Are you reading this post because your walls look like this? More often than not, this is what I see when I enter a home for a color consultation.
Or this.
Or this.
The paint manufacturers know what they’re doing with their sample kits. Yes, they offer a chance to sample paint at a fraction of the cost of a gallon, but maybe they are preying on the whims and insecurities of the color challenged. At five or six dollars a pop, when I add up all the colors sampled on these individual walls, it almost surpasses the fees of a seasoned color consultant -someone who sees the undertones of a given hue, understands the nature of light, but also can pinpoint the direction the client wants to go whether it be by consciously asking the right questions or by sheer intuition.
Sampling paint in the above pictorial illustrations is the WORST way to go about it. Color interacts with its neighbor and you’re not going to get an accurate read this way. It is crucial to isolate it while painting a very large swath of color, not just a 12” square. And you should live with it for a couple of days. This way you can experience the hue under different lighting conditions. Look at it out of the corner of your eye. This is a great trick I learned from former painting teacher, Bill Elston, a master of realist painting who is spot on with seeing accurate color. You’ll know it, when it’s right.
Another approach I advocate is painting on poster board. Hold the board vertically, at arm’s length to view only this color in front of your face and no other competing elements. Plus, you can move it around the room.
I hope this helps. If not, please contact me. 206-353-0454 ebrown@eb-color.com
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9 comments:
ack, those example pictures are hilarious! another point to make with clients is that their painter will have oodles more work to do, priming over the swatches and sanding down the edges of each blotch. great suggestions!
That is such a great point, Rachel, thanks for addressing that.
I wonder if they teach that in color consulting school? :-)
We did the same thing but used cut up rectangles of left over sheetrock...remember those? We still got overwhelmed with so many...it was ridiculous, thank goodness you came to the rescue and sorted it all out...clarified the choices we were considering and added your brilliant two cents on every color.
You gave me the gift of a sigh of relief and the thumbs-up to some beautiful colors! :)
Those are such great photos, Elizabeth!! I don't think any of my clients have gotten to THAT point before me. If they did, they covered it up before I got there. I think the first one should have just kept going until the entire room was covered in different colored paint swatches. Could've looked like some funky Kelly Wearstler-style wallpaper!! ;)
Thanks for your comments on the Top 1 Oil blog!
Great photos! I've come across this way too often - including one where the samples were tiny dabs, some smaller than rectangles in fan decks! After I explained why the eye can't see colors accurately that way, she did more before our 2nd visit. For these situations, I always spec Aura since everything can be covered with the standard two coats.
Hi Beth,
Nice to meet you! I really enjoyed visiting your website. I love the gray living room. For obvious reasons, gray is very hard sell here in the Pacific Northwest.
Thanks for the great tip (duh!) to spec Aura is those situations. So nice to have peers to learn from!
eb
Nice to meet you, too, Elizabeth - and I LOVE your home page photo. I found you on Kelly's blog; I'm IACC too. I hate to admit it since you like it, but in the interest of full disclosure, the living room is a soft sage green. (I've seen it look gray on some computers.) Do I admit it that I gently try to move my clients away from grays most of the time? Honestly, I think the palette of the photo on my contact page is the best. ;)
Elizabeth
EXCELLENT post! I go into so many homes that look like that!!! I will be filing this away for future reference.
Wow, those picture reminds me of so many client homes I walk into! They are so frustrated and usually have lost track of what color is what. Usually the samples are too small and competing with each other to confuse the poor client.
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