Designing Your Colour Scheme: Picking Paints, Finishes and Feature Walls

Introduction

Choosing the right colours and finishes for your painting project is one of the most exciting parts of a renovation or refresh. But it’s also where many homeowners stall, overthink, or make costly mistakes. Should you go bold or stay neutral? Should your ceilings match your trims? Will that deep blue look dramatic or dreary at scale? Colour choice is both art and science—and when done right, it transforms your space.

In this post, we’ll walk through how to choose the perfect colour scheme for any residential painting project—interior, exterior, roof, or feature wall. You’ll learn how lighting, surface type, and finishes (e.g. matte, low-sheen, gloss) affect the result, how to avoid common pitfalls, and how to use AIreno to get clarity, confidence, and expert recommendations tailored to your property.

Step 1: Start With the Space’s Purpose

Before you even think about colours, consider what the space is used for.

• Bedrooms: Should feel calm and restful; often suit soft neutrals, warm whites, or muted tones.
• Living areas: Can handle stronger colours or contrast depending on natural light.
• Kitchens/bathrooms: Need washable paints and benefit from brighter tones that reflect light.
• Hallways/entryways: Often darker or narrower—benefit from lighter tones or statement finishes.

Matching the mood of the room with the right palette is crucial. AIreno helps by showing examples of popular colours by room type and allows you to filter by style (e.g. coastal, industrial, Hamptons).

Step 2: Consider Lighting and Orientation

Light changes everything. A colour that looks cool and crisp in the morning can look dull or muddy in the afternoon.

• North-facing rooms: Tend to be warmer and suit cooler colours to balance the light.
• South-facing rooms: Can be cooler and benefit from warm or creamy tones.
• East-facing rooms: Bright mornings, darker evenings.
• West-facing rooms: Muted tones help avoid glare in hot afternoon light.

Test swatches in different corners of the room, at different times of day, and view under both natural and artificial light.

AIreno makes this easy by showing paint swatches in virtual 3D mockups based on your room type and lighting profile.

Step 3: Build a Colour Flow

Your home shouldn’t feel like a patchwork. One of the most common mistakes is choosing colours room-by-room without considering how they work together.

Tips for cohesive colour flow:

• Use a consistent base tone throughout and add depth with accent walls.
• Consider trim, door, and ceiling colours as part of the palette.
• Don’t mix too many undertones (warm greys with cool whites can clash).
• Use colour to create transitions—softer in hallways, bolder in living zones.

AIreno includes sample palettes curated by designers, or lets you create your own and preview them across multiple rooms.

Step 4: Pick the Right Finish (It’s Not Just About Shine)

Paint finish affects durability, cleanability, and how light bounces off the surface. The wrong finish can make even the right colour look wrong.

• Flat/matte: Hides imperfections but marks easily; great for ceilings or adult bedrooms.
• Low sheen: Most popular for interior walls; easy to clean, soft look.
• Satin: Slightly shinier than low sheen; ideal for high-traffic areas and wet zones.
• Gloss/semi-gloss: Best for trims, doors, and windows; durable and reflective.
• Specialty finishes: Metallics, textures, chalkboard, suede, limewash, etc.

AIreno shows you cost and application differences by finish type and lets you apply your selection across your quote automatically.

Step 5: Use Feature Walls With Purpose

Feature walls are back—but they’re smarter, more architectural, and more considered than the bold stripes of the early 2000s.

When done right, a feature wall can:

• Add dimension to small or boxy rooms
• Highlight architectural details (like fireplaces or built-ins)
• Ground an open-plan space visually
• Reflect your personal style without overpowering the room

Tips for great feature walls:

• Choose the right wall (not always the first one you see)
• Pick a tone that complements, not competes
• Don’t forget to match the finish (gloss black will behave differently than matte charcoal)

Use AIreno to cost out the feature wall separately, experiment with finishes, and see where the ROI justifies the extra spend.

Step 6: Test, Test, Test

Don’t trust tiny colour chips. Once you’ve shortlisted a palette, test it in your space:

• Buy sample pots and paint at least a 1m x 1m section on each wall
• View it at different times of day and in artificial lighting
• Check for undertone surprises (some greys lean blue, others brown)
• Layer swatches near your furniture, flooring, and fixtures

AIreno will soon offer swatch delivery and a digital overlay feature to help visualise colours on your walls using your photos.

For Painters and Designers: Streamline Colour Selections With AIreno

Tired of colour changes mid-project? AIreno helps trades manage expectations and reduce scope creep:

• Offer clients AIreno’s colour planning tools before quoting
• Log chosen colours and finishes into the job file
• Lock-in colour deadlines and auto-generate paint orders
• Reduce communication fatigue with visual tools

For design professionals, AIreno can be used to upload preferred palettes, templates, and schemes that clients can apply to their quote instantly.

Conclusion

Choosing colours and finishes isn’t just about what looks good in a sample book—it’s about how it feels in your space, how it performs over time, and how it fits into your home’s bigger picture.

With AIreno, you can:

• Explore design trends
• Build custom palettes
• Apply finishes intelligently
• Price your choices instantly
• Get matched with painters who understand your vision

Next up in the Residential Painting Series: Managing the Painting Process – From Prep to Final Touch-Up Without the Stress.