Painting: Design a Space With What Keeps You Inspired

looking beyond aesthetics for colors you actually like

Alright, so you’re thinking about painting a room (or your entire house, like I am) but you have no idea where to start or how to decide on a paint color. The process is similar to trying to come up with something to make for dinner: all the recipes you’ve looked at on Pinterest look delicious but you can’t decide, and ugh, putting on pants and driving to the grocery store to actually get the ingredients does not sound like a good time. But trust me, the process of selecting the right paint color is well worth the joy it will bring you in the end. Putting on pants to go to the store? Eh, the jury is still out on that one.

Everyone is drawn to different color palettes and tones. If you’re an avid social media scroller, there are no doubt accounts you follow or pins you save based on aesthetics. My Pinterest? It’s all dark jewel tones and pictures of trees. So that’s where I started. The important thing here is to focus on colors and photos that actually draw you in. This is how you’ll end up with a room (or rooms) that you love and make you feel at home rather than getting bored with a space because you’ve filled it with what’s “trending”.

Alright, so now we’re getting to the good stuff. What are you going to be using this room for? How you’ll be spending your time in this room will obviously affect what you’ll be thinking about. For example, we decided to first tackle painting our dining room. Mostly because it was this lovely Post-it yellow color and we just couldn’t stand to look at it anymore, but also because we’re hoping to host some laid back dinner parties in the near future. Other than good food, there is one thing I always look forward to when among friends: good, thoughtful, inspired conversation. And there is very little that inspires me more than nature. So, for the dining room, we decided on green – a dark, bold, forest-y green. It’s beautiful and rich and makes me wonder and think of all the possibilities that lie ahead.

Your home should be the place you feel the most yourself. The colors you choose to surround yourself with within your home can be one of the most fulfilling forms of self-expression – regardless of whether or not you’re painting. Taking the time to make a space your own and filling it with colors that keep you inspired is well worth your time. Even if it does require putting on pants.

To see the green we chose, the design process of the rest of our home, and for more of The Balance Experiment, follow us on Instagram @the.balance.experiment

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way.

Georgia O’Keefe