Image by Wallula Junction via Flickr
Color… it’s like magic. Just add paint to the walls in your favorite new color and “voila”! You’ve changed the mood of your entire room. It’s MAGIC. But with so many color choices…how do you even BEGIN pick??
- What colors make a room look bigger?
- Dining Room color help…what looks good with furniture or food?
- How to separate or blend rooms with color?
- What house colors give good curb appeal?
- What colors are considered neutral?
Where could you find good color advice without having to hire a professional interior designer or color coordinator? There’s all sorts of options.
- Bookstores are filled with great advice. So many books about just “Color” are available it’s really hard to choose.
- Some online forums have topics devoted to just color – such as HGTV forums.
- You could ask your best friend what she thinks of your color choices…but just because she likes it (or doesn’t like it) doesn’t mean it would be right for you. So that one can be risky!
Be careful what you ask… when you ask a friend.
I asked a friend what colors she would choose for my walls. And….I used them…Yuck! I hated every single one. It took several years but I’ve finally painted over all of them. And I hate painting 18 ‘ tall walls so those were the last to get repainted. I could have just faux finish those walls, but the base color which was a taupe… looked lavender in my room. See…she likes “cool” colors and picked a cool taupe. I prefer “warm” colors so the cool shades didn’t do anything for me. Blech.
I have a Tuscan or Spanish Hacienda style theme in my house and the entire home is antiques, rough pine furniture and red saultillo floors. The lavender cast of the taupe didn’t work at all.
Now…you know that I have learned a few tricks about paint color choices over my 18+ years of painting in client homes and businesses. But… as you probably know, choosing colors for your OWN space gets downright ridiculous.
Oh…and don’t even think of asking the spouse. Debra has a hubby who loves color and helping with the decorating and she’ll be the first to say that when it comes to choosing colors … it usually ends up in a clash and of course if she’s the one painting the walls – Well, SHE WINS! Lol!
And fortunately (as it so happens) he usually loves all her color choices…AFTER they’re on the walls. I wonder if that could have something to do with the fact that he doesn’t have to participate in the labor part most of the time.
Help For Choosing Paint Colors
I found several books that are awesome on this subject and I thought I’d share a couple of them with you. So…here we go:
Understanding Color: An Introduction for Designers
By Linda Holtzchue
Need more information about color wheels? How about how we see color or values? Well this book will help you with ALL of that. It’s easy to read and thorough in it’s explanations of the different color wheels, saturation, harmony, and so much more. As a former art teacher I know several colleagues that would use this book in their color theory sections. One word of caution though, the author defines “tertiary” and “intermediate” differently than some others do. Regardless of that the book has great examples that any painter or designer can use.
By Kevin McCloud
If you haven’t heard of Kevin McCloud you need to get to the bookstore and check out ALL of his books. He is an internationally renowned interior designer and in THIS book he has put together over 1,000 color chips and they’re arranged in over 80 palettes. Each one – each palette (includes anywhere from 6 to 16 color swatches) forms a wonderfully FABULOUS blueprint for any decorative scheme. And there’s pictures! AND…he gives you advice and tips for using the colors to transform a room!! He has palettes based on old Chinese silk, and then he reinterprets it in a contemporary New York apartment! Any scheme you want…you can probably find in here. Something that enhances your theme or something new you’ve always wanted to do. Kevin’s book will help you get there.
There are a bunch of other books on this subject that you could look at, too. It’s just finding the right book FOR YOU!
Oh…and last…Debra has yet ANOTHER website to help you to choose just the right colors…
Check out Paint Color Ideas and see what she’s got going on over there!
