House Beautiful The Color Issue - The Best Way to Choose the Wrong Colors for You

As a color design professional, I was so excited to see that the September issue of House Beautiful is devoted to color. Upon perusing the article titles, my heart sank. Upon reading them, I was downright irritated. Here was a credible design publication providing readers with completely inaccurate information about color and how to choose colors for their personality. It made me wonder how many people will waste their time and money only to be ultimately disappointed.

The first article I read was called "How to Fix Your Home with Color". Sounds easy enough. Here is an excerpt from the article:

Concentration

Yellow increases your focus. It is known for enhancing intelligence and mental agility. It can help stimulate conversation and clarify thoughts. Try a yellow...No. 2 pencil, bookmark, pad of Post-it notes.

A pad of Post-It notes will increase concentration. That's all it takes? Wow. So if that's the case, and I paint a classroom yellow (and give all the children No. 2 pencils for good measure), all of the kids will be focused and be A-students of course. I would also want to paint one of the walls orange since that is the universal color of happiness. Because who wouldn't want happy, high-achieving children? Then we'll get the teacher a green desk because that's the color of prosperity, and then the teacher will get that well-deserved raise.

I wish I were exaggerating, but these ideas were taken directely from the article. If it were this simple, would we be vexing over choosing colors the way we do? If there was a formula, couldn't the paint companies produce 8 standard colors and scrap all the rest? I'm trained in Applied Color Psychology, the science behind color and the human response. I'm sorry to say that no color is going to "make" you feel a certain way. Yes, certain colors have a measurable physiological effect. Short-lived in most cases. Whether it's our personality or experiences we've had in our lives, we do have individual responses to color. Some of us need more stimulation than others. Blue isn't necessarily a calming color. Some people feel cold in a light blue room.

My frustration levels soar when I see color myths like this being perpetuated. My clients get confused about how their homes are "supposed" to be to make them feel good. It's all about you. When we work together, we learn what YOUR colors are. No quiz is going to do that. A newspaper reporter once described me as something akin to a "color mystic." It's not that complicated, and I'm no psychic. I just listen and learn about you and use my experience and training to create the perfect color design for you.

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Choosing Colors for Your New Home

I recently received a call from a new client. She and her husband had purchased a new home, and they were ready to paint. She told me that they had vibrant colors in their last home and wanted something different for the new home. She was frustrated because they kept gravitating towards the colors they had before, therefore they needed help.

When I arrived at their home for the color consultation, I saw pops of bright colors in their furniture, accessories and artwork. Right away I knew. They keep going back to these kinds of colors because they really like them! Typically, we feel the struggle in choosing colors when we're going against our intuition. Does that mean we're stuck with the same colors forever? Of course not. We chose a color palette that used cleaner hues with more of a punch. By combining citrus-y oranges and yellows and greens with a splash of aqua and java as accents, we created a unique and inspiring palette for their new home. Some of the colors were similar, but the home felt entirely different and their own.

To schedule a color consultation, call 702.202.7543.

Choosing Color with Your Heart, Not Your Head

In getting to know one of my clients and what she wanted, she showed me a number of pictures from interior design magazines and websites of what she had in mind. Most of the photos featured walls in numerous shades of tan. Then she showed me a living room wall that she had painted with those little tester pots from the paint store--a few different greens. "I don't like any of them. I don't know what to do. I know I should go with tan, but it just doesn't feel right to me." Bingo. I smiled and said, "Good for you. You're going with your gut. You already know that's not what you want. That feeling isn't going to change when you put it on your walls." She knew what she didn't want, but she was trying to talk herself into it because that's what she was "supposed" to do. 

When it comes to color, it's all about choosing with your heart rather than your head. It's sooo easy to let your mind talk you out of what you love because it isn't "right." Choosing with your head is what sent you to the paint store half a dozen times only to come up empty. You know the moment the color isn't right. It happens all the time in a color consultation when I put color samples up on the walls with clients. They squint their eyes and shake their heads, "No." We eliminate the "no's" and begin a search for the Yes. When I've hit up on the right color, their whole demeanor changes. A smile emerges. Everything opens up. Most often, it's a color that never occurred to them. Then the questions begin. "It's okay to use blue in my living room?" Absolutely. There are no wrong colors. Once we find the ones that make you feel good, I show you how to coordinate them and where to put them. All of the color theory and application? Leave that to me. I create the perfect color palette for YOU. All that vexing over color becomes a distant memory, and you're thrilled about what your home will become. 

You deserve to feel excited about your home. Let's make it happen together.

www.mycolordesigner.com

702.202.7543

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