Kitchen Sync Blog
(http://kitchensync.typepad.com/my_weblog/)

So I was thinking here, in the midst of typical West Coast rain and fog, how depressing gray is. At least for me; I prefer sunshine, thanks. There are others who find rain and fog quite lovely, which made me think about how color affects us, which in turn led to the thoughts of painting and what to blog today. (Scary how the mind works.)

One of the easiest and least expensive ways to bring life to a room is paint color. (Hiring a professional painter is also less expensive than, well, my moss Italian leather couch. *cough*) Seriously though, I’ll keep the couch; it’s easier to paint the walls three or four times in the next few years than couch shop again.

A sun-drenched apricot tone would work really, really well right now. For you, it might be a vanilla, or a lovely moss green. It may make you feel protected or cocooned from the rest of the world or relax you as soon as you walk in the door. That’s what it’s supposed to do.

There’s some wonderful websites that help you in far more detail about paint color than I could possibly write in one short post. Also, I’m not an expert by any means; I’m just hoping to share a few things I’ve encountered along the way.

I rarely see information in books on paint and color is how outdoor light changes the hue and tone of a paint color around the globe, but it’s an important consideration in the age of world-wide information.

You can’t cart paint colors from Tuscany and expect them to look the same in your home in Seattle. They won’t - the light is wrong; the angle of the sun is different. The outdoor amber tones no longer have the sun-drenched rays of the sun.The color might seem flat, or lifeless — certainly not the same one you were sighing over a month before. It might need booster shot (a red base) against the surrounding “coolness.”

This was the failing of a major color group some years back who predicted cool pale blues and grays and peaches (they were based in Texas) for the furniture for the next three years. Those of us in the cooler climates rolled our eyes and plotted an overthrow. (Ok, we whined for three years until the colors were eventually changed.)

Which is really a long-winded way of saying — be careful of buying a New York design magazine and using the color specifications if you live in Santa Barbara, ok? *grin*

Here’s a few other tips I’ve learned over the years:

1. Never let a relative or friend talk you into a color you don’t like.
Every time I watch a client’s Aunt Matilda’s second cousin’s brother tell her or him that purple is great because Aunt Matilda has it, I can set the timer on how long it’ll take before said client will HATE the color.

Pick a color because you like it. People who like purple or royal blue or sage or cream will (usually) always like those colors, regardless of whether they’re “in” or not. They might have a brief fling with another color, but will stay pretty faithful to their favorite one way or another, in the form of a picture or a throw cushion or a decorative piece.

Color is very personal. Marketing groups are aware of this, not just in residential and commercial design. There’s a multi-billion industry built around the psychology of color. Slightly unsettling, isn’t it?

2. Colors intensifies in corners and changes in different lighting.

Have a look at the color in the picture at the right. If we had painted the two cubes high up the wall that same intense color, the color would have been two to three shades darker than all the other paint.(Similar to children holding dandelions up to their chins to watch their skin turn yellow — the color reflects against its neighbor.) This is why the ceilings of the cubes were painted white. We needed to raise the light levels inside the cubes so we didn’t smother the decorative pieces entirely (which you can see happened in the far cube with the piece almost hidden against the color. It doesn’t show in the picture, but we did add uplighting.)

Also expect your colors to change as the sun changes position in the sky. Different times of the day also have an effect. So, don’t view your color swatches in the store. Similarly, don’t view the color in daylight if the room you’re painting doesn’t have windows. Paint colors, whether on a piece of construction board or applied directly, need to be on the wall with the lighting you’ll be using for that area.

3. Don’t be afraid of how strong the color is when you see it for the first time.
Once you’ve picked a color, especially if it’s a darker tone, don’t faint! The color on the walls before you add the furniture and paintings and final lighting looks especially intense.Even after all these years, I still suck in my breath when a wall or ceiling is freshly painted.

Be brave and wait until it’s finished. No matter what Aunt Matilda and her family says.