Painting your house is not something you plan to do every few months therefore careful consideration is needed before deciding which paint and colour to choose.
Paint can be used to decorate both indoors and outdoors. There are three categories of paints; primers, top coats and masonry or floor paints. Paints are made of three ingredients: pigment, binder and liquid. Pigment is the part that provides colour. Binder causes the pigment to stick to the surface and the liquid combines the primer and binder. Liquid can be oil based or water based.
Oil based paints are usually used for topcoats on wood or metal. Water based paints are used on bricks and plaster. Under coats are important as they provide a good surface for your topcoat. Primers seals off water stains and cover old water marks.
Its best to ask the consultant at the paint store witch paint will fit your needs, budget and personal style. Before buying big quantities of the colour you like, buy a small test tin and paint a piece of a wall at your house. It is difficult to see the exact colour of the pain on one of those small blocks on the colour chart. The colours on the charts are usually not exactly the same as the paint and bigger surfaces often do not look as good you may have thought in specific colours.
Providing the paints are from the same manufacturer, it can be mixed to match a specific colour you want. You can also mix colours by yourself at home. This is strongly discouraged as it is very difficult to mix the exact same colour twice and often people do not mix the colours well enough.
Wood paints are best to discuss with your decorator or paint consultant as there are so many different types of paints and textures to use on wood. They should be able to help you choose a paint that fits your home decorating and personal style.