Selecting Your Paint Colors Virtually Online

When it comes time to select paint colors for your home, there are a number of new online tools designed to make your choice easier. These sites allow you to check colors, look at design ideas, and on one even to upload a picture of your home you are going to paint.

One of the top new sites is from Behr paints and it is called ColorSmart. It is available for free online at http://www.behr.com/behrx/workbook . The tool allows you to even preview colors on photos of your home, although that functionality is available for an additional fee. Once the tool is loaded into your web browser, you are presented with three options. You can review colors by name or number. You can just browse colors using the Behr Color Tool. Lastly you can browse Behr's own inspiration library which is designed to inspire you with lots of great ideas. There is a lot of depth to this site, and more than just that, it is plain fun to use.

Another great online paint color selection tool is from Valspar. It is available at http://www.valspar.com/painter.html . This tool gives you the option to start with a room image. Some offered rooms are; bathrooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, halls, living rooms, kids rooms, kitchens, and even home exteriors. The site also allows you to start with a signature designed color collection, by such major names as Martha Stewart or Eddie Bauer. Lastly this site, like the one from Behr, offers you the chance to start with selecting colors. Valspar paints are a great choice because they are widely available at any Lowes Home Improvement store.

Another site which might be overlooked is a site which is run by Pantone. If you don't happen to know, Pantone is the authority on color and a major provider of color systems. The site is available at http://www.pantone.com/pages/paint/paintselector.aspx . This site offers a great deal of color advice, color sets, and an interactive spectrum tool which allows you to select and fine tune you color selection. This site also gives product suggestions and also will guide you to select compatible primers for the paint.

Since all of the sites above are free, it makes a lot of sense to try them all, before you commit to your paint color selection. You never know which site is going to give an idea or selection, even if you don't chose to purchase that particular brand of paint.