How to Choose the Best Trim Color

Picking out a paint color can be one of the most challenging decisions you will make when redecorating a room. The process typically involves a mess of paint chips, multiple swatches of paint dabbed on the walls, numerous lighting analyses, and countless trips to the local paint store.

After all the work to finally choose the right wall color, you have to find a trim paint for your doors, moldings, and room details. How do you eliminate the confusion when choosing trim colors?

Trim and Main Color Combinations

Your paint options for primary color and trim combinations go far beyond a simple colored wall and white trim combo. Use fabrics, window treatments, area rugs, furniture, and accessories for inspiration.

You can opt to go with the brightest or lightest tones for your main color with a dark trim to accent door and window frames or vice versa. With colors, your options are limitless!

Tips for Choosing the Best Trim Color

Temperature is important: Keep the temperature of your primary color in mind when choosing a white trim. Warm whites pair well with warm tones like oranges, reds, or warmer neutrals. Cool whites pair best with greens and blues. Neutral whites pair with just about every tone.

Contrast is critical: Choosing to opt for a contrasting or matching trim is all about personal preference. If your style choice is classic, white is a faultless choice regardless of the primary color. If you sway more on the side of adventure, use a color wheel to choose contrasting colors such as blue and orange for a bold, bright, adventurous look.

Paint finish matters: Semi-gloss paint is the best choice for trim because of its durability and ease of cleaning. Semi-gloss paint also reflects light better than other finishes, creating a slight contrast that enables your trim to stand out from your main walls.

Consistency is the name of the game: No, your trim color does not have to remain consistent throughout your entire home. You should, however, strive to maintain the color family throughout to maintain a sense of cohesiveness in your decor.

Tricks to Painting Your Trim

Painting the trim of your room can be a time-consuming and difficult task. It can be a bit messy and more than frustrating to achieve the perfect, clean look. Painting the trim of your room requires a steadier hand and an excellent taping job. Trim work makes painting large walls seem like a cakewalk.

One trick to ensuring that your trim is worthy of an Instagram post is to paint the trim before painting the main walls. If you ask any paint pros, they will likely tell you their order of operations is trim first, walls second. By painting the trim first, you can easily fix any mistakes that might be made without disturbing the paint of the main wall.

Final Thoughts

The fastest way to make dramatic changes in your home is to pick up a paintbrush! A fresh, new coat or two of paint can easily revitalize even the oldest of houses. Choosing your paint is never a quick and easy process, but hopefully, these tips and tricks will empower you and make those choices a bit easier!