Ten tips on choosing paint colours

1. Make it personal
Take inspiration from objects or fabrics that you love, isolating particular colour combinations that have an emotional resonance for you. Remember, when several colours are used together, the impact can be entirely different to the effect each one has on its own. In his book, Choosing Colous, Grands Designs presenter Kevin McCloud says, "A powerful palette to my mind is a palette that's not just a set of interesting or strong colours: it's something that has its own identity above those colours and which can trigger strong associations, sometimes in our subconscious, of a time or place or emotion."

2. Keep a colour scrapbook
Whenever a colour or combination of colours catches your eye, keep a record of it. Keep a scrapbook and stick in postcards, pages torn out of magazines, colourful photographs or swatches of fabric. The camera on your mobile phone is also a great way to take a visual note of colours that you see when you are out and about.

3. Understand the effect of tone
If you want to create a relaxing space, opt for a harmonious or tonal colour scheme. This is where you choose colours that are adjacent to each other on the colour wheel, and combine naturally to create a balanced effect. A tonal scheme is where you choose several shades of the same colour. Selecting two or more shades from the same segment of the colour wheel or picking several colours from the same stripe card will result in a harmonious scheme.

4. Understand the effect of contrast
If, on the other hand, you want to create an energetic and dynamic look, opt for a contrasting selection of paint colours. Choose a main colour, then find the colour exactly opposite it on the colour wheel. This can be used as an accent colour or to create a striking feature wall.

5. Make the most of the light
Consider the aspect of the room – north-facing rooms can feel cold and gloomy so use colours from the warm side of the colour wheel, such as reds oranges and yellows, to counter the chill. Likewise, sunny south-facing rooms can be made to feel cooler and fresher with pale blues or greens.

6. Remember existing furniture
If you have existing furniture that you want to incorporate into your scheme, this will restrict your choice of paint somewhat. On the upside though, it does give you a starting point. Make sure you take a picture of your furniture with you when you go paint shopping.

7. Consider adjoining rooms
Think about how the room you are decorating ties in with the rest of the house. Try to make it either harmonise or contrast with the adjoining rooms, rather than clash.

8. Choose a theme
Decide whether you want to create an earthy and organic feel, faded vintage look or synthetic and modern aesthetic – what best reflects the variety of objects you own and your personality? For an earthy scheme, pick colours that are prevalent in nature like terracotta or ochre, for a vintage scheme choose muted shades, while for a modern look choose an intense palette of colours like magenta, cyan, violet or lime green (although not all together).

9. Buy samples
Test paint colours out by buying samples and painting a large square of wall. Watch how the colour alters during different times of the day in different light to make sure you still like the shade.

10. Get the same batch
Try to make sure you are buying all your paint from the same batch, as each mix may be slightly different.