Guest bedrooms offer many opportunities for decorators, but it’s hard to know where to start. Do you choose bright colors or light neutrals? Exciting patterns or clean lines? There are several things to consider before choosing a paint color for the room of your guests.
1. Choosing a Color Scheme
The key points to remember when choosing colors is that they should contrast and complement each other. Ideally, if you have two neighboring walls (e.g., one wall in the door between your living room and guest bedroom), those two walls should be opposite colors from one another (i.e., if one wall is blue, the other should be orange). If you don’t have adjoining walls that can help your color scheme, consider grouping your color choices in odd numbers (e.g., one wall can be red, another orange, the third yellow, etc.). This will create a natural transition between one bold color and another without placing them right beside each other.
If you’re unsure what colors to use in your guest bedroom, do you have particular artwork or decorations that will offer guidance? If so, does it give any guidelines for color scheme? A great way to start is by using the colors of those items. For example: if you have a painting on an easel that features blue coastal scenes, then your blue walls would provide a complementary backdrop and further enhance your art work.
2. Consider Lighting
Once you’ve chosen two contrasting or complementary colors, make sure they’re appropriate for the lighting conditions of your room. If you have a bright overhead light that’s on all night or during the day every time someone enters the room, then you’ll want to choose two colors that blend or contrast with that light. For example: if your guest bedroom has an overhead light that is always on, it’s best to go with lighter neutrals like beige or taupe as opposed to darker colors like black and burgundy (unless one of those colors contrasts well with your wall color).
If you have a dark overhead light source, it’s ok to use brighter hues and more vivid patterns in your design scheme. You can pair any bright color (like pink) with that light if you have a matching dark color (like brown) to provide contrast and make sure it doesn’t feel too bright.
3. Consider your Artwork
Also consider the artwork or decorations that will be placed in the room of your guests. If there is art on one particular wall, then use the colors from those pieces to create accents in your design scheme. For example: if you have a painting with bright reds and yellows on both sides, then you can incorporate either of these colors into the rest of your design plans for that room. You could choose complementary blues or purples as another accent color or use some blue graphics or accessories to compliment those vibrant yellow and orange pieces.
Decorating guest bedrooms can be a challenge, but if you choose your colors wisely, it can also be very rewarding. If you follow the three guidelines above (choose two contrasting or complementary colors; think about where light sources are placed in your home; and consider your art work), then you’ll find that decorating your guest bedroom is much easier than expected!
Looking for an expert opinion? Have an upcoming interior painting or exterior painting project? Ethereal Painters can help. Call us at 604-505-2745 for your free quote.
