Choosing paint can feel like one of those decisions you’re supposed to just know how to make. But the truth is, color changes from room to room, house to house, and even hour to hour.

You don’t need to know everything about paint or color theory to create a home that feels warm, layered, interesting, and completely your own. The homes that stick with us the most aren’t usually filled with perfectly matched colors in every part of the house...they’re filled with colors and patterns that somehow feel like they’ve always belonged together. 

With the help of our guide and a few simple tips, we'll help you know how to choose the right paint with confidence and create the home that makes people want to keep coming back to.

1. Start with the wallpaper.

If you’re using wallpaper in your room, choose it first and let the paint follow.

Wallpaper brings more color, pattern, and personality into a space, which makes it much easier to pull a paint color from your wallpaper than to try to find a wallpaper that works with a paint color you’ve already committed to.

Look at the colors within the pattern—not just the most obvious one. A tiny muted blue, warm cream, dusty green, or soft brown might become the perfect color for the surrounding walls, trim, cabinetry, or built-ins and can help make the wallpaper patterns stand out even more.

2. Remember that paint changes with the light.

The same paint color can look completely different throughout the day. Morning light might make it feel cooler and softer. Afternoon sun can bring out its warmth. At night, your lamps and overhead lighting can change it again.

Even the direction your windows face can affect how a color appears. That’s why we never recommend choosing a paint color based only on how it looks online or on a small paint chip. Seeing it in your own room and in your own light first can really help prevent mistakes.

3. Look at what’s already in the room.

Color never exists by itself. Your floors, rugs, furniture, cabinets, countertops, wallpaper, trim, and even the colors visible through a doorway can affect how a paint color looks and feels. A cream that looks perfectly neutral in the paint store might suddenly appear yellow next to a cool gray floor. A soft green might look completely different beside warm oak.

Instead of asking, do I like this color? Bring the color home with you and ask: Do I like this color here?

4. Don’t worry about finding a perfect match.

Your paint doesn’t need to perfectly match a color in your wallpaper. In fact, we believe that a room can feel more collected and interesting when the colors simply belong together rather than match exactly.

Try pulling out a softer version of one color in the pattern, going a shade deeper, choosing a warm neutral that complements it, or even using a contrasting color that appears in a small detail.

Think relationship, not perfect match.

5. Think about how you want the room to feel.

This is our favorite tip to give-- before choosing a color, think about the atmosphere you want to create.

Do you want the room to feel warm and nostalgic? Cozy and tucked-in? Light and cheerful? Calm and quiet? Colorful and playful?

Creamy whites and warm neutrals can soften a room. Muted blues and greens can feel calm and timeless. Earthy ochres, browns, and dusty colors can add warmth and age. Deeper colors can make a room feel wonderfully cozy and collected. Fun colors can bring energy and playfulness.

Start with the feeling, then choose the color that helps you create it.

6. Don’t forget the trim and ceiling.

Trim and ceilings are part of your color palette too. They don’t automatically have to be bright white. A warm cream, soft off-white, contrasting color, or even a color pulled directly from your wallpaper can completely change the feeling of a room.

If you’re creating a layered, lived-in home, think about the walls, wallpaper, trim, doors, and ceiling as pieces of the same story.

7. Always sample before you commit.

A tiny paint chip is a good place to start—but it might not be enough to understand how a color will feel across an entire room.

Once you’ve narrowed your choices down, bring some sample paints home to test on the walls and look at them in the actual space where you’ll be using them. Then give yourself a little time.

You don’t have to make the decision the moment you tape a swatch to the wall. Live with it for a few days if you need to. You’ll probably start noticing that there’s one you continually gravitate toward.

8. Trust what you love most.

Don't be afraid to trust your own gut! 

This is your home, t he goal isn't to get every color perfect. It's to layer together colors, patterns, art, furniture, and pieces of your life until your home begins to feel like yours—the kind of place your people will feel warm, welcomed, and remember for a lifetime.

Need a Place to Start?

Below, we've gathered some of my favorite paint colors and palettes to pair with Coley Kuyper Art wallpapers.

Use them as a starting point, not a rule. Every home has its own light, flooring, furnishings, and personality, so always sample your wallpaper and paint in your own space before making your final choice.