Adventures In Styleland!

Choosing a wall color can be fun, its all in the approach….and help from your painting professional! While doing a room for Vanguard Showhouse, I was asked to do a tour through the house and talk about the paint colors. As National Color consultant for Certa Pro Painters, I was happy to lead the tour.

One of the first questions was:

Q : What is the lovely grey color on the walls? And how do I know if it’s right for my home?

A: The question-of-the-day on the house tour was ‘What color are the walls?’  The answer was Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter.  Once I answered, nearly everyone who asked the question, replied “This can’t be Revere Pewter !  I have used that color or have sampled Revere Pewter and this is not what it looked like.”  Although each person’s experience with Revere Pewter was different, the consensus was that the color looked great in this home.

Selecting the right paint color for your space is a process that takes time and a number of steps to achieve.

There are many factors that can affect paint color:

• Natural light : the direction the light is coming from (northern exposure and eastern exposure each provide a very different quality of light),
• Artificial light : will you have incandescent, fluorescent, or LED lighting?  Or a mixture of some or all of these?
• Surroundings : what furnishings, artwork, draperies, rugs, and hard finishes are there in the space?  Each of these factors will have an influence on the wall color.

Paint colors should be selected in the space they will be utilized.  Look at the color swatches next to the fabrics and finishes intended for the space.

• Start by finding a few (2-3) options for each space.
• Ask your decorator or Painter if he/she can order larger color sheets for you, BM has 18 x18 and Sherwin Williams has 8 x 10
• If the large color sheets are not available, ask the paint store to mix the smallest quantity for you (in the intended sheen) for each of the options you have selected.
• Paint the colors on a board such as poster board, or some spare drywall pieces.  Painting on the wall may seem like a great shortcut, however as soon as you put 3 big splashes of color on the wall next to each other, each of the samples is affected by the other colors, and are therefore not rendering true.  Another reason to sample on a board is that you can carry the color from room to room, as well as from wall to wall.  The color will look different on a wall with a window than a wall opposite a window than on the ceiling.
• Seeing the color in multiple locations, and at different times of day (with natural light during the day, and artificial light in the evening) will allow you to really study the color and decide which is right for you.

If you are still feeling unsure about the process and selecting the right colors for your space, please give Certa Pro a call they would be more than happy to provide a color consultation for just the one room you are ready to paint, or your entire home or commercial space. Set up your appointment for a free quote at the Home Expo Terri Gargano of CertaPro Albany will be at Booth 348 in the Times Union Center.

Stay Tuned for more Adventures in Styleland

XOXO

M

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