Painting your walls is a quick, relatively painless, and inexpensive way to change the look and feel of your home. But there are unlimited options! How do you confidently select colors that you’ll love? Here are five methods to explore.

1. Stick With Personal Preferences

Your home is your castle. It’s where you can relax and feel comfortable, surrounded by things you love, including colors. Select shades that reflect your personality and make you smile.

Pick one or two favorite colors and begin creating a color palette that will delight you.

Want some help finding colors that will look great with your favorite shade(s)? Check out Coolers, where generating color palettes is as simple as pressing the space bar. Save your favorite colors or lock them in place while generating more results to pair with your favorites.

Coolers includes several other features, too, like trending color palettes, gradients, and tools for understanding color harmonies. It’s also available for iOS.

Not sure what colors you prefer? Try Kroma, which asks you to select 50 colors, then uses AI to generate hundreds of attractive color pairings based on your selections. Be sure to mark any favorites by hovering over the color and selecting the heart. Click “Details” for HEX and RGB color codes.

Want more than a duo? Click the “Palette” button (top navigation) for a wide selection of four-color palettes using the colors you love.

NOTE: Digital media uses various color formulas like RGB, HEX, CMYK, and HSB. If your local paint store can’t convert a formula for you, check out the EasyRGB color calculator, which matches color data to paint manufacturers’ colors.

2. Rely on a Favorite Image

Do you adore a work of art or have a favorite photograph? Whether it’s something already displayed in your home, an image from an art gallery, or something you discovered on Instagram, you can use its likeness to create a color scheme for a room or your entire home.

How? Try using Canva's Color Palette Generator. Upload a copy of a favorite image and view an automatically generated color palette taken from your picture. Coolers also offers a similar tool.

3. Stay on Trend

Perhaps you want your home to reflect the leading edge of the newest decorating styles. For ideas and inspiration, check out the hottest “colors of the year” from the following companies:

• Behr Color Trends
• PPG Paints Color Trends
• Valspar Paints Color Trends
• Benjamin Moore Color Trends
• Sherwin Williams Color Collection of the Year
• Pantone Color of the Year

Many of these sites offer sample rooms, color visualizers, palette options, and other helpful tools.

Want to see more examples of the newest colors in a home interior setting? Often, “colors of the year” will be featured in interior design magazines before they become mainstream.

Pick up a few decorator magazines in a local store or library to see what is currently trending, or browse various home design sites and blogs.

4. Find Inspiration in History

Some colors have stood the test of time. Want a classic Colonial look? Do you adore Victorian vibes? Explore the colors used in different eras by visiting your local library and perusing books of historic period decorations.

You may also want to visit Sherwin-Williams Historic Colors collection, Benjamin Moore’s Historical Colors collection, or Historic New England’s guide to Historic Colors of America.

Consider mixing things up by using traditionally “exterior” colors from these eras on interior walls.

5. Live in the Neutral Zone

If you prefer your walls to provide a subtle backdrop while your furniture, accessories, and art carry the color load, then your best bet could be a neutral paint scheme.

Neutral colors don’t have to be boring. Two or three neutral colors can be combined to create texture and depth in your rooms.

Select one shade for your woodwork and trim and another for your walls. Or, select one neutral shade for three walls and a different hue for an understated accent wall.

Painted stripes are a sophisticated option when derived from two neutral colors or the same shade in alternating paint finishes (flat versus semi-gloss).

When selecting neutral shades, pay attention to color temperature and choose from cool (blue undertones) or warm (red undertones) neutrals, so your selections work seamlessly with the furniture and accent colors you plan to use.

Envision Your Results

Once you have selected colors you like, see how they will look in your home using various visualization tools from Sherwin-Williams, Behr, Benjamin Moore, or Lowes.