How Do You Choose Paint Colors?

Since my background and training is in Color and the Human Response and Humane Design, I am fascinated with research and science that explains why we feel the way we do about color. Recently, I came across a study from Australia that describes how people choose paint colors. 

The researchers found that the subjects fell into 4 distinct categories for their starting points:

1. Abstract Ideas: How they wanted a room to "feel" or the "style" of a room with no specific color in mind. 
2. Objects: Color inspiration from an object, such as a piece of furniture, fabric, or artwork. Furniture was the most influential in this category.
3. No Idea: No clue where to start. This group researched ideas at the paint center and online.
4. A Color in Mind: Not only did this group have a color in mind, but they associated a quality or attribute with the color. The color may be "tranquil" or "warm".

The study also found that women were primarily responsible for choosing paint colors for the home. The women felt that men didn't understand the color selection process. I have a number of male clients who might take issue with that! Furthermore, people found paint chips, color samples, brochures, magazines, and model homes to be very helpful in the selection process. Technology like computerized color visualizers ranked low on the helpfulness scale. In my experience, computer generated examples do not reflect reality when it comes to color. It's very difficult to replicate paint color with computer monitors and printers with any degree of success. 

How do you choose your colors? Ultimately, color associations, emotions, and nature play the biggest roles in our decisions. It's all a matter of choosing colors that *you* feel good.

For more information on choosing colors, visit www.mycolordesigner.com 

Deep Colors in Children's Rooms

When designing children's rooms, people often think of pastels or light and airy colors. I always say that there are no wrong colors. It's all in how you use them. This 5-year-old girl's room has only one window, dark wood floors, and a large bed that partially blocks the window. Conventional wisdom would say to use light colors to make the room feel brighter and more spacious. In this room, I took a different approach. Going lighter on the walls would create a lot of contrast with the mocha-colored floors and dark furniture. Instead, I chose violet and fuschia colors that were similar in value to the dark woods. Value is the relative lightness or darkness of a color. Choosing a color palette with similar values creates a harmonious feel in a room and a home. There is another advantage to choosing deep colors in a room with limited light. When a room is dark, less saturated colors tend to become washed out and actually lose the essence of their color. Pastels, for example, can become grayish or neutral-looking. As you can see in the photo, the deeper colors remain rich, maintaining the feel of the room. Furthermore, these colors will grow with her. They don't feel juvenile and can transition with her as she grows older. The bedroom feels cozy, welcoming, and timeless--a beautiful retreat for this lovely little girl.

Flooring - A Key Element in the Color Palette

When clients are doing a renovation or designing a space, they often ask me to make flooring choices for them as well. How does flooring play into an overall color palette? It is a key element. In terms of square footage, floors can actually be a dominant color in the space, so the color aspect is not to be ignored. In order to achieve a harmonious color palette, the wall, floor, fixture, and furniture colors must work well together.

So where do you begin? If the flooring has already been installed, the wall color should complement the floor color. So let's say you have honey-colored wood flooring. You'd want to choose a paint color that is warm and works well with golden tones, like reds, oranges, and greens with a yellow-ish undertone. You could also go with complementary hues like warm,deep blues and purples. In this case, you would avoid golds and yellows because they are too close in value to the flooring--it would be too much of the same, creating a monotonous feel. If you're more attracted to neutrals, again choose colors that are warm like chocolates and deep caramels. If the floor color is too much for you, consider colorful area rugs to infuse other colors into the room. This is a great option if you want to keep wall color neutral.

If you're not in a position to change out the floors and you really don't care for them, there is still hope. You can use wall color in a number of ways to help you out. Let's say you have gray tile, paint the walls in icy blues or soft greens. You are creating a cool color palette, and the overall look will be as if you chose the gray tile deliberately. If you can't live in cool colors, and some people really just can't, draw the attention away from the floor by using a warm strong contrasting color. The eye will be drawn up and away from the neutral floor. Use area rugs and boldly-colored furniture and accent pieces to reinforce the look.

Ultimately, paint color is the simplest and most inexpensive way to transform and harmonize a room.

Consumer Reports Interior Paint Review 2009

Consumer Reports just released its review of interior paints in its March 2009 issue. Rankings such as this one create a lot of buzz about why one brand is superior to another and whether the results are important.

As a Color Designer, I choose paint colors for residential and commercial projects. In addition, I specify the brand and type of paint to use. Clients often ask, "Does the type of paint you use really matter?" Absolutely. Of course there are many good choices on the market, but real-life experience is important in choosing the type of paint you use. Consumer Reports ranks paint based on practical standards such as fading, hiding capability, coverage, etc.. While these are all relevant factors, there are other issues to take into consideration:

Color Matching and Tinting: What is the point of carefully choosing colors if the paint you purchase looks nothing like the sample? Year after year, CR given Behr the #1 ranking in their tests. Behr is sold through Home Depot, so it is widely available. I don't doubt that it is a fine paint brand. But, I get a lot of calls from people who have purchased Behr paint and are entirely unhappy with the way the color turned out on their walls. They tell me that the color does not reflect the sample they chose. And these are Behr's own colors! I can't imagine what happens when they are matching another paint brand's colors. There is nothing worse than going through all of the trouble of painting and having to do the job all over again.

The Green Factor: The paint industry is going green with substantial changes to their product lines. They are reducing the levels of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in their paints. VOCs affect negatively affect the environment been linked to respiratory illnesses and memory impairment. It's important to take this into consideration when choosing paint, especially if someone in your home suffers from asthma or has breathing difficulties. The downside to using low or no-VOC paint is that the coverage is affected. You will most likely need an additional coat of paint to achieve good results. In the CR report, the low-VOC paints ranked lower because of the coverage issue. It all depends on what is important to you.

Color - An Inexpensive Way to Renovate Foreclosure Homes

Because of the economic slowdown, I'm often asked, "How's business these days?" Much to their surprise, I tell them that I'm extremely busy. How is that possible given the fact that I'm working in one of the foreclosure capitals of the country? Foreclosure sales are accounting for the majority of home sales in the Las Vegas market. Buyers are getting great deals and want to renovate their new homes before moving day. Personalizing the home with a new paint color palette is the most inexpensive way to transform the entire look and feel. Color is such an important factor for buyers that banks are actually painting foreclosed homes with custom colors to make them stand out in the competitive resale market--something unheard of in years past. Whether you're an HGTV do-it-yourself-er or you want to leave the painting to the experts, it's a great time to make your home a reflection of you.