Wrong Paint Color? How to Fix Rooms with Colors You Don’t Like

The worst has happened. After months of swatches, paint samples and agonizing over exterior or interior paint colors, you chose one that… didn’t work out so well. Or perhaps the wrong paint color was chosen by previous tenants or owners.

Whatever the case, you now have a room or a home that’s in a color you’re not able to live with. As a color consultant, I’ve seen some bad choices, some harsh lighting and some strange color choices. 

Don’t panic, though! No choice is unfixable and nothing is truly permanent.

That being said, let’s look at some ways you can fix rooms that have the wrong paint color.

Diagnose the Problem

Oftentimes it’s hard to pinpoint what the true problem with the wrong paint color is. Is it a different lightness or darkness than we thought? Are certain hues of colors more prominent now that it’s in a full room? 

Try to note what it is that’s throwing off the color. Cover up certain accessories or pieces of furniture to see if those are bringing out hues or colors you don’t like. Ask family and friends what they think the problem is. You can also ask a professional color expert to weigh in on what the issue is.

Once you understand that, it will be much easier to find a solution.

Did You Choose Your Favorite Color?

An easy mistake to make is choosing your favorite color to paint your walls, without realizing that maybe that color is not the right choice to use for the whole room. In that case change your wall color to a softer version, and use your favorite color for accents around your room. Thats an easy fix, and you will  still enjoy using the color you love so much!

Too Dark

A common problem home and business owners run into with both interior and exterior paint colors is choosing something that’s too dark. 

Dark colors can be a great way to turn up the elegance and style of a room. Without enough natural light or lighter accents & accessories, though, it can turn rooms into dark caves and buildings become menacing & heavy-looking. 

Let There Be Light!

One way to solve this issue is to add more light. This seems so simple, right?

This allows you to keep the color you chose without having to break out the paint brushes again and start from scratch with choosing a new paint color. 

Consider taking down your curtains or switching them out to sheer or lighter options that let in more light from outside. If you’re able (and willing!), you could even consider adding a window to the room to allow in more natural light. 

Those are great options for rooms with windows and for during daylight hours, but what about at night? Bring more light into the room with lamps and other lighting fixtures. 

The shades on your light fixtures are also a consideration. You might have a light fixture, but if the shade holds the light in then your fixture doesn’t illuminate the space. Make sure your shades allow the light into the room. 

Be smart about the placement of these lights, too. If an area near the doorway gets plenty of light but the corners are shrouded in darkness, for example, it’s those corners that could use a lamp, sconce or fairy lights.

Also, be aware of the type of lights you’re using. LEDs give off a blue-ish white type of light, which is great for lighting up dark rooms. The yellow-ish hue of incandescent bulbs can actually make the room look darker, so be wary of the bulbs you choose. 

Let’s translate that into Kelvin, which is how we measure the color of our light bulbs nowadays. Incandescent bulbs are equivalent to 2700 Kelvin, whereas cooler bulbs can go up to 4 or 5000 Kelvin. My suggestion is to use a bulb that is around 3000 so the light is cozy but doesn’t make the room feel dark. 

Accessories & Furniture

One big issue with dark rooms is that they end up feeling small and crowded. Try rearranging your furniture and items to create a more open space. This will do wonders for lightening up the room.

Accessories can also have a huge effect. Remove excessive dark rugs & accessories, they will only dampen the spirits in the room.  

Try adding art pieces with lighter colors and light frames to break up large chunks of darker areas on the walls. Rugs, accent pillows, blankets and even the color of your furniture can all work to lighten up a dark room

Mirrors are another trick for lightening up a room. They’ll reflect light that will not only brighten a room, but can also work to make a room look bigger and more open at the same time.

Too Light or Bright

Perhaps you chose a white that’s a bit too sterile and hospital-esque. Or perhaps what you thought would be a pale yellow turned out to be more neon than pastel.

Whatever the case, there are ways to fix a room that’s too light or bright!

Revisit the Color Family

Instead of starting from scratch, I suggest revisiting the original color choice and trying to move towards a lighter or darker version of the original color. If the problem is a matter of the color being too bold or too pale, try sampling a color from the paint company that is one step more saturated, or one step less intense. 

This might take a little tweaking, so try out more than one color before you make your final color choice. What seems like a minor color change can actually make a big difference when the color is covering a whole room. 

What I do not recommend doing, though, is adding black to a color to darken it or adding white to lighten a color. This changes the color itself and the feel of the color in the room… and not always in a good way. 

For example, if you add white to the color, it will make the color a little cooler because of the cool nature of the color white. If you add black to a color it can make it look a little more muted, taking away the beauty of the color you started with. 

A secret to finding a better color can sometimes be as simple as looking elsewhere within the paint colors available. 

For example, if a color appears too bright, there might be a color option in the historic palette because those colors tend to be more muted. If your color appears too muted, go the other direction of looking at different lines of paint, you might find a color that is the perfect solution!

Working with Accessories

Just as with rooms that are too dark, rooms that are too light, bright or have too much of a particular hue can often be fixed with accessories.

Covering up parts of the walls with art, photography, or tapestries or other coverings can mitigate the amount of the paint color you see. Offsetting something that’s too bright with something that’s toned down or dark can reduce the overall brightness as well.

As stated before, understand that lighting has a huge effect on the appearance of paint. Read my article detailing how lighting affects paint color to understand this a little better.

Try switching out your light bulbs to another type that emits a different frequency of light to see if that makes a difference. You can also try adding more or less light to see if that changes anything.

Other accessories that can take your eyes away from the color of a room that’s too bright or light (or too dark) are:

• Plants
• Rugs and carpets
• Furniture
• Curtains and window treatments
• Blankets and accent pillows
• Lamps
• Art

Repaint… with Help This Time!

If you’ve tried everything to no avail, repainting the room with a new color might be your best option for fixing the wrong paint color. This gives you many more options and can completely change the room.

You can turn it into something that you actually like instead of working with something that you truly find distasteful!

This time around, I highly suggest working with a professional interior paint consultant. As a color expert, I’ll be able to help you find a color that works for your particular home, room and aesthetic. 

Contact me to get started.