2015 ReCap

On the eve of New Years Eve it seems like a good time frame to reflect back over the past twelve months and share a few ways I was able to ~Make Color Personal~ for clients.  I look forward to helping more clients in 2016.

http://weseesearch.com

The calls for help with paint colors and placement were a (always welcomed) steady stream in 2015.  Sources continued to include direct contact at a local Benjamin Moore retailer, repeat and past client referrals, painter referrals and inquiries from Houzz  (click the link to visit my page).  

A fantastic commercial project was with a Condo Association that was looking to add sophisticated colors to the exteriors of  the units.  Based on the location near a golf course and a request for six color options, compared to two, I provided new colors that would meet the Board of Directors request as well as keeping the painters in mind by staying in the same color depth of the previous choices--no extreme color changes--.

'Green' -really a gray green- is subtle but stands out next to gray and tan neighboring units

Yellow without glowing

Taupe in the right hue is like a perfect river rock

Blue per a Board choice request. Used sparingly it adds a punch of color among the neutral tans and grays

Residential exteriors were also individualized for each home owner.  Based on requests for 'something that stands out from the lake view' to 'something that looks impressive/rich' homeowners had ~color made personal~ to help make a house into a home for curb appeal.

Stucco, trim and deck boards now work with stone and brick

Gray and cream stand out but work with the brick

Eye catching even from the lake

Interior consults were a full range of refreshing a room with a similar color, with less 'pink' or 'yellow' to new construction with primed walls, and some needing flooring and counter and cabinet color choices.

Saturated ('dark') gray to balance strong natural sunlight

Master Bath waiting for wall and floor choices

Navy Blue off sets the white Wainscoting and dark furniture

Consults can include details like making sure the trim work lines up with fixed items like windows

Change from gold to rich taupe

I look forward to moving on to 2016 and more opportunities to ~Make Color Personal~, maybe for you, maybe for a friend, neighbor, coworker or family member.  I bring a professional, unbiased view of color and decorating recommendations that won't break the budget.   In fact, a consulting appointment will out weigh the cost of time and samples that just aren't working.  Take a look at my website for more information to see if I am a good fit to ~Make Color Personal~ for you!

Until Next Year

Jill

Second Coat Required

Ever ask a sales person at your favorite paint store if the paint is darker on the wall than the color chip?

Did they answer what you expected?  

As a color consultant that helps customers a few days a week at Benjamin Moore retailer North Cromwell Paint I have been asked this question many times.  

'Take home' chips are usually 1x2" on a strip of eight colors up to 3x4" individual chips unless the store has some larger chips on hand, so in the store it can be difficult to decipher if a color is going to be dark enough or too dark for a certain room.  

Here's what you need to know:

• When you open the can of paint the paint will look lighter than the paint chip.  It could even look too 'something'...pink, yellow, blue....

• When you first paint the wall the paint will look lighter than the paint chip.

• Once you cut in [a nice wide & feathered cut in so you don't get a 'picture frame' effect] the paint will darken as it dries.  You may not notice it at first, but as you roll on the first coat of paint you will see how the two parts look different.

Cut in line dried to paint color; first coat wet

First coat of paint with old color poking through

• While you are covering up an old color, presuming you did not have to prime, the old color could make the new color look terrible to the point you'll wonder if you are putting the correct new color on the wall.

• So you'd like to get away with one coat eh? Best of luck because even the self primed paints cannot account for normal, typical walls that manage to avoid the roller releasing paint.  It's really just the old color putting up a good fight to stick around.  A second rolled coat should go on rather quickly as your cut in took care of the wall/ ceiling/ trim board meeting spots.

The answer to the question if the paint color looks darker on the wall than on the color chip is no.   

It may be surprising that even a deep color will look like the color chip when you hold it up to the wall, but overall the color will look a little lighter and brighter in the space because it is on a larger surface than 2x2" and has more light to reflect on it.  

Benjamin Moore's Surf Blue

Deep color: a little lighter and brighter

Hope this post sheds some light on the question of how the paint looks on the wall compared to the tiny color chip you can start with from the store.

Don't let the large paint color selection make you frustrated with your project.  Hire a #color consultant for their experience of how certain colors may or may not display your ideal color in your room.  Your lighting and room characteristics are not the same as a retail store. 

 ~Make Your Color Personal~ (click this link for more information about my consulting services)

Best,
Jill

The Neutral Trap

I've noticed it happening, variations of 'current', safe warm/stone grays are taking front stage when I'm analyzing color ideas for a client.  This past week I worked with two different clients that weren't afraid of color and I found myself having to turn off the neutral button in my brain. What a nice pick me up!

Gray is still the 'new beige' but you can fall into neutral land just as easily with this update and have one color staring back at you in every room.  The trick to update a space without ending up just shifting from all beige or 'builder white' walls to all taupe or gray takes a little faith to think outside the conservative box.

                

   

Pick Me!

'Are people still using accent walls?'

Yes, but not for the sake of just having one because others do.  Some
rooms just don't have the right space or wall to accent.

However.....
On a recent consultation a client had a perfect niche area in the
kitchen to differentiate the eating area.

Niche area as accent wall



All of the rooms were originally off-white, floor to ceiling.  We broke up the
eye strain in two ways: 

To bring a pop of color, an accent, into the space we defined the eating area with a warm browny orange.

In the kitchen we found a soft color to meld in with the tiles, and repeated the color on the upper walls in the two front rooms you see when you enter in the front door.  The wainscoting was painted an antique white in both rooms for balance with each other and the ceiling.

  This helped create a break from the carmel color we used in the foyer.

The great room flows directly from the foyer and has some architectural detail at the ceiling.  For a subtle transition the walls were painted an almond color, which is lighter than the foyer, but darker than the off white ceiling. 

To add some interest I recommended painting the angle section the wall color.

 

 

Color is so transforming.  This house became more of a home when the floor-to-ceiling 'builder white' was switched up by adding an accent area in the kitchen with a stronger, saturated color and defining, yet unifying, the other main floor rooms with a analogous color scheme.

 

 

Need help ~making color personal~ ?   Contact me for a color consulting appointment for your next project.

That Color Doesn't Look Like That In My Room!

Had a little run in with a color trouble maker, metamerisam (me tam'er ism).

Natural light



Incandescent light

It's not surprising as a color consultant to have run-ins with a color 'changing' under different lighting or in different rooms.  It is our expertise that helps clients find that perfect color in an otherwise troubling room.  It is always interesting when the color change/result is more drastic in a particular case compared to more subtle differences.


The three lighting sources that can 'change' a color are natural/direct sunlight, indirect sunlight and artificial light.  Artificial light adds another level depending if the bulb is halogen (most like, but not the same as, daylight), fluorescent (shows more cool tones), or incandescent (shows more warm tones).

That's why you may pull some paint chips from the paint store just to feel like you are back at square one in finding the perfect color once you get the paint chips home.  Retail/commercial buildings usually have fluorescent lighting, where as your home most likely does not.  Your friend's or neighbor's house may face the same direction as yours, but each room is different.  A blue that looks great in the store looks baby blue at home.  A tan in your friend's great room pulls more yellow or orange than you planned. 

I recently helped a client find a new color for a master bathroom.  It is located on the same side of the house as the dining room, but has a single window compared to a door wall and is on the second floor compared to the main floor. She is keeping the existing earthy brown/terracotta tiles and wants a lighter earthy feel, but not peach or brown.  In the dining room we reviewed a few color chips she had pulled.  Knowing we had to look at the colors in the actual space I added some color chips to our assortment. 

When we moved the color chips into the master bathroom, metamerism went to town taking neutral tans that can look yellow vs. peach and turned them muddy looking.  We switched gears and found colors that looked carmel (in the dining room) held their own and didn't turn muddy in the actual room's lighting.  It was a good challenge to show my client why the color would need some depth, some umph, to not crumble or disappear next to her tile, and more so why we had to look at the colors in the space to be painted, not solely in a room with better seating :)

So now you know the name of the trouble causing, although natural occurring, circumstance.  If you get really stuck and need help finding the color to ~make your space personal~ contact me for a color consultation.

Best~
Jill