Best Color to Paint a Bedroom

What is the best color to paint a bedroom? Unfortunately there is no easy answer to this question. When it comes to painting a bedroom, color is one hundred percent personal. Your bedroom is your sanctuary; a place where you drift off to sleep and greet the morning, so the overall color scheme should be soothing and comfortable.

First, ask yourself the following questions:

• What colors make me feel at ease?
• Which hues feel peaceful and relaxing?

Once you have determined a general color palette, then you can begin to narrow your choices and find the perfect shade for your bedroom walls.

If you aren't certain what colors make you feel most at ease and comfortable, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I feel peaceful when I am in the woods or in nature?
• Do I feel calm near the ocean or bodies of water?
• Do I like the feeling of wide open space, or am I more comfortable in a cozy nook?

If you answer yes to the first question, consider a neutral color palette with a variety of browns, sage or olive greens, mushroom or clay--colors found in the woods.

If you feel more calm near the ocean think about a palette of blues, grays, sea greens or off whites.

The third question determines whether you should consider darker colors. If you feel claustrophobic inside dark spaces, you might want to stick with lighter colors. However, if you have a penchant for cozy nooks, a chocolate brown, dark olive green or inky blue might be perfect.

Many interior designers and color specialists will warn you that vibrant reds, pinks, oranges or yellows are not suitable for a bedroom because they emit too much energy are jarring to the senses.

However, all design rules are made to be broken, so if you like bright colors, go for it. Choose a hue that has a mellow undertone, such as a burnt orange, a brownish red or a slightly muted yellow.

Another common rule is that you should never paint a bedroom stark white. However, a bright white can be an excellent shade for a room that gets a lot of direct sunlight. Whites are used in Mediterranean and seaside communities with great aplomb because it is a naturally energizing shade that feels bright and cheerful.

Once you have determined a general color palette, it is time to narrow down your choices to a specific shade. The best way to begin this process is to look through home design magazines and websites to see what hues catch your eye.

Next head to the paint store or your local home improvement store to look at color samples and pull as many sample colors as you can handle.

Narrowing down your selection doesn't have to be difficult. Lay out all of your swatches on a table at one time. Choose the paint colors that your eye is initially drawn to. Chances are these are the shades you like best.

After you have narrowed down your color choice, head back to the paint store and gather sample cans and paint brushes. Paint a few swatches on your walls, making sure to paint a sample of each color on each wall. The light varies throughout your bedroom so a color might look great in one light and terrible in another.

Once the paint is dry watch the colors throughout the day. See how they feel in the morning, afternoon and evening. How do they look with the bedroom lights on? How do they look with natural light from the window? Which shade looks best with your furniture?

Deciding what color to paint your bedroom from a small swatch can be difficult. If you are torn between a couple of colors, paint a larger piece of the wall and ask yourself the same questions as above. Waiting a few days before making your decision can ease a whole lot of headaches. You don’t want to have to repaint your entire room!

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