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These interior paint ideas will help you make the most of a very versatile medium. Paint is easy to apply, it comes in a multitude of colors and finishes, it isn't that expensive, and you can use it in so many ways! (If you want to know more about the different ways you can use paint, then go to the paint techniques page.)

Because of all these characteristics of paint, you'll probably find you use it more than anything else when you do your own home decorating.

So here are some interior paint ideas to inspire you

Selecting your paint color

Go for a color on a paint chart which looks slightly lighter than the color you are aiming for. Once you have decorated the major area of your room, the color reflects on itself which make it look deeper.

Use samples

Many paint manufacturers supply sample tins of paint. Use these to check that the color turns out as you had planned. Paint always look a bit darker when it dries, so don't be put off when you first apply it. Of all interior paint ideas, this one probably saves more mistakes being made than any other.

Use other parts of your decorating scheme such as tiles and fabrics to help you select the color for your paint.

Test different areas of your walls

When you use samples, paint small areas in different parts of the room, and on adjacent walls. Light reflects around your room, and will also vary depending on the time of day, and whether it's daylight or artificial. So always check how different parts of your room look at different times of the day. Always try out your interior paint ideas on small sections of your walls.

White paint and old properties

If you use brilliant white paint in older houses it can look too clean and clinical. Use an off-white shade - it will give the effect of ageing. You can buy many off-white shades, or mix your own.

Exact matching

If you want your paint to exactly match something in your room - a carpet color or upholstery fabric - some specialist paint stores can mix a color for you. You'll need to take a sample of the fabric to give them something to match the color to.

Adjust the color (if you make a mistake...!)

Suppose you paint your room, and when it's dried you decide it's too dark (or light, or too bright). First, don't panic, there's ways round it.

If it's too light, sponge over the wall with the original color to which a touch of black has been added. (If it's too dark, then add a little white to the original color). This is using the ragging technique to get your walls back to the color your want, and gives them an interesting texture effect at the same time.

Tint your own paint

This needs some confidence, but can also enable you to get the exact color you want. If the color you want isn't readily available, buy the nearest one (or white), and add tints until you get the color your want. As you can imagine, if you don't know much about color, this could take forever! So if you're not too sure, take a look at the color schemes section to learn how color works.

You don't have to paint all the walls the same color. The illustration above shows the facing wall painted in a soft blue-gray, which adds interest to the room.

Tricks with color

Finally, here are some interesting things you can do with color to help you with your interior paint ideas.

  • If you have a 'confused' section of a room - lots of pipes, cables, or other eyesores - paint that part of the room a dark color so that everything fuses together. (You may have seen this done in modern stores with hanging ceilings and lots of pipework and air conditioning ducts.)
  • Make a long corridor seem shorter by painting one end wall in a warmer color than the other walls.
  • Strong, warm colors such as rust red will make a room appear smaller.
  • Cool colors have the opposite effect, and will seem to push out the walls.
  • A small room will appear larger if all the surfaces are painted the same light color, and plenty of light (daylight or artificial) is allowed to play on the surfaces.
  • If your ceiling is higher than you'd like, paint it a dark color than the walls, and it will appear to be lower. Conversely, a low ceiling painted lighter than the walls will seem higher.