Color has immediate impact on our lives
"Of all God's gifts to the sighted man, color is holiest, the most divine, the most solemn." --John Ruskin
Look around. What do you see? Color of course.
Color is all around us. From the palette of colors we see in our wonderful Colorado outdoors - the typically blue sky, greens, whites, reds and yellows of spring, summer and fall; the browns, grays and whites of winter, to all the colors used in our clothing, packaging, household items and at work. Color is so much a part of our lives we may often ignore what is right in front of us.
In scientific terms, color is defined as the effect produced on the eye and its associated nerves by light waves of different wavelength or frequency. Light transmitted from an object to the eye stimulates the different color cones of the retina, thus making possible perception of various colors in the object. In short, color is our perception of light reflected off of a surface.
Color affects and influences us both emotionally and psychologically on all levels, whether it is personal or business. Color can heat things up or cool things down. Without a doubt there is a psychology of color. Color impacts our mood, our appetite, our energy level. Years of color response research have shown that certain colors elicit specific and often strong responses.
Choosing paint colors can be a challenge
Painting is the most versatile element of your room decor, the easiest to change, and the least expensive.
Choosing paint colors does take time so be patient.
By following these recommendations you can help ease the challenging aspects of paint color selection.
1. What Colors Already Exist?
What features of your room are permanent? If you're not starting from square one with an empty room, a clean palette so to speak, what are the colors of the flooring or floor covering, the window treatments, the furnishings. How about the lighting? Remember that color is the reflection of light on a surface. Also keep in mind that colors that will be present will impact the new colors and visa-versa.
2. What's To Be Painted?
Does everything need to be painted - all surfaces of a room or the entire exterior?
If not, working with some of the existing painted surfaces or working with colors in an adjoining room or with adjacent painted surfaces is very important to the selection of new colors.
3. Discover Your Color Preferences
Use the link below to learn what colors you prefer. Two interesting online quizzes for both interior and exterior colors provides
4. Gather and Study
Gather
the samples of the various parts of your design - carpeting, fabric, tile and trim or roof color, brick, etc. for exteriors. Study the samples working with paint color strips. What is complementary between paint colors and design samples? Look to include your preferred colors (from #3 above).
5. Sample the Colors
It's time to try your color selections on the actual surfaces. Thanks to John Harris of Belcaro Paints, the metro Denver paint store owner who developed the original small sample bottles of paint that the entire industry has since adopted, sampling paint colors is easy and economical. Applying actual samples of paint color selections provides proof of what your choices will be affected by the light (remember to check colors with daylight and electric lights at night. and all other impacts in the actual area to be painted. Word of warning: don't go overboard with too many selections and samples. If you do, more often than not, you will make the process and final selection much more difficult.
We Can Help
We can directly assist you in choosing your paint colors. Color selection is a part of many of our projects. When more in-depth color and design work is needed we can assist your project needs by calling upon one of the many design pros that we work with.
Understand Your Color Preferences
Use this online Color Personality Profile developed for Pratt & Lambert Paints to find and better understand your color preferences. Two simple quizzes that will help you figure out what color combinations are best suited for your needs and personality. One quiz is for interior colors and the other for exterior colors.
Go to the Color Personality Profiles
Want to Learn More?
If you would like to learn more about color trends, the psychology of color, color theory or use one of the online color selection tools, please review the links below.
-Digital Color Wheel
An excellent tool to learn more about color, color definitions, and color schemes.
-Color Trends
-Color Psychology
-Color Theory
Online Color Selection Tools
These online tools allow you to try color selections on photo images of various room types, surfaces and exterior designs.
-Paint Quality Institute
-Benjamin Moore Paints
-Pratt & Lambert Paints
-The Sherwin-Williams Co.
