Home has never been more important than in these strange times.  When we are spending so much more of our time in our homes, places that are inviting and comfortable are suddenly the goal of nearly everyone.  And inviting and comfortable is not dependent solely on having the right furniture.  It is also dependent on lighting, a balanced and harmonious arrangement of furnishings and art, and, surprisingly, on color!

My own delight with color can be traced back to childhood where my favorite book was a Golden Book called The Color Kittens.  Do any of you remember that book?  The kittens, Hush and Brush, mix buckets and buckets of colors in search of the elusive color green (spoiler alert - they DO eventually succeed in making green!)  I should have known back then that I would end up in some color-related field, and after a foray into scientific pursuits, here I am back again to color.  And still delighted with the power of paint to transform.

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A room can have all the right ingredients and still create a sense of unease if it has been painted a color that doesn’t work for the space.

I have found in my nearly 30 years in interior design that paint color is the most impactful decorating tool and that it can very easily go horribly wrong unless you understand some basic principles of how color works and how it is perceived.  Sometimes, with more neutral colors, it is subtle and the room just feels “off” somehow, and sometimes, with bolder choices, it is an obvious disaster.

In my color theory course in design school, we spent countless hours mixing together colors and painting them in little 2” squares and creating gradients of color that had to be framed with custom cut multi-window mats.  Yes, our teacher was obsessive.  We also created artwork in Pointillism style (basically a whole bunch of tiny dots…sort of manual pixels!) and used the science of complementary colors to produce the shading and shadows.  Tedious? Maybe.  But it taught me a LOT about how color works.  (also that I’m not very good at cutting mats and that Exacto knives are REALLY sharp!)

Color is powerful and magical.  It can change the whole mood of a room.  

Judging by my inbox, there is nothing more perplexing for many homeowners than choosing paint colors.  How do you choose? Ask a friend what that color is you like in their house?  Pick a color from a website photo or magazine? Ask your painter which colors they like best?  Go to the paint store and choose a color chip you like? All of these methods get used every day with little assurance of success.  It’s a bit like throwing a dart at a bullseye while blindfolded - you *might* hit it, but chances are much higher that you will miss! 

Paint color selection takes a careful analysis of a variety of factors to arrive at a great choice, and just like in real estate,

LOCATION IS EVERYTHING!

With all the possibilities for paint colors, it is understandable that builders in the 80’s cranking out cookie cutter homes full of honey oak opted to paint the interior walls all builder beige with bright white trim…usually not objectionable, but not exactly inspiring either…and a step up from the previous decade of beige walls with brown stained trim.  Now a new generation of builders (and house-flippers) are slapping gray on all the walls everywhere without giving any thought to whether it is the right choice in each particular circumstance. 

The Color Kittens would be appalled!  We can do SO MUCH BETTER!

We want ALL the spaces in your home to be welcoming and inviting and places you are delighted to be in, and color is a key factor in making that happen.  So add some perfect colors to your home and create some happiness in your rooms!

Happy Painting!

Need help choosing the perfect color?  We offer Virtual Paint Consultations OR purchase our guide to Selecting Paint Colors with Confidence for less than the cost of a can of paint!  Save time and money by getting your paint colors right…the first time!