How to Choose an Interior Color Palette

Your Interior Color Palette Depends on Intent

When taking on a big project like painting it can often be difficult choosing what color scheme you want for your room. The best place to start when painting your interior is to decide the reason behind painting your space. If you're painting to resell the home you're very likely to paint it a different color compared to when you plan on living there for the next decade. So read on if you'd like to learn what goes into choosing an interior color palette.

Painting for Resell Value

When preparing a home for resale, choosing the right color scheme can make a big difference in attracting buyers. Neutral tones like soft grays, warm whites, and light beiges appeal to a wider audience and help create a clean, move-in-ready feel. Subtle contrast on trim or front doors—such as black, navy, or dark green—can add just enough character without overwhelming potential buyers. Always test your colors in natural light to ensure they look consistent and inviting throughout the day. Ultimately the goal with painting to resell is to create a space that someone can walk into and imagine living there.

Painting for Yourself

When you're painting for yourself the number one rule is do what makes you happy. It doesn't matter if other people don't like the color you chose, it's your living space and if it makes you smile when you see it, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. However, there are still some useful guidelines you can follow when choosing a color scheme for your interior.

Interior Color Palettes Start with What You Aren't Changing

Unless you're doing a top-bottom remodel there are usually elements of your home that are going to stay the same even when the paint changes. Your floor, furniture, and even artwork can help determine what the best color for the space is. With this initial palette you can then choose a wall and trim color that best matches the space you already have.

Base Your Palette Off Your Favorite Piece of Art

Artists have already done the hard work of choosing colors that work together so why not crib off their notes? Choose your favorite painting, sculpture, or even another person's home and take the colors you like the most. This works even better if you already have the painting and can hang it in your space after the transformation is complete.

Van Gogh's Starry Night as a Palette

Learn how the Color Wheel Works

A color wheel is a helpful tool for choosing paint colors that work well together by showing the relationships between different hues. To use it effectively, start by identifying your base color, then decide on a color scheme. Complementary colors sit opposite each other on the wheel (like blue and orange) and create high contrast and energy—great for bold accents. Analogous colors, found side by side (like blue, blue-green, and green), offer a more harmonious, calming look that's ideal for cohesive spaces. For a balanced interior palette, you can also try a triadic scheme (three colors evenly spaced around the wheel) to add interest while maintaining visual harmony.

Find Inspiration in Sherwin-Williams Color of the Month

Still don't know where to start? Sherwin-Williams has a monthly series where they show off a color and include an accompanying palette that can really help that color pop. May 2025 they choose Shiitake Mushroom and for this month they went with Icy-Lemonade. Go through their backlog to get an idea of what colors they offer and how they can pair best to make the perfect palette for your home.

Get Help from a Color Consultant

Here at Elevate Paint Pros we have to deal with colors all the time. That's why we have an expert color consultant on call that we can help you get in touch with to help you choose the right colors for your next project. With years of experience of choosing palettes for multiple different types of homes and projects our expert from Sherwin-Williams is sure to help you with your home.

And once they've helped you choose the perfect palette our painters can help you transform your home in a matter of days. Contact Elevate Paint Pros today and we'll help get you in touch with our color consultant as well as offer you a free estimate for your painting project.