How Southern Designers Determine What Color To Paint A Room

As anyone who has decorated a home before knows, the wrong paint color can devastate any space. To avoid such a travesty, Southern interior designers recommend carefully considering your paint choice before leaping to a decision and grabbing a paintbrush. 

When decorating or redecorating, the pros wait to make a paint decision until just about everything else is complete. It’s alright to have an idea of color at the start of a project, but they recommend selecting decor first—especially primary furniture and artwork—before settling on an exact shade. 

Once the time finally arrives to choose paint, there’s a lot to consider. Here’s what designers think and do on the path to perfect paint. 

Beware Of Clashing Colors

Interior designer LuAnn McCants advises sticking to a common palette, at least between connecting rooms and hallways, to avoid an overstimulating “candy dish effect.” One way to keep it consistent is to stick with one color-way and opt for shades within that single path. McCants says that she will stick to this rule for common areas and then branch out behind closed doors in secondary rooms like bedrooms or a powder bath.

Turn Off The Lights

One mistake people may make when choosing a paint, McCants reveals, is looking at a swatch in the room with the lights on. This mistake can be especially dire if fluorescent lights are part of the equation to warp the paint’s appearance, says interior designer Beth Reed.

“When I'm meeting with a client, they all want to come in and turn all the lights on. I turn all the lights off because I think you need to really understand how a room works at different times of the day and different types of lighting,” says McCants. “Natural light will show it all. I always tell folks to look at a color in your house on a rainy day. An overcast day is a great time to see what a color is going to look like. Don't do it at night— that's the worst time.”

Look For Undertones 

Another reason to look at paint under different light is to inspect its undertones, which will become especially obvious depending on lighting cues. Shades of white or gray can vary more drastically than many people realize, so don’t just go grabbing any old hue willy-nilly. Look closely at the paint to determine what undertones it carries. 

“Often people get paint colors that are way too pink or way too yellow. That’s the most common paint mistake,” says Reed. “It depends on what direction your room is facing with the sun coming in. Whether it's early morning or the evening sun, the paint tone will look different.

Swatch Every Wall

In addition to checking paint in alternative lighting, Reed says that it’s her process to see how paint swatches look on every wall of the room she intends to paint. How light hits each wall and forms shadows will impact the appearance of the color.

“I'll pull out key colors that I think would work well in the space and I like to hold them up on every wall,” Reed shares. “That's important because it's going to look different on all four walls.”

Accommodate Art

Paint won’t last forever, but art just might. Choose a paint color that won’t clash with your favorite piece of wall art or even family photos that it is your priority to display. McCants says that for folks with big art collections, or in rooms where a gallery wall could be made, she will stick to a neutral color of paint. 

However, instead of choosing a paint that won’t stand in art’s way, another choice is to select a shade that will actually help it shine. McCants alternatively recommends getting inspired by art, choosing your favorite piece, and opting for a matching tone to complement it.

Look Out The Window

“A lot of times too when we're thinking about paint colors, we’re not only considering the interior, but we'll consider the exterior, as well,” says McCants, who is based in South Carolina. “If it's a room that has a beautiful ocean view, we may pull in some wider pastels. If we are out on Kiawah or somewhere on Johns Island, we may pull in some greens and those tobacco tones that will play off the surrounding environment, or maybe a garden if it's downtown.”

Complement Other Tones

McCants and Reed recommend considering other elements, materials, and textures in the room when selecting a paint color. That’s often why paint is a later-order decision; it’s easier to be picky about paint than other things that are less customizable. For example, paint should complement tile, trim, and/or stone in the room, as well as decor like upholstery and art.

Be Selectively Bold

“There may be rooms where I know folks can be scared of color, but I always encourage folks to start with a small space like a powder room, hallway, or study,” says McCants.

She says that these strategically selected spaces are the place to choose an unexpected color or very dark shade—depending on if you want a moody, serene, or fun tone in that given room.

Leave Room For Change

Often, McCants says that she will opt for neutral paint tones to allow for change—not only in the long-term but in the short-term too.

“If you can keep a neutral palette in common areas, it allows you to change things like your art and pillows,” she says. “You can also then move things around if you want to change your room, move items from one room to another, or just pull in a chair from another room when you’re entertaining.”