Many people are afraid to paint their walls white for fear of choosing the wrong color…all that work, energy and money, only to be disappointed with the result. There is a better way…

Highlands Ranch, Colorado must have about 40,000 houses, and I’d guess a good 25-30% of them still have the whitewashed walls from the original builder. Some people say it’s for resale. Some people will be honest and tell the truth…they are afraid of choosing the WRONG color. A color that will make the room look worse. It will look too small. It will be too wild. Will it look pink, blue or… you fill in the blank.

Choosing color is not rocket science, believe me my wife used to design rockets so she was actually a rocket scientist. At least that was what I loved to tell people. I, on the other hand, am not a rocket scientist. But I can pick a great color to go with just about anything.

Color is a fun thing. It will change how it looks based on two things: what you see next to it and what the lighting conditions are. Is it natural light, fluorescent light, halogens… do you get the idea? We once painted a large house (over 6,000 square feet) and used the same color throughout the house. It appeared blue in some rooms, pink in some rooms, and purple in others. I remember standing in the doorway and I could see the three different colors, or so it seemed. If I hadn’t painted it, I wouldn’t have believed my eyes.

So how do you choose the right color… the first time? I usually start with Benjamin Moore’s historical colors as a starting point. There is no use looking at every color and shade of the rainbow. Next, we have to look at how the space is decorated. For inspiration, I often look at paintings, rugs, or other décor for a complementary color. It is usually placed together with other adjoining rooms. With this in mind, a sense of what the owner wants in terms of impact is considered. Are darker colors preferred or is everything in the home more subtle? Now a color can be selected. If a certain color is to be avoided, such as pink or green, you need to know if the color has that in its composition. Do you remember that yellow and blue make green? In certain lights, a red may not be detected, but go to the back and it looks pink. Basic knowledge of color theory is helpful.

Now we need to take the color and hold it next to the items and things that will still be in the room once it’s painted. Not our white walls. It kills me that every time I work with a color client, they want to hold it up to white walls and then say, “Wow, this is really dark.” Then I tell them to hold it up by the chocolate brown tapestry hanging on the wall and ask, “Is that better?” The color will change depending on what is seen next to it.

If multiple colors are selected in adjoining rooms, you need to make sure they all flow. They don’t have to match, but they do look good together.

It’s not that hard, right? Well, if you need more help, feel free to contact us at http://www.onecoatpainting.com. We offer free color design with any project of three rooms or more.