Choosing paint color is a big decision. I can be the most indecisive person! Making big paint decisions can be SO HARD. All the what ifs play in my brain – what if I hate it, what if others hate it, what if it’s too dark, too light, what if my couch won’t match, what if…what if… etc

I came up with a way that quiets my brain, and makes me confident in my choice. It takes some time to choose, but I feel no anxiety.

Here’s what I do!

Step One – Dream and Research

First I think of what colors I want, how do I want it to look –

Dream, Scroll/Search Google Images, Pin on Pinterest. Rip pages from magazines and tape them to your wall. Go with what you love, NOT the trend, NOT your friends opinion.

Life is short! Choose what you love and Get moving or it will pass you by!

Dream in place drive to your favorite home improvement store, mine is Home Depot. Pick out All of the color swatches that are your match. I usually come home with about 10.

Step Two – Gather Color Swatches

Armed with my paint swatches I then hold them up to the wall in various parts of the space, I put them next to objects in the room that are staying. For example, I have a cream fireplace that paint needs to compliment. Lay them on your couch, set it next to a chair, etc. Stand back and assess them. From this point you’ll be able to narrow down the swatches and get rid of what you obviously don’t like.

You may not end up getting rid of many. In my living room I narrowed it down to 7 from 10 colors chosen. My kitchen cupboard paint choices I narrowed from 7 to 4.

Step Three – Tape the color swatches to your wall and vote

This and the next process will take a coupe days or weeks depending on your indecisiveness. My living room took me 3 weeks to decide. My kitchen took me 6 months.

Paint color changes from morning to night, it truly depends on what light is hitting it. You’ll want to get a feeling of what it looks like at any given time. Tape the swatches on the wall in a place you will see them often throughout the day, place a pen somewhere near to them.

Step Four – Mark your favorite (s)

Every time you look at the swatch, from morning to night, mark the one you really like AT THAT MOMENT. Simply put an X on the paint chip. When you’ve seen the swatches in multiple light scenarios try moving them around the room, repeating process.

Move them to the darker corner, the lighter corner, the wall that meets the kitchen, etc. Marking the swatches the ones that you like AT THAT MOMENT. Be objective, don’t feel bad if one isn’t getting as many marks. I have this problem where I will project feelings onto inanimate objects, try not to do this, the paint swatch doesn’t care.

Clear winners are going to emerge. For my living room, 3 from the 7 were chosen and the the kitchen none were chosen, this process made me realize I didn’t like any of the colors for my kitchen cabinets.

Step Five – Purchase paint samples

The paint samples are about $2-3 dollars each, but they will quiet that anxiety and allow you to make a sound choice. Also purchase the cheap disposable chip brushes, one for each sample. You can read here what a chip brush is.

For my living room I researched the color taupe, which led to learning about greige and ALL of the undertones that go along with them. The undertones are what can make or break your wall color. The paint swatches will give you a clue but really you need it painted on your wall to see it clearly.

I purchased the 3 paint samples for my living room.

Step Six – Paint stripes on your wall

Paint stripes on the walls in multiple places and a couple blocks on the very edge of a wall. If you paint the strips in the same order you can label the sample cans, then you know which color is which!

**PRO-TIP** Paint your strips in the same order. Then write 1, 2, 3 on the sample cans so you know which color is which.

At this point anyone coming over or living with you is probably going to think this a bit extreme, I got a few raised eyebrows, but you know what-who cares! At this point it’s all about you.

Sit with the painted stripes for as long as it takes, this is your project your timeline. Every day, multiple times, in different lights, at different angles, and against different things identify which color you like the most. Keep marking those swatches with a different symbol like a star, or mark the sample paint cans. One color I ditched fairly quickly. The remaining two colors I extended the paint on the wall and I really paid attention to the feeling I got from each one.

Here you can see my last two paint choices, or hopefully you can! I put my fireplace against my two favorites, as you can see they are so similar but so different. One of the colors is cooler with a bluer grey hue and the other is warmer with slight rosy hue. These are my opinions of the color. I truly believe color is subjective to each person and that none of us see the exact same color. How can we since the color itself doesn’t actually exist? It’s just created by our eyes with light receptors creating the color. Yet another reason why this process is so important for you!

I ultimately chose the warmer one. At night with my living room lights on the cooler paint color felt darker, not color dark just feeling dark. Yes, I 100% chose my paint color on how it made me Feel each part of the day. The winner was the one that made me feel good at night and in the day.

Step Seven – Choosing paint color accomplished! You’re Ready! Congratulations!

At this point you’ve made a solid choice!! You will be happy with your choice because you gave it every consideration that you could.

Take a nice deep breath and smile, feel the giddiness of choosing that perfect paint color!