No one ever said choosing a paint color for your home was easy. It would help if you considered how you want each room to feel, which tones and undertones clash and which merge, and which exciting new hues are in style this year.
But when you’re trying to come up with paint color ideas for your commercial space, there is a slew of different considerations you need to consider. We recommend you trust this commercial painting contractors’ guide to help you decide.
- Will this space be used to meet with clients?
- How can I use color to maximize productivity?
- What painting techniques can make a small space feel more professional?
These are just a few things you’ll want to ask yourself before settling on a color scheme. Of course, you’ll also need to find reputable and skilled commercial painting contractors to get the job done right.
Are you feeling overwhelmed yet?
Don’t worry—this guide will take you through everything you need to find the perfect business office paint colors for your commercial space.
And for you, that means you can rest easy knowing your office colors will represent the professionalism and productivity of your business.
Table of Contents
- What Is the Best Color for an Office Space?
- Taking Branding Into Account
- Color Psychology Breakdown
- Think About the Function of Each Space
- What Colors Are Best for Productivity?
- Consider the Impression You Want Your Office to Make
- What Paint do Colors Make Rooms Look Bigger?
- Use Colors to Define Spaces & Create a Flow
- Tips for Creating Flow
- Looking for Commercial Painters Near St. Louis?
What Is the Best Color for an Office Space?
Let’s get this one out of the way right off the bat:
There is no perfect color for every office space.
There are the most popular colors, which include neutral and earth tones like those in the Sherwin-Williams Commercial Encounter Palette:
- Reddened Earth
- Java
- Naval
- Rosemary (shown)
- Blustery Sky
- Hardware
- Jubilee
- Tarnished Trumpet
- Alabaster
- Natural Tan
And while these neutral tones likely won’t cause a fuss with your employees or clients, it doesn’t mean they’re the best for your space.
In reality, each commercial space will have its unique, ideal color scheme. And this color scheme will depend on a wide variety of factors.
Let’s take a closer look at some of those factors that come into play so you can start coming up with office paint color ideas that’ll fit your commercial space.
Take Branding Into Account
A business’ brand is strongly tied to its appearance. The colors, logos, and style we incorporate into our work directly impact how people perceive a company’s brand. Commercial painters work closely with business owners to determine an aesthetic that aligns with their vision and values. The end result is a space that visually tells the story of what that organization stands for.
Do you already have color branding guidelines in place that represent your company? And if not, do you have a logo you use to describe your business?
If so, the color schemes within these marketing assets could be great jumping-off points for your commercial space’s interior.
It’s important to remember that you don’t necessarily have to stay 100% true to these base colors.
Choosing complimentary colors for non-accent walls can actually be a fantastic way to bring cohesion to the entire office or venue.
Working with commercial painting contractors can help you discover complementary tones and build a robust color scheme your team will love.
Color Psychology Breakdown
If you don’t have branding guidelines or a colorful logo to work from, you may want to consider developing one.
And the color scheme of your office is a great place to start.
Color psychology should also come into play when picking iconic colors representing your brand.
Check out the color psychology guide from CoSchedule to help you determine which colors match the personality of your business as a whole.
Commercial Painting Trends That Boost Brand Recognition
Commercial painting is an art form in itself. A commercial painter like HBP can help shape the brand identity of businesses through color and design. There are a few trends we’ve noticed that really make a company stand out.
Bold Colors
Vibrant colors are attention-grabbing and memorable. Shades of red, orange or royal blue are energizing and eye-catching. For example, a bright red accent wall in a lobby or waiting area creates an energetic first impression. Using bold colors on building exteriors also makes a big impact.
Metallic Accents
Metallic paints like gold or silver add a touch of glamor and prestige. Accent walls, decorative trim or lettering in metallic sheens convey elegance and quality. For law firms, financial institutions or executive office spaces, metallic accents establish a sophisticated esthetic.
Repetition of Shapes or Patterns
Using repetitive shapes, patterns or design elements creates visual continuity in a space. For example, painting a series of arches or geometric shapes in complementary colors on walls in a lobby or corridor guides the customer’s eye through the area in an intentional way.
Think About the Function of Each Space
Of course, you could go monotone throughout your entire office.
But what’s the fun in that?
It turns out that varying your color scheme can help your employees get even more functionality out of each room.
For instance, lounge areas and breakrooms could have relaxing, warm tones like the blues and yellows you see above. This will help your team recharge during break time and even amplify collaboration for those all-too-valuable water-cooler brainstorming sessions.
Try to think of the feel you want each room to have while considering its purpose. And don’t be afraid to use minor color psychology to influence how your employees respond inside.
What Colors Are Best for Productivity?
You may also consider adding color to general workspaces to enhance productivity.
However, the research is a bit shaky on which color is the best at doing so.
Ideas of what productivity looks like (creative thinking, physical efficiency, collaborative problem solving, etc.) depend on the job being performed. On top of that, individual temperaments will always come into play.
According to an article from Sherwin-Williams, researchers found that highly distractable employees were more productive in blue-green environments.
Conversely, those who could more easily maintain their focus tended to be more efficient in rooms bathed in bright colors like red.
And in the end, plain white rooms scored the lowest on worker productivity.
Consider the Impression You Want Your Office to Make
It would be best to consider how your office will be used.
For instance, is this a production facility? Or will it be used to meet with prospective and current clients?
If it’s the latter, you may want to stick more closely to your branding and emphasize how you want your business to be perceived.
A bright and bold accent wall is a fantastic way to inject personality into your space (as long as it’s done right, of course).
It would help to consider how your business office paint colors make your clients feel.
Again, commercial painting contractors can help you on this point.
But for tiny offices, it could be beneficial to use specific color schemes to make your space look more extensive and more successful.
What Paint Color Makes a Room Look Bigger?
Generally, lighter color hues tend to make space feel bigger.
According to Sherwin-Williams:
“Soft, lightly tinted, neutral, and cool color tones make rooms, furniture, and design elements seem larger because they visually recede. In addition, light colors make the best use of natural and artificial light by reflecting it back into the room.”
And while a fully dark-painted space can feel confining, you can add darker hues to opposite walls in a room to make it feel more spacious. Similarly, darker short walls in a narrow space and lighter long walls have a similar effect.
Use Colors to Define Spaces & Create a Flow
It would be best if you also considered defining spaces and creating flow when deciding on a color scheme.
Defining spaces can help separate specific areas from the rest of the office. And doing so can enhance the function of a particular room for employees and clients.
For example, a brightly colored conference room that stands out from the production spaces can bring more creativity and collaboration to meetings.
On the other end of the spectrum is creating flow with your color scheme. Color flow links spaces together and helps facilitate natural movement throughout your commercial space.
You can use flow to overcome structural barriers and link separated spaces. You can also use it to guide your employees or clients throughout your facility.
3 Tips for Creating Flow
Sherwin-Williams has developed these expert tips for creating flow in your space. Here are three of the six:
- Bold Accents. Use bold colors as the primary color in one room and an accent color in the adjoining room.
- Neutral Walls. Use complementary colors between the two rooms to link them together.
- Common Wall. Adjoin rooms with a standard wall using a single neutral tone.
Looking for Commercial Painters Near St. Louis?
As you can see, a lot of thought needs to go into choosing the right business office paint colors for your commercial space.
And for busy business owners like you, working out all the details can take up time and resources you don’t have.
Additionally, finding the right commercial painting contractors to apply that paint to your space can be like finding a needle in a haystack.
That’s where HBP Painting Contractors comes in.
At HBP, our experienced, reliable, and skilled commercial painting contractors are here to make adding some color to your commercial space easier than ever.
Whether you’ve already got a color scheme and plan worked out or you’re looking for a professional opinion you can rely on, our commercial painting contractors can do all the heavy lifting for you.
And with 30+ years and five generations of hands-on painting experience, you can be confident that we’ll do an exceptional job at a fair price.
It’s why we’re the most trusted commercial painters near St. Louis.
So, looking for commercial painting contractors? We’d love to help.
Reach out today for your free painting project consultation and estimate.
