Does Your Home Need a 'Stopgap' Color? This Paint Technique Could Be the Key to a Successful Interior Palette in the Long Run

A neutral living room painting in a neutral paint color. There is a bay window at the back and a seating area made up of a tan sofa, two tan accent chairs, two wooden chairs, and a marble coffee table.

Painting a room a new color doesn't come without a bit of reflecting and ruminating. Maybe you know for a fact you want to cover up the gloomy, dated gray taking up space on your walls, but what comes next? If you move on too quickly, you may find yourself back at square one, flipping through a stack of swatches to cover up the latest painting mistake.

Slow down and take a deep breath; you don't have to have the perfect color figured out immediately to cover up what's currently on the walls. How, you ask? Paint your walls in a stopgap paint color in the interim. A stopgap paint color is an easy-on-the-eyes neutral paint color that covers up the current wall color while you take the time to carefully select your final choice. And voila! All that stress rushing to get the right shade, gone.