Incorporate Multiple Paint Colours in One Room

More than one paint colour in a single room adds depth and interest, but it’s possible to take this too far – to go from depth and interest to chaotic and stress-inducing.

There’s a great solution to this problem for you who are interested in building in multiple colours but want to do it well:
But how do you apply that to incorporating more than one colour into a room? Here are some really good tips.

1. Pick up paint samples / tester pots in that colour family from a paint store or home improvement store. Select one of the palest shades and two of the medium shades to be your paint colours. Save the darkest shades on the testers for accent colours in your upholstery and accessories.

2. Look at the amount of natural light in the room. If the room gets lots of light, select the palest shade in your colour palette as the primary wall colour. If the room is naturally dark, select the darker of the two medium tones as the primary wall colour.

3. Choose the opposite extreme for the trim, which includes baseboards, door frames and window frames. For example, if your room is naturally bright and you picked the palest shade for the walls, pick the darker of the medium tones for the trim; if you use the dark shade for the walls, use the palest shade for the trim.

4. Use the middle colour for any molding on the walls. If the walls have panels, paint the surfaces that extend farthest into the room in the middle colour and the flat surfaces inside in the same colour as the walls. This heightens the three-dimensional effect.

5. Paint high / average ceilings white, this will open the room more.
Wondering what this looks like practically?
Here’s an example of this approach to interior paint colour in real life:

See if you can spot how each example dealt with the different aspects of the room – primary wall colour, ceiling, molding, trim, and furniture / accents.