“Choose Color with Confidence©”

Riddle of Wisdom:

“What is purple in the earth, red in the market and yellow on the table?” – Iranian riddle. Answer below

I experienced metamerism even before I knew the word existed.  Several years ago I painted the living room in my former home “Pink Pebble.” (Who thinks up these names?)  It was a peachy color and worked beautifully with my antique pine furniture and teal blue sofa with peach accents.  After I painted the room and lived in it a while I discovered….. the morning light made the walls appear pale pink, in the afternoon they were a vibrant peachy orange, and at night - with incandescent lights - they became a soft pinky peach.  Each color was a variation on the one I originally selected. The changing colors created an additional dimension to my experience of the room. It was wonderful!

Metamerism: Did the paint change on the way home from the hardware store? or how light effects our perception of color.

I love it when I discover a word that succinctly defines something for me. I discovered the word “metamerism” at a color seminar last month. Metamerism (me-tam-er-ism) is when the same color looks different under two different light sources. This is due to a complex interaction between the light reflecting off a surface and the chemical properties (pigments) of the color source. ….. And light carries color energy waves to our eyes. 

This is why I encourage you to make your final color choice in the room where you are going to use the color.  The same goes for matching or coordinating colors between paints, fabrics and accent pieces. 

Complex colors, colors that need more than one word to describe them – peachy pink or sage green, are more likely to shift in perception than simple colors –  red or  blue.

Glossy paint finishes also effect how a color is perceived because of how they reflect the light.

Solution:

• Get several paint chips from your paint store and tape them on more than one wall. Then look at how the colors appear at different times of day and under different light.
• Take advantage of the tester pints of colors that are available from many manufacturers. Paint directly on the wall or on a poster board that can be moved from wall to wall or room to room. Ideally cover the entire front surface of the poster board, so the white of the cardboard does not interfere with your perception of the color in the space.

Avoid costly and time consuming mistakes

Choose Color with Confidence©

Contact Linda to set up an appointment for a color and/or Feng Shui consultation for your home or office.
781-643-8697

Book Review

I love collecting bits of historical trivia.I am currently re-reading “Color: A Natural History of the Palette” by Victoria Finlay, Ballantine Books, 2002.  This is a history and geography of pre-synthetic pigments. Learn how people traveled to the far corners of the world to bring the raw materials for dyes and paint pigments back to Europe.  Finlay describes how the blue pigment used for paintings of Mary in Renaissance paintings was more valuable than gold. It came from lapis lazuli imported by camel, ox cart and sailing ship from deep mines in eastern Afghanistan.

Riddle answer:  Saffron.

Saffron is purple in the earth because it comes from purple crocus flowers.

Saffron is red in the market because the stamens plucked from the center of the flower are red when dried.

Saffron is yellow on the table because it gives food a beautiful yellow color when cooked.