaces (living room, family room, entry, hallways) and color wall colors in the bedrooms, bathrooms, laundry, dining room and kitchen.
I pull the rooms together by mixing and matching the neutral with the colors with the things contained within each room - upholstered furniture, area carpets, art, throw pillows, linens . . .
I could tell you that I think SW Creamy would be a perfect neutral with your floors and that I would brighten the color in the dining room and ditch the grays in the other rooms, opting for more color, but that would fit my personality and may not be a color combination that will make your heart sing.
I think we often do a disservice specifying specific colors for someone's home without knowing who they are and what will ultimately make them happy.
Once again - you have to pick your lighting before picking colors and you have to test colors in your space to know what it will look like in your home with your other colors and your lighting.
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How to choose colors
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