How to Pick a Amazing Color for Open Floor Plan
A wide-open floor plan may seem like a painting puzzle, but a well-executed painting project can make your space function for all its needs. Open floor plans mean everything is on display, including your professional painting project. Learn how to paint an open floor plan by using color palettes that create flow and balance throughout your interior space.
The popularity of open-concept interior design in living and workspaces has ebbed and flowed over the years. It tends to be a pretty polarizing floor plan. Some love it for its ability to enhance the feel of space while encouraging socializing and efficiency of usable space. Others find its openness a challenge for functionality––you can’t hide your clutter with the close of a door––noise and privacy, among others.
No matter what camp you’re in, know that it is possible to create a cohesive and purposeful color palette in a home with an open-concept floor plan. Beginning to explore the possibilities of a professional interior painting project for an open floor plan can seem like a painting puzzle. What colors should be used, and where? How can you create division, or zones, through the use of color? Are bright colors off-limits?
The team at Chicago Paint Crew can help you break down the walls of curiosity and confusion around how to best execute a color scheme in an open floor plan. Keep reading to get some color thought starters and design tips ahead of signing on for a professional painting project with CertaPro Painters®.
How to Paint an Open Concept Space
The most important part of painting an open concept space is to go with the flow. Designing a space that flows well is always the ultimate challenge of interior design. Paint plays a monumental role in making that happen with its ability to connect parts of a room through a pleasing color palette. Achieving a good sense of flow is especially important for an open floor plan that may need color to help create division among areas. A color palette for an open floor plan should revolve around three to five coordinating colors. See, that’s not as overwhelming as you may have thought.
“When building a color palette, homeowners should select colors that have a similar color relationship,” Chicago Paint Crew says “Focus on colors that come from the same families or ones that are next to each other on the color wheel.”
How do you coordinate colors on an open floor plan?
That’s right––the color wheel. You probably haven’t thought about the color wheel or color theory since your days in elementary school art class, but dusting off that knowledge is a great place to start.
You don’t have to be a design pro, but having a simple understanding of color theory will help you make confident selections and remain as hands-on as you want to be with your selection process.
Here are the basics that can help you get started: Complementary colors are colors that are opposite of each other on the color wheel (purple and yellow, red and green, and orange and blue, for example). Analogous colors are ones that are side-by-side on the color wheel (red and orange, green and yellow, and blue and purple are analogous combos). Analogous colors are the ones John Jordan mentioned focusing on for an open floor plan concept.
How to Connect Rooms with Color
You can accomplish seamless color changes between rooms with the 60-30-10 decorating rule. An analogous color scheme works so well in an open floor plan because it creates flow by using colors that already share a natural relationship to each other. These colors flow smoothly through an open space just as they transition so smoothly from one to another on the color wheel. Each color you choose for your analogous palette should have a defined role in the space to promote a sense of balance. The 60-30-10 rule will help you accomplish that.
What is the 60-30-10 decorating rule?
Let’s build an example analogous color palette using the 60-30-10 rule. Following this rule means about 60 percent of your design should be one dominant color, 30 percent should be a secondary color, and 10 percent should be an accent color. This rule is one that’s in every home designer’s toolkit. It’s a simple design method that ensures you have a palette that feels balanced. Neutrals can be added to the mix as well to calm the space. Think of neutrals as the finishing touches.
Blue, blue-green, and green are analogous palettes. Look at Schooner (AF-520), and Mount Saint Anne (1565) and Kennebunkport Green (HC-123), respectively, all of Benjamin Moore. Two of the shades are primary colors (blue and green) while the third is a mix of the two. They feel right at home in each other’s company.
Notice these colors are not neutrals. A lot of people assume that you have to stick to a neutral color palette for an open floor plan, but we beg to differ. You can introduce color into your space in a tasteful way that won’t make the company feel like they just walked into a Crayon box. Even if you choose a neutral palette, you can add pops of color in strategic places to add some interest.
Can you paint an open plan in different colors?
Yes, you can use different colors in an open floor plan, but don’t paint a continuous wall with more than one color. Pick a single shade from your palette for the entire wall and then reserve those second and third paint colors for unshared walls. Each color then has its opportunity to shine, but you’ll have a nice flow as you look around the space. Paint all of your trim the same shade for your open floor plan when you’re using different shades on your walls. The trim can be a unifier while the wall colors work to create some division. Look for interesting nooks or architectural features in your space that you can enhance with a coat of paint.
How to Paint an Open Concept Kitchen and Living Room
Every open floor plan needs a center of attention or focal point. That’s not to say the overall design won’t be a star, but selecting a focal point in which to add some color excitement can help ground your design and create a visual divide. A lot of homeowners put a lot of care and thought into their kitchens and living rooms in an open floor plan. Kitchens and living rooms become places for social interactions and mingling when the company is visiting. They’re natural choices to build a focal point around.
Sherwin-Williams says that a kitchen island that sits between a kitchen and a living room would be a great focal point to introduce a spicy color to give the area its own identity. That’s right––take into consideration surfaces you have to work with beyond the walls to enhance your open floor plan design. Sherwin-Williams suggested Fireweed (SW 6328) for the island color with Silken Peacock (SW 9059) and Reseda Green (SW9040) as supporting colors. They used Shell White (SW 8917) and Balanced Beige (SW 7037) as two neutrals to round out the palette.
“This pop of excitement makes the counter a point of interest, not just a point of division between two spaces,” according to Sherwin-Williams.
How do you choose an accent wall for an open floor plan?
A focal point could also be a statement wall where you want to highlight an entire surface, floor to ceiling, with a darker color selection than its surrounding walls. Let this focal point help you choose the accent wall for your open floor plan. For example, a fireplace would be a great area to use as a focal point and could serve as the perfect accent wall.
Consider a contrasting color that accentuates the focal point and draws the eye to the wall. Chicago Paint Crew also offers specialty decorative and faux painting surfaces to consider for a statement wall. For example, a team of painting specialists can replicate the exact look of wood with paint and texturing materials. It’s a cost-effective solution for adding a touch of texture into your space if there isn’t any. The appearance of different textures throughout an open floor plan brings a unique sense of style and makes for a robust design.
READY TO PAINT YOUR OPEN FLOOR PLAN?
Ready to bring some balance to your open floor plan? The team at CertaPro Painters® would be happy to lend their expertise to pull it all off for you seamlessly! To learn more about how to paint an open floor plan, get in touch with us today!
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Oil paints are made with pigments mixed with a drying oil (such as linseed, tung, or poppyseed) and then thickened with various oils such as stand oil, safflower, and walnut.
Oil paint is a painting technique that was developed in the early Renaissance period. It allows for a smoother finish than other painting techniques, making it suitable for creating portraits.
A sunroom, sun parlor, sun lounge, sun porch, solarium––whatever you want to call it––is the perfect space for relaxing outdoors without actually being outdoors. With windows galore, a well-designed and thoughtfully painted sunroom breathes life and energy into your interior.
Let’s dive into sunroom paint color best practices, so you can make your decision feeling certain and informed.
Things to Consider When Choosing Sunroom Paint Colors
- A neutral color scheme is a wise choice when considering painting your sunroom to keep things bright and airy while embracing the natural light and beauty coming from outside.
- White is an excellent go-to paint color for sunrooms.
- Natural light will reveal a color’s undertones. It’s important to test and learn how swatches look within your sunroom before starting your painting project.
- Don’t be afraid to explore bold colors in small doses.
Embrace Neutral Colors for Small Spaces
It’s rare that you have a sunroom that is a large-sized interior space— though we’re extra jealous if you do! For this reason, we suggest selecting a neutral painting color palette for spaces that may not have a lot of space to work with.
How to Great Colors for a Sunroom
Sunrooms are an extension of the outside, so light and the peaceful vibe are what most people are looking to achieve when updating. Using a shade of light gray, beige or tan for the walls, brings a sense of calm to a bright and sunny space. Carry it through to your furniture selection and curtains with an airy neutral-colored curtain made of light fabric. This will let the beautiful sunlight shine through without distracting from the outside view.
A Love Letter to the White Sunroom
The best color choice for sunrooms may be using all of the colors together at once: white!
Take a look at these shades from Benjamin Moore for some of the best white paint for a sunroom:
- Simply White(OC-117)
- Cloud White(OC-130)
- Calm(OC-22)
- Swiss Coffee(OC-45)
- Wind’s Breath(OC-24)
They suit tranquil, serene environments and are endlessly versatile to build an interior palette. A white paint color will reflect the colors of your trees and surrounding foliage as they change with each season.
“When a sunroom is painted all white you are adding a fresh and clean look to a room in your home that already receives a lot of light. The white walls and ceiling can increase the reflection of light in the space without removing what you really want out of a sunroom– a sunny spot to enjoy your day!” says Chicago Paint Crew
If you go all white for your color palette, you have the ability to introduce accent colors into room decor. Select some bright and colorful interior planters, pillows, or rugs. You can double down on neutrals for decor if you don’t want to go bold and punchy for your accents. Introducing some soft hues throughout the rest of your room will keep the focus on what’s on the other side of your windows.
A white color selection for a sunroom also pairs well with natural elements like wood, bricks, and stones that you can incorporate into your space to bring some of the outside, inside. White walls complement natural furniture choices like wood, bamboo, wicker, or teak. These materials make a room feel light and casual––just as a sunroom should be.
Another way to build a color palette around white is to introduce its opposite: black. Keep the walls and ceiling a white shade and select black for any window or door trim. It’s a chic combo that plays well with a minimalist style.
Take Advantage of Natural Light
A sunroom full of light will show your white’s true colors or undertones. A white color swatch may look like pure white until you start comparing it to other whites. You’ll start to notice how whites differ from one another––you may notice a bit of green or a hint of red, for example. Those colors that reveal themselves are called undertones. Natural light has a big impact on the undertones that come out of a color.
Cool white sunroom paint colors by Sherwin Williams like Rhinestone (SW 7656), Spare White (SW 6203), and Site White (SW 7070) are crisp and modern with blue, green, and violet undertones. Warm whites like Antique White (SW 6119), Navajo White (SW6126), and Divine White (SW 6105) carry undertones of yellow and reds that create an inviting glow.
The best advice we have when considering how the lighting of your sunroom may impact the paint color is to take your color swatches into the room itself. Follow these steps:
- Tack it on the will reach out to Chicago Paint Crew business near you to learn more about how peel-and-stick paint samples can help with this process.
- Note how the swatch changes throughout the day.
Morning sunlight reveals warm undertones because it’s lower on the horizon while a midday sun can cast a more bluish light. The direction and duration of light change the way colors appear.
Bringing Color into Your Sunroom
In case a neutral color scheme doesn’t fit your style, introducing bold colors is still an option! Introducing a bright painting color palette into your sunroom can be just as beautiful as the plants and flowers on the other side of the windows.
Yellow Sunrooms
Yellow is a popular color choice that plays off the room’s namesake. Take a look at Benjamin Moore’s Hawthorne Yellow(HC-4) or a more saturated Dorset Gold (HC-8). A yellow hue is a way to go if you want to double down on the sunshine.
Pastel Sunrooms
If you’re looking for more earthy paint color, we love the pastels Palladian Blue (HC-144) and Saybrook Sage (HC-114). Those two work great together with pastel pink, like Proposal (AF-260) to round out a soft, calming color palette. It’s not too overpowering to distract from the beautiful views, but it’s bright enough to add personality to the space.
Dark Sunrooms
We love a black and white painting palette in a sunroom full of plants. Plants not only thrive in sunrooms but also bring in deep greens that make this color scheme rich and moody. Introducing some inspiration from nature continues to blur that line between the interior and exterior of your home. Look to Benjamin Moore’s Black Magic (SW 6911), Inkwell (SW 6992), and Bohemian Black (SW 6988) for inspiration.
Brighten Up Your Sunroom with Chicago Paint Crew
It’s time to make your sunroom feel just as cozy as the rest of your interior living spaces. The experts at CertaPro Painters® will provide a free estimate for your sunroom painting project and assist with paint color selection that considers the many unique aspects of your space.
Schedule a free quote online so you can admire what’s outside from the comfort of your welcoming sunroom.
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The drying time of oil paint is usually in the range of a day to two weeks. This is largely due to the type of oil that is used for the paint, as well as the amount and kind of pigment. The drying process can be sped up by heating the paints – this can be achieved by placing a space heater nearby or even setting up a fan pointed at it.
