Color Demystified

Color demystified. That is what we’re hoping to achieve here. Many people have a fear of color commitment. There are many factors that can effect colors. Many would rather do nothing then pick a color and get it wrong.These are some of the question they  might be asking themselves.

• “How do I know what color to choose?”
• “What happens if I don’t like the color once I paint it on the walls?”
• “Why does the paint color look different from the swatch to the walls?”

All very good questions. So let start by getting a better understanding of color. Lets review our color schemes. Whether you remember this or not from school, you probably learned some of these color scheme.

• Primary colors, red, blue and yellow. Primary colors can’t be mixed to form any colors, but all colors are derived from these three.
• Secondary colors.That’s when you mixed two primary colors to get another color for example: blue and red make purple.
• Complementary color. Colors opposite of each other. Ex: yellow and blue.
• Split complementary. Color opposite each other but one color is split. Ex: purple with yellow/orange
• Analogous. Colors the are right next to each other. Ex: yellow and orange.
• Triads. These are 3 color that  are equals distance on the wheel. These could be primary or secondary.Ex:purple, green and orange.
• Tetrads. This uses lots of color and can be found in exotic prints.

Why do we need to know this? Well it helps do decide what color scheme you may want. If you pick colors from an analogous scheme, you will get  a soothing and calm effect. If you pick from the other three scheme you will get a more bold effect. Then there is lighting. Incandescent, florescent, day light, just to name a few. Colors will change depending on these lights.

Now that we know a little bit more about color, let answer those questions.

• How do I know what color to choose? I usually recommend that you pick a color from an item that is already in the room. If you like a particular vase, use that as your inspiration for color. If its the bedroom, choose a color from the comforter. The kitchen, choose a color from your dishes or pick one of the color schemes above .Clip away magazines, catalog and photos to get inspirations. Or choose a color scheme, this will guide you in choosing colors.
• What happens if I don’t like the color once I paint it on the walls? There isn’t much you can do once it’s painted, but there is something you can do before you paint the walls. Many paint brands now carry sample size. Pick a color and paint it on a form board. Tack it on the wall that you’re going to paint. Check the color in the morning, afternoon, with the lights on and in direct sunlight (you may have to move the sample around). This will give you an idea of what the color will look like throughout the day and night. You won’t believe the difference lighting will make on a color.
• Why does the paint color look different from the swatch to the walls? There is a term called metamerism. This is when you pick a color in the store but when you get it home, it looks horrible. This happens because the paint needs to be seen where it’s going to live. You must see the paint in different situation in order to truly  see the many hue of that color. Remember paint always dries darker on the walls. So it’s best to pick a color lighter then the original one you chose.

A few thing to remember.

• Colors stimulate different emotions.
• White doesn’t always make a room seem larger.
• trims and molding don’t always have to be white
• chose a high quality paint. It goes on faster, easy, requires less coats, splatter less and stands up better.