Six Tips to Picking the Right Paint Color

Anjie Cho June 30, 2021

Think back to the last time you painted a room in your home. Odds are you spent more time than you thought possible combing through color swatches in the paint department. You brought home a pocketful, or more, and taped them up on the wall to ‘live’ with them for a few days. Maybe more than a few days. Perhaps you’re still considering those swatches today.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Here are 6 tips to picking the right paint color for your space.

Get inspired

With all the colors of the rainbow (and then some) at your fingertips, starting with swatches in a paint shop will quickly overwhelm you. Instead, do your homework first. What rooms and styles appeal to you in magazines or on Pinterest? Do you have a favorite piece of furniture or accent piece that you’d like included in the room? Build a color scheme off that item.

Get in touch

How do you use the room you’ll be painting? What mood do you want to invoke? A bedroom, for example, is well suited to subdued calming hues. If you’re painting a child’s playroom or a den, however, you may want to select something more vibrant and energizing. You can also look at the meanings of the colors based on feng shui or color psychology. My book 108 Ways to Create Holistic Spaces goes through feng shui color theory.

Frame it

Your paint color will be influenced by the things around it. If you place a color sample on a white wall, for example, the color will appear darker than it may eventually look spread throughout the entire room after you paint. Instead, hold the color sample up against your flooring and your furniture.

Shine a light

Sometimes a color that looks like absolute perfection in the store seems to look muddy and uninspired when you get it home. Was it your misguided enthusiasm for the hue in the shop? No, it’s more likely a matter of lighting. Make sure to look over those paint swatches at different times of day. Also take a look at the color in different areas of the room.

Think outside the walls

Take into consideration existing finishes – flooring, furniture, and even other rooms within your line of sight. How does your intended paint color work with those elements?

Be open to neutral

If you’re still wavering on the right color, consider going with a neutral. Today’s options go beyond varying shades of white. Neutrals like brown and grey are trending. When you go this route, incorporate pops of personality and color with accessories. Not only will you have more flexibility with color choice when you introduce it through a chair or pillow, you can also change your color-loving mind more easily and cost effectively whenever the whim hits you.

by Anjie Cho

If you’d like to learn more about feng shui, check out Mindful Design Feng Shui School at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com

Feng Shui Paint Colors for Relaxation

Guest User May 5, 2021

A lot of us are living modern, speedy lives these days, and so we’re seeking ways to find more relaxation and harmony in our environments. We want to feel less rushed and less anxious, which can be a challenge with everything that’s going on around us. Through feng shui, we can work on creating more relaxation and ease in our homes and our lives.

One of the simplest ways to shift your environment and your feng shui is through color, including paint colors. I know it may seem daunting to repaint your space, but it’s actually pretty noncommittal. It doesn’t take as long as many other home projects, and if you don’t like the color you choose, you can always change it. If you really don’t have the bandwidth to paint your walls, you could instead get a blank canvas and paint that. You can also bring in color with accents like pillows, blankets, rugs, drapes, or even small items like candles or crystals.

Colors can have a strong impact in terms of creating an ambiance and shifting your mood. Most of us are visual people, and we’re very affected by what we see. That’s one of the reasons that feng shui is so important: not only do we move through spaces physically, we also focus on visual cues. (That’s why our phones and Instagram are so attractive — they activate our vision!) The color we surround ourselves with makes a big difference.

Feng shui is inspired by nature, so when we talk about relaxing colors in terms of feng shui, think about the colors you see most often in the natural world. Those are usually the most tranquil.

Here are a few colors you can try out in your home to create a more relaxing environment:

Blue: Use relaxing tones of blue to create a meditative feeling. Think of the pale blue of the sky, or the deep, dark blue of the ocean, and how these make you feel. Blue can create a quiet, settling sensation, like an exhale or letting go of tension.

Green: Greens represent tranquility and the wood element. There can be very vibrant greens, but for a peaceful, relaxing feeling we want to look at deep and pale greens. Bright green can be very active and stimulating, so choose something more subtle if your goal is relaxation.

Brown: Browns bring in the earth element — think of the earthy tones of sand and soil that remind us of being grounded in the earth. Pale browns can be reminiscent of sand on the beach, and darker browns call to mind the steadiness of a strong tree trunk, or the support of Mother Earth below you.

Purple: While this might be less common in the natural world, I find that pale and deep violets can be very balancing and relaxing. They can also invite more inner peace and support self-worth and abundance.

by Anjie Cho

If you’d like to learn more about feng shui, check out Mindful Design Feng Shui School at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com

Brighten Your Apartment: 6 Simple Tricks

Anjie Cho August 22, 2018

Not everyone has the luxury of having big windows that let in ample sunlight. Most apartments have at least one room or space that is continually dark. A dark room can cause accidents, eye-strain, and even a sour disposition. If you’d like to illuminate your space – without taking a sledgehammer to your walls – try a few of these apartment-brightening tricks. A brighter space will lead to a brighter mood!

Paint your walls a light color

Dark walls actually soak up the light, making the room seem darker – even when you put the lights on. But lighter colors have a higher LRV, or “light reflectance value.” LRV tells you how much useable light is reflected by a surface. Wall colors with a higher LRV help to spread light deep into a space.

Use eggshell or semi-gloss paint

Flat finishes absorb light, while glossier paints reflect the light back into the room. One warning, though: Because of the light reflection, a glossy finish does call attention to any flaws in the wall.

Keep your ceiling white

It’s amazing the difference that a white ceiling makes on a room. Even if you have dark walls, a white ceiling will help keep the darkness from overwhelming the space. My go-to color is Benjamin Moore Super White in a flat finish -- it's the most reflective for ceilings.

Add more lamps

Yes, this seems obvious. But many apartment dwellers rely solely on overhead lights to illuminate the rooms. Light needs to come from various levels – low, middle, and high. Combining uplights on the floor and lamps on tables around the room with overhead lighting will create a brighter, more comfortable space. In feng shui, uplighting can also lift your mood and energy.

Hang large mirrors

Large mirrors can act like windows, reflecting the light back into the room.

Choose reflective surfaces

Just like walls, other large surfaces can absorb or reflect your light. Opt for glossy countertops, add glass panes to your hanging artwork, and place mirrored trays on top of dark tables.

Light is important for your physical and mental health. So make sure your home is gets as much light as possible!

by Anjie Cho

If you’d like to learn more about feng shui check out the Mindful Design Feng Shui certification program. Laura Morris and I are launching our program in September 2018. We have a free webinar “Five Feng Shui Tools Revealed: Must-Do Business Boosters for Soulpreneurs and Wellness Practitioners” coming up, too! To get on the list about it, sign up at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com.

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Our unique training program takes an holistic approach to learning the art of feng shui design. Mindful design is about becoming aware, and attentive, to the energy around you: both inner and outer qi. It is about promoting a better way of living and creating sacred spaces that support, and nourish.