The Keys to Color Selection

One of the most important parts to the painting puzzle process is the color selection. No matter how well the surface is prepared or how correct the paint is applied – the color selection drives th final results of the painting process.

Have you ever selected the most perfect color at the paint store, purchased a sample like a pouch or quart and brought the paint home – only to find the color just doesn’t look the same as it did at the store?

There are several factors that effect how you see color. Most of the challenges with color selection has to do the surroundings and the relative difference between the color you are trying to select and other colors around you.

The environment. The paint store usually has florescent lights because they cost less to operate – yet this type of lighting gives a color green cast to the store. So a warm tan color in the paint store will transcend to a plum like rose at home under the more natural yellow light at home. The paint chips at the paint store only get you close. They are a help to getting you headed in the right direction, but that is all. Remember, the paint sample at on the pain card at the store is usually ink on paper and you are expecting the card to help you select paint to apply on a wall.

The environment at home is the next issue. Colors are in your home that can and can not be changed. The hard wood floor in your family kitchen area may be reflecting a rather orange hue on to your white kitchen cabinets, such that the lower cabinets are a faded cream and the upper cabinets look relatively white. A large painting in a entry way may be influencing the color on the adjacent walls.

Relative color. You may want to enrich the feeling in a particular part of your home by selecting a darker color for the walls and ceilings. Once you select your color check it out with the woodwork. The darker color will make the current white woodwork look more white. You may like the new effect and like how the woodwork “pops”. Often times a lighter color in the same color family can appear to be white. A ratio of 1/6th to 1/8h is used to reach this relatively white color
North and south. In side your office or home you may have rooms that predominantly face a particular direction. If you are trying to develop a bright warm feeling you may have to go one step brighter to get the same effect as you have in a south facing part of your. A south facing room can react with sunshine and create a different shade depending on the time of day and the type of weather. So if you don’t like the color take a quick break – going shopping and when you come back the color will be different particularly in this Northwest Oregon climate of continual weather change.

In summary. You will enjoy the process of selecting the right colors for your home if you stay open to the fact that color will change color inside your home. You are really selecting a range of color that you can expect. Be open to the fact the best color may be a color that you initially did not have as a top choice. Be patient and ask yourself what are my favorite colors. Don’t hesitate to ask a friend or a professional for help. Some time the best help is an extra set of eyes.