Choosing the color for your home’s interior is a crucial decision that you should make with great care because it sets the house’s mood. We all like a certain look and feel we want our homes to have, and the paint on the walls plays a huge part in creating that. Ideally, you should browse the internet in addition to magazines to get an idea of what kind of colors look good with what kind of interior décor. Through this, you will also develop a sense of what styles and colors are appealing to you and what will look best in your home.
The problem arises when you get pulled into the seemingly unending world of color options available, and you can’t seem to choose from them. People tend to choose the wrong colors for their homes because certain colors that don’t look too good when painted on the walls tend to look good on their own. Hence, some people cannot accurately judge how a certain color will turn out when painted inside their homes.
However, almost everyone makes certain interior color mistakes, and in this article, we will list them down for you to know which colors to avoid. Of course, there aren’t any rigid rules that you’re supposed to follow, but if you’re someone who gets caught up in ongoing trends easily, you might benefit from this article.
1. Gray
Although gray is seen as a more neutral color, using it for your interior can be a little bit tricky. Like we discussed above, gray might look like a dream on its own, but once it’s on your wall, it can change shades and tones depending on the lighting, which can sometimes make it look more blue or purple. It is a “hit and miss” sort of color. The advice interior designers give for this color is to have it painted on a portion of the wall, and see how it looks in your home’s lighting, and only go through with it if you’re satisfied with the way the color looks.
You should avoid “cool” and dark grays in the bedroom because they set a very inhospitable mood and give the space a cold feel. Instead, you should go for warmer grays if that’s the color you decide on.
2. Red
Trust us; red should have no place in your home. Even if you love the color, don’t consider it for your interior because it evokes intense reactions, both physical and emotional – and these reactions don’t tend to be positive. Because it’s the blood color, the human brain has a visceral response to it, associating it with danger. It gets your heart beating fast and your blood running, which are responses you don’t want to be having while trying to relax at home. It raises the energy in the room and makes our minds active, so even though a little bit of muted red wouldn’t hurt elsewhere, it’s a complete no-no in the bedroom.
3. Yellow
Interior designers describe yellow as a color that’s hard to get right every single time. Yellow is the color you should choose if you’re looking for an “electric shock,” which you get because of the intense brightness of the color. You can have yellow in a lighter, softer shade as well, but how it will look in your home will depend on the lighting, as well as the furniture.
A sunny-toned yellow may be pleasant to wake up to, but vibrant yellows stimulate the senses and won’t help too much in the evenings when you want to wind down. They may even cause you to lose sleep. So, like the other colors mentioned in this list, it’s probably best to keep yellow out of the bedroom, at least.
Even though our discussion is on interior color, yellow is one color that is recommended to be kept off the exterior, too, because not only does it take away from the whole look of your home, it has even been shown to decrease the value of your house.
4. White
Since many people choose white for their interiors, this color is a big one. The reason many people choose this color is that they want their space to appear airy and spacious. But sometimes, what it ends up doing is giving your home a “hospital” vibe, making it look too sterile. It has also become increasingly popular for use in bathrooms recently, but since bathrooms are the least clean rooms in the house, the sparkly look that white provides soon fades away. Stains and marks also tend to be more visible on white surfaces than on other colors, so using this white in bathrooms is an unwise choice.
Interior designers also recommend not using white in your home offices as it can strain your eyes and cause fatigue over time. While people generally use white to make rooms look bigger, they don’t realize that rooms often start to look dull and lifeless because of it. Instead, you could look into using greige for your interior, but with cool undertones.
5. Brown
Although brown is becoming a trendy color to use in your home, it has a certain heaviness that doesn’t always look great with your interior décor, especially if your furniture is brown. Dark shades are also proven to make you less likely to wake up easily in the mornings, which is quite a drawback. For the most part, interior designers believe that most shades of brown do not work well in a living room, but there are a few shades that do.
Using brown in smaller spaces is even more discouraged because they make rooms look even smaller, and whether the color is in the interior or on the exterior, browns tend to make houses look dull.
If you enjoyed this content and want to keep up to date with the latest home tips and tricks, subscribe to our newsletter.
