Selecting paint colors in the ‘Fixer Upper’ style that will compliment you and your home is today’s post. If you are a lover of the ‘Fixer Upper’ style, then you have come to the right place. We are going to talk about how you can “get the look” in your home as well as picking the right color for your rooms.
Selecting paint colors can seem overwhelming, but with my suggestions, it can be fun! Follow these steps to find just the right Fixer Upper paint color for your home.
SELECTING PAINT COLORS
I recently had all the wallpaper primed and painted a white color off of our kitchen and some trim added to the wall to give it a good old fashion look. So now I have a clean slate to visualize many color options.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a commission if you purchase at no cost to you using the links below. All opinions are all my own.
FINDING THE PERFECT FIXER UPPER COLORS
My first suggestion is to start with Pinterest. If you go and search the word ‘Fixer Upper’ paint colors, you will get loads of options that will lead you to more color suggestions. But my best advice is to go straight to Magnolia Home paint colors by Kilz or Magnolia Home. You cannot get any closer to select ‘Fixer Upper’ Colors than this.
SHOP FOR PAINT CHIPS
Take a trip to your local paint store. If you have a store that carries Kilz, then I suggest starting there. But if you do not have Kilz products close by then you are okay because most paint stores can help you match colors. Just show them your selections on your phone and they will do their magic of matching the colors and will pull you some paint chips to try. You can also order samples online with some paint companies. Magnolia Home has peel and stick samples for $2 each. You cannot get much easier than that!
Here are some Sherwin Williams samples I have matched and plan to consider for my space but I have ordered some samples from Magnolia and plan to try them too later.
NARROW DOWN YOUR PAINT CHIPS
After you have gone to the paint store and brought home some paint chips and a few more that have caught your eye. 😉 Now I want to encourage you to remove any colors that are not an option. Place them in a happy pile for a future project. Even though they may not work here, they may be a perfect opportunity somewhere else. Did you know there are lots of colors you may love but only certain ones that you can live with? For example, I love the color navy, but pretty sure I could not live with it on my walls in my kitchen. So, that color will go in the “not an option” pile.
HANG PAINT CHIPS ON WALL
Now that you have your top five or six paint chips take some tape and display those favored paint chips you’re interested in onto the walls in the room you’re considering painting. A word of advice–if you currently have a color on the wall then that color can affect the new color. So I suggest putting a piece of white paper behind it or stick it to white trim. Watch those colors through the day and move them around so you can see what they will look like in different lighting. Also, make sure to not place the paint chips next to each other. That may also affect the color.
COLORSNAP | VISUALIZER
Okay, this is the fun part! Colorsnap Visualizer is a tool on Sherwin Williams website that allows you to upload your room to add color. It’s fantastic! I decided to try a color for my new wainscot to show you how easy it is. It took me some time to figure out how to operate the program but once I figured it out I found it very easy. I would highly recommend narrowing down your selections to 2 or 3 colors before working in Colorsnap. You will save yourself a lot of time. But don’t let my words discourage you because it is still well worth it to try it out.
The colors on this Colorsnap are close matches to the new Magnolia Home Kilz colors.
PURCHASE QUART OR SAMPLE SIZE PAINT
Now that you have one or two colors for your room it is time to purchase a quart or sample size of paint. Again, go to your local paint store and have them mix up the colors you are considering. Sherwin Williams has a sample size. I love it because it is cheap so I don’t mind wasting a few dollars if I don’t like the color.
PAINT LARGE AREAS OF SAMPLE PAINTS
This is where selecting a paint color starts getting fun! Bring home your samples and paint a good section on a wall. Again, live with it for a day or two. You should know by now if it’s your color or not.
CONCLUSION
As you can tell, it pays to start thinking about your selection a good week before you plan to paint. If you painted the sample color on your wall and didn’t like it, then I would recommend starting again at the beginning. If your color was to dark or light travel back to your paint store and pull some colors lighter or darker than the one you thought you would love. Honestly, I don’t think you will have to start over because if you go through these steps, you pretty much know what you like and can live with by the time you go to purchase your paint. So, to recap I will list the steps below.
- Research fixer upper colors you like with Pinterest and Kilz websites.
- Shop for paint chips
- Narrow down your paint chip color selections
- Hang paint chips on the walls
- Render the colors you like on a photo of the room you are considering by using Colorsnap | Visualizer by Sherwin Williams
- Purchase quart or sample size paint
- Paint a large section on the wall of the room you are considering
- Now you have your color but if you have your doubts try starting over or read my last tip below.
ONE LAST TIP
Whenever you start to paint your room, you may feel a little weak at the knees. Not really but you get what I am saying. Don’t panic! Finish the job! It takes a few days to adjust to a new color and once you put your furniture and accessories in place the color will change slightly or calm down and become easier on your eyes.
Now it is time to shop for some paint supplies or access your paint supply inventory. If you would like to see what’s in my painter’s crate, then click WHAT’S IN MY PAINT CRATE. Good luck!
Happy Decorating!
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I like this. I guess I’m starting to get the itch to change something.
Go for it! What do you want to do first?
We recently repainted. I was picking two colors–one for the master bedroom & bath and one for the living room, kitchen, foyer, etc. I narrowed it down to three.
We bought a quart of each and three small pieces of Sheetrock (about 3′ x3′). We painted each piece of the colors. This really helped!
I love your idea about the whit paper!
Sounds like fun! 🙂
Reading this again, because I want to paint my greatroom.
Go for it! If you need any help selecting a color let me know. Good luck!
I hate to paint, but I always enjoy checking out the pretty colors that are in fashion. Our house was painted when we moved in and it’s very original. One wall is mustard yellow, another is green, tan and a rust color in the living room. It sounds strange, but it’s gorgeous. Kind of like a Spanish villa with the rounded arches and all.
Your color scheme sounds great! I can see the Spanish influence.
You think you can help me talk my husband into taking down wallpaper and painting? You know he is not going to do the labor, so this is going to take some talking.
Maybe we can talk him into it if we hire David to paint over your paper like he did mine. He did a great job! 🙂