Home Improvements

Paint by Pixels: Applying Technology to Interior Design

By: Joseph Akintaju on April 21, 2013 @ 9:15 pm

So you’ve got a room that needs to be painted. The problem is, you’ve got no idea what color you want to paint it. So, you head down to the local hardware store and plant yourself in front of the paint swatches. Suddenly, you’re completely overwhelmed. Not only is every color of the rainbow represented, but every one comes in many variations. You stand there, mouth agape, lost in what seems like vomit from a rainbow. Sound familiar? Luckily, there’s a way to completely bypass this confusing mess.

Step One: Hunt and Gather

There are many ways to gather ideas and inspiration when it comes to paint colors. Paint companies, home and garden magazines and websites, home improvement stores, and even furniture companies have galleries of example room photos. Whichever room you’re painting, keep your furniture in mind while looking at model rooms. Many paint colors go with most furniture colors, but some will not. Try to imagine your own furniture in the room. Once you’ve picked out a couple specific colors or color palettes, move on. If you keep looking, you’ll find too many you like and have a hard time choosing.

Not finding inspiration in model rooms? Start either looking around your home for inspirational colors, or head outside. Color palettes are everywhere – you just don’t see them all the time. There are a couple websites and smartphone apps that will allow you to snap a picture of your color inspiration, and it will give you a color palette based on the image. Try ColorSmart by BEHR or ColorClix by Olympic.

Step Two: Try, Try Again

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could pick out a color and give it a test run, without heading to the store and getting a sample? Well, thanks to technology, now you can!

Websites

Try the Glidden Color Visualizer. You’re given an empty room, which you can “paint” by dragging colors to walls. The site shows you how certain colors will look on certain walls, and you can play with adding accent walls. Each color is shown with a couple coordinating colors, so it’s not difficult to find colors for accent walls or trim.

Want to see how certain colors will look on your specific walls? Try Benjamin Moore’s Personal Color Viewer. Once signed in, you can upload photos of your own rooms and paint the walls different colors, to determine how each would look. You can also save projects and learn about color basics within the application. If you’d rather use sample photos and choose one that looks similar to your room, they’ve got a good selection of them to choose from for every room – even your home’s exterior.

Apps

If you’re mobile, you may want to try a couple of these apps. Easy to use and conveniently on your phone, you’ll figure out what color you need in a jiffy!

Download the ColorSmart by BEHR app. Not only can you virtually paint a room from their large selection of samples, but you can use their photo-match tool to see which BEHR paint matches a color sample. For example, if you want your room to be the color of your favorite flower, snap a picture of the flower and you’ll be directed to a paint color. When you find your color or colors, you can use their calculator to determine how much paint you’ll need to do the job.

The Voice of Color app was designed with interior designer in mind. You can find colors by either grabbing them from a picture you’ve taken or by browsing the color collection. Choosing a color produces a palette of matching and similar colors, and these can be saved to your favorites. After saving a color, you can choose to receive a free 8×10 swatch.

Step Three: Apply and Enjoy!

Since you’ve already used technology to view your room before painting, you’ll be happy with your color choice. Make sure to ask your local hardware store paint specialists for some tips and tricks, and get to work!

Joli D. writes for Quarrix Building Products, providing high quality ridge vents and other roofing accessories to homeowners everywhere.

Further Reading

Leave a Reply