One of the best ways to bring new energy into your space is with color, especially wall color.

Color Through Think and Thin:

Choosing and Working with Color and Paints

Factoid:  There are over 16 thousand paint colors to choose from. Up from 4-6 hundred in the 1990’s. No wonder you are overwhelmed when is comes to choosing colors for your rooms.

Recently I gave a class called “Choosing Colors with Confidence.” While preparing for it I discovered fascinating new information. Here is a miscellany of tips for you.

Choosing Color

• Cool colors are often labeled relaxing while warm colors are called stimulating, but to get this effect you need to choose the right shade of a color. There is nothing relaxing about Electric Blue or Turquoise Green. Architectural Psychology shows us that soft versions of any color are the most relaxing. You don’t have to go to pastels to get this effect. Colors that have a warm undertone and are not too bright will be relaxing. Perhaps a medium Periwinkle Blue, Cornflower Blue, or Marine Blue would be more relaxing. While Sea Pink or Beach Sand may be relaxing versions of warm colors.
• Let your own response to a color guide you, rather than unquestioningly copying a color from a magazine or book. All a color may need is a simple tweek in shade or tint to become the color with which you feel most comfortable.
• It is easiest to make color comparisons against a gray background.  Or you can hold up your hand against the wall or paint sample. Or frame the color with your hands.
• If you feel like you have looked at every paint chip on the planet and still cannot find a color you like, you might have the fine-tuned eye that responds to full-spectrum paints. Full spectrum paint has some of each of the eight colors of the light spectrum mixed into the paint. This gives them a fuller color. (Words fail me when describing colors and their qualities.)  These paints give variations on the color as the light changes in the space.  Full-spectrum color comes at a price - $50, 80, even $100 per gallon.  Reputable full-spectrum paint lines include Donald Kaufman Color Collection (the US pioneer), C2 paints, Ellen Kennon Paints, Farrow and Ball (UK paint company uses centuries old formulas and have the highest percentage of pigment in their paints), and Citron Paint.

Choosing Paints

Flat, Eggshell, or Gloss: when to use them and how they affect the perception of color and space.

•    Flat paint gives the truest color rendering.

            Flat paint is most susceptible to showing marks and dirt. Benjamin Moore has a new flat paint they say is as easy to clean as other surfaces.

            Walls painted with flat paint appear to recede.

•    Gloss paint reflects light and makes a wall appear to advance toward you.

            Gloss paint requires the most meticulous wall preparation because it reveals every flaw on the surface.

            Gloss paint colors look lighter

Gloss paint is the easiest to clean and looks great on woodwork and doors.

•    Eggshell or Satin can be the great compromise.

            Eggshell/Satin has a subtle sheen

            Eggshell/Satin does not reveal marks and smudges.

            Eggshell/Satin has minimal color distortion compared to gloss paint.

• Avoid using flat paint in the deepest color in high traffic areas as they will burnish (rub to a shiny or polished look) more easily than light to mid tones

Working with Paints

• If you want to use a deeper or more saturated color and want to avoid 4 or more coats of color, use a base paint that is tinted gray.  It is more effective in giving depth to your color and requiring fewer coats of your color (2-3) than a base paint that is tinted with your color. This has to do with light reflectance and light penetrating the first layer of color paint and revealing some of the lightness of the base coat underneath. Sherwin Williams has a line of gray base paints and their more saturated colors chips tell you what shade of gray base paint works best. This will make your color look more saturated; have more depth of color.
• Then just to confuse things, Donald Kaufman of the Donald Kaufman Color Collection advises if you want a color to glow from within use a white base coat. This is best for lighter colors or full-spectrum colors paints.
• If you are painting switch and outlet plate, first spray them with Kilz, which comes in a small spray can, and then paint with wall paint, The Kilz helps to keep the paint from wearing off. – This is from the Ellen Kennon website.
• If you are using latex paints you need to paint over latex. If you are not sure the paint on the wall is latex, then test by rubbing a small amount of isopropyl alcohol (from the drug store) on a spot you will paint. If it comes off, then the paint is latex.
• When cleaning a painted wall, avoid products with alcohol. Ivory liquid soap and Murphy’s Oil Soap are good choices. Allow several weeks for a freshly painted wall to cure before cleaning.

Above all, trust your intuition and use colors you love.

Contact Linda at 781-643-8697 for a personal consultation.