Color Selection Tips for Our Customers

Those little color chips from the paint store…

The number one factor in how a color looks in a room is lighting. Natural sunlight gives the truest color. Southern exposures tend to have brighter, warmer light quality; northern facing rooms that do not get much sun appear cooler and have a blue cast. Fluorescent lighting in kitchen and laundry rooms can enhance blues and greens, and make reds appear dull. Incandescent lighting makes yellows and reds brighter, and at the same time, dulls the brightness of blue.

There are many factors to consider when selecting a color for the walls. Paint on a large wall area will always look darker, or more intense. Eggshell or satin finishes make color appear polished and will reflect more light. All colors have a temperature. Reds, yellows and oranges are considered warm---they visually advance towards you to make a room seem smaller. Use them for areas where you want to bring down the scale of high ceilings or tall walls. Cool colors such as blue, green and violet visually recede. Use them to make small rooms feel more spacious. In open floor plans, colors such as earth-toned neutrals, grays and off whites work well because they aren't visually overpowering.

Look at your color swatches during different times of day, under different light sources before determining whether you want to live with your new color. The key to color combinations is determining what colors you already have to work with. The pieces you choose for the room should determine how your color story develops.