The Home Renovation Project People Regret the Most (& How to Avoid It)

And if you’re considering updating your walls, there are a few things you can consider to help choose a paint color (or pattern) you won’t tire of six months down the road:

1. Ditch the Dinky Paint Sample

Sure, taping that swatch on the wall lets you see it in your home’s natural light. But it’s so small that what you love in a couple-inches-or-less rectangle may be overwhelming when it spans several feet. Buy a paint sample and paint a posterboard, then hang that up with double-sided tape. You’ll get a much better idea of what that color will be like when it envelops your space. (If you’re considering wallpaper, the same posterboard strategy applies.)

2. Avoid Bitsy, Busy Patterns

If you’re planning an accent wall with your Zoom backdrop in mind, borrow this rule from broadcast news: Avoid skinny stripes or tiny, high-contrast prints. Just like news anchors stick to skin tone-flattering jewel tones over distracting patterns, these tiny prints can appear to “buzz” on screen, not to mention make the room seem more cluttered than it is IRL.

3. Consider Your Undertone

Here’s a tip that can also apply to anyone looking to revamp their cabinets, straight from a kitchen pro: “Keep all your underlying tones in gray, cream or mid-tone brown; they’re the most flexible and diverse colors, and build on top of that,” Masterbrand Cabinets director of design and trends Stephanie Pierce told us earlier this year. When looking at paint swatches—particularly yellow—people tend to skew more neon, Pierce said, so dialing things back and opting for a more muted shade may seem tame at first, but it can be more livable in the long run.

4. Think About the Feeling You Want to Create

You may regret the color you chose because it doesn’t match the needs of your room. That may sound out-there, but hear us out: What do you like to do in that room? Is it a space that should energize you—like an office or kitchen, where you want to get stuff done? Is it a cozy space for unwinding, like a bedroom or bathroom? You may want a livelier shade in the former; something cool and muted in the latter.

Maybe you want a moody escape, so you’re drawn to a deep, inky blue; maybe that will feel cave-like to you, and you need a calming space that’s a bit lighter, like a celery green. It’s a two-part process, determining what you need from that space, and gut-checking the reaction you get from being surrounded by that color.

Ultimately, though, the good news is: If you decide you don’t love that wall months later, repainting it isn’t nearly as rough as, say, tearing out your kitchen or deck.