Dream Home Makeover's Shea McGee Reveals Her Wall Paint Secrets
As you design your home, there are different elements to think about, such as color, texture, scale, balance, harmony, and rhythm. You can achieve this by coordinating with the current structure of your home and inserting décor and furnishing of different shades and sizes to achieve your aesthetic goals. Some design decisions, such as lighting or window treatments, can be easy for some, but many homeowners can agree that finding the right paint color for your walls is the hardest part.
Luckily, interior designer and Netflix star of "Dream Home Maker," Shea McGee, has provided a few tips on the colors she loves and how to choose the correct shade for each room, according to Livingetc. McGee describes these colors in detail, explaining the design aesthetic they belong to and the type of mood each color brings to the space. Hopefully, McGee's expertise will assist you in choosing the colors that best suit your home.
Increase the brightness in your home
According to Livingetc, Shea McGee loves to paint walls white when designing a home. She believes such a bright color will allow the sunlight to bounce off the wall and illuminate the room, making the décor items in the space pop out. McGee likes using clean and crisp shades of white for contemporary designs and creamy whites for traditionally designed homes. The white paint colors the interior expert likes to sample are White Dove, Swiss Coffee and Simply White from Benjamin Moore, and Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams.
The home designer advises you to get a sample of each color and put it against the wall you plan to paint. The color is likely to change throughout the day as the natural light diminishes, and you'll want to take note if it ever appears in a shade you believe to be off-putting. If you depend on artificial light, Ecopainting Inc. says halogen bulbs are best at imitating natural light and creating a bright space.
Complementary colors to set the right tone
Each space needs complementary colors and shades to set the correct tone of the room, whether it's a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, or living room. Shea McGee likes to use Benjamin Moore's Natural Cream paint to complement other white colors due to its warm undertone, according to Livingetc. This could look nice in a kitchen with a white backsplash and Natural Cream cabinetry or Natural Cream walls with white trim.
She also likes using Peppercorn by Sherwin-Williams in spaces such as powder rooms, home offices, or guest bedrooms. It is a dark and moody gray color that sometimes looks blue, charcoal, or a subtle black depending on the space's lighting. These shades may scare you as they are often associated with making a room seem smaller; however, they can also have the opposite effect, according to MyDomaine. A dark color can make a room feel bigger, especially when there isn't much natural light. Likewise, the dark, deep color will expand a room's appearance, primarily if you paint the trim the same shade, which will help raise the height of the room.