Choosing paint color for your home can feel like a daunting task. We've culled some tips from CertaPro color expert Shannon Kaye to help you learn the basics before you commit to a new color.

When choosing color for your home, trust these basic guidelines:

1. Lighter and warmer colors will make your home look larger and more inviting.

2. An exterior house color that blends with the roof will make your home look darker and less inviting.

3. A house color that creates contrast with the roof will make your home look more interesting and inviting.

4. Complementary colors are colors that are on opposite sides of the color wheel. So, blue complements orange, red complements green, etc. Choosing colors that flow from one room to another also becomes more important with an open floor plan.

5. Consider your lifestyle when choosing interior colors. For instance, if you have two large dogs and five children, you may need one room in the home to serve as a soothing retreat. If you primarily work from a home office, consider what colors will leave you feeling stimulated and creative.

Before hiring painters, answer the following questions about your home:

1. What do you want your home to say? The first step in choosing colors is to identify the feel or mood you'd like to create. Take into consideration the architectural style of your home.

2. For the exterior, what kind of landscaping are you planning around your home? For instance, if you're going with grasses and drought-tolerant plants, warm natural tones on your home will bring out the greens and purples found in those plants.

3. How will your home blend with the rest of the street/neighborhood? It's always a good idea to think about your home in context. Before doing a lot of work choosing a color scheme, be sure to check with your homeowners association to find out what restrictions may apply.

4. Have you looked at color samples in a store? If you rely solely on color samples online, you may be unpleasantly surprised when you see the actual paint on and in your home. This is because samples on a computer screen are lit from behind, and the actual paint, once it's on your home's exterior, will be lit in front from the sun. Once it's on the interior, your own lighting could affect the tones. Therefore, to see a sample's true color, it's highly recommended that you seek out the physical samples of colors that interest you.

5. Have you tried the colors on your home? Once you've narrowed down your color choices, be sure to test them out in big brush-outs to help you finalize your decisions. If you're hung up between two or three different colors, seeing the colors painted out on a small portion of your home will help you envision the final result.

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