Diving Into Color

You want to paint your home but you're not sure where to start. Like anything else, you need to start with a plan. Don't just dive into color without thinking about a few things first.

Color

Do you want neutrals, blues, grays, golds or greens?  

Light color? Dark color? Muted?

One of each?

Sheen

What? Yes. It's another element you have to think about. 

Flat? Eggshell? Satin? Gloss?

Paint Brand

Benjamin Moore? Sherwin Williams? Valspar?

Behr? Olympic?

Tools

Natural brushes? Synthetic brushes? 

Blue tape? Frog tape? 

Actually there one more thing you need to consider - the wood tones in your home. Will the colors you choose match your flooring, furniture and kitchen cabinetry? You really need to watch those undertones!

I can tell you this. As a Color Specialist in the South Charlotte area, I know the colors that are trending and that will look great in the homes here. Sherwin Williams is the paint brand used most often here but Benjamin Moore is a close runner up. I actually prefer the colors of Benjamin Moore over Sherwin Williams but choosing a paint brand depends solely on the lighting and look you want for your home. It's highly customized.

So before you take the dive, take a look at my blog for color inspirations and ideas. A little reading now will save you a lot of time and money later. If you need one-on-one color help, you can contact me and I'll be glad to choose colors for your home.

7 Ways to Work Color Trends into Your Home

I'd like to welcome Arcadian Lighting as my guest blogger today. They are the best source for lighting fixtures and accessories at discount prices. Arcadian Lighting has been in the lighting industry for over 15 years selling decorative home lighting fixtures and lamp online and has become one of the top Internet retailer for home lighting products. Please enjoy their post on “7 Ways to Work Color Trends into Your Home.”

What's "in" in home decor is always changing and it can be tricky to find ways to work color trends into your home. However, there are loads of great options that will help spruce up a space and give it that dash of much-needed color. When paired with a great light fixture such as a ceiling lights, table lamps or even pendant lighting, you can highlight all of that glorious color with just the flip of a switch!

Blissful bedding

ARHZINE via

A brightly-patterned comforter and pillows will add instant panache to a stark bedroom - the colors of this geometric bedspread is picked up in the hanging lanterns.

Awesome accent walls

Together We Think Funny via

Rather than making the plunge and coating all of your walls in one trendy color opt to paint just one accent wall. It will give the space drama, particularly with mismatched end table lamps.

Wall decor

a.k.a. ChYmEc!nDy via

Choose a few fave shades and frame 'em - a home office looks personalized yet stylish with a wall of prints that are mixed with some photos.

Colorful flooring

Cimots via

Want a great way to work color trends into your home? Look for bright carpeting or area rugs. This floral model looks beautiful with a red couch, a bevy of different throw cushions and a modern floor lamp.

Pretty papers

Art & Design via

Give an unused nook some personality with a bold wallpaper pattern, a vintage chair and some shelving - it will instantly become your go-to reading corner.

Vibrant furniture

k House Design via

Instead of just sticking to one trendy hue go for a whole bunch! This incredible couch and rainbow-striped ottoman lends a playful feel to a casual den.

Cookin' with color

PINterest via

A lot of time is spent in the kitchen so why not make it colorful? A diner-style wall in turquoise, a black and white checker floor or a bold retro fridge are all fun options.

Content provided by Arcadian Lighting, a site that specializes in top quality light fixtures at extremely affordable prices. Come visit us today!

The Color of My Clients

I must say that I thoroughly enjoy all my clients but every now and then I meet one client that really stands out. I had the most enjoyable color consultation yesterday and I'd like to share some of her colors with you.

What a cute way to accessorize a room - with buttons! These buttons are in her sewing room which you'll see later on in this post. The room had splashes of blue throughout and a beautiful picture window highlighting her English garden that had an array of dark purple flowers. You'll know why I chose “Chaise Mauve” for this room.

The perfect accessories for a sewing room.

Great colors too!

I don't even know what to say about this plate other than “can I have it?”. This is the most perfect plate for a Color Specialist. I wonder if she has a coffee cup to match? My clients mother, who incidentally was a painter, made this beautiful plate.

Ok, let get into the color choices.

Yup, the dreaded “Pinky Beige”.

I can't help but laugh every time I see this! By the way, the colors I chose for this room are Softened Green and Artichoke, two of my favorite Sherwin Williams greens for the Master Bedroom. You can see these two colors in the pillow and it actually looks beautiful with the bedding but as usual, the monitor rep of the photo is not accurate.

… you know how much I love sampling color on the wall.

Eny, meeny, miny, moe!

COLOR TIP: Don't know what color to paint your room? Look at plates for color inspirations. All the colors are already arranged for you! 

This color can also be seen in the plates 

featured in the sewing room.

You have to be REALLY careful when your considering painting your room peach. It's important to know the function of a room before ANY color is chosen. In this guest room,  my client wanted a color to make the room feel cozy and warm. I also had to work with the yellow and blue that you see in the bedding - peach - was the natural choice to complement the blue. 

This is one of my favorite “peach” colors from Valspar. It's Mark Twain House Peach and it's a National Trust for Historic Preservation Color. I don't use Valspar colors too often but I absolutely LOVE this line of colors.

The Colors in Grandma's Pins

I was looking through my jewelry box the other day and keep bumping into these large pins that used to be Grandma's. Do I wear them? No, not really but I keep them because I love the colors and they have sentimental value of course.

Look at all the colors that can be seen in these pins! If the light hits it just right (and these pins were photographed in fun sun) you can see neon colors. Would I uses these pins as color inspiration for a home? You could but maybe just a few.

Look at the last six colors from the blue pin. I would definitely use those in a home. Keep the beige for the foyer and hallways and have fun with the rest. Use the darker colors for office, living room and dining and maybe the gray or yellow for the kitchen. Great color palette.

Look at these crazy colors! 

They certainly don't play well together.

I love these pin colors! They are soft, a bit cool and definitely unique. Looking at the colors vertically. I like the pastels on the far right column the best. The center column would make great man cave colors and the first column is rather contemporary.

You can see all these colors in this pin if you look closely. The peach and sea foam seem a bit out of place. They are colors that were found in the reflection of one of the stones but not are not part of the color palette of this pin. The top three are my favorite.

Look how fun color can be! 

Colors That Play Nice

Colors are a lot like kids. Some get along nicely and others don't. What does that mean? It's means that when you have a houseful of color, do the colors flow and relate to each other or do they fight to the point of annoyance when you walk into the room?

Colors that get along.

Some colors are like “bullies” and just don't get along with other colors. The undertones are wrong or they are just too far way from each other on the color wheel to make sense. They may be too dark, too bright or just too harsh for the room they need to be in.

Colors that fight.

Colors need to “get along” especially if you have a home with an open floor plan. The color that starts off in your foyer certainly needs to “be friends” or relate to the color you have in your kitchen. 

The same thing goes for not just the colors you have on your walls but the color that is already in your home such as your countertops, cabinetry, flooring and furniture.

Having said that, here is a color palette suggestion 

on colors that play very well with each other. 

They're friends for life!

Colors that flow and relate.

If you need me to help your colors get a long better, I'm a Color Specialist located in the Waxhaw area and you can contact me for a color consultation. I would love to see your colors get along too!

Dreamy Bedroom Colors

What are soft , dreamy colors? 

Pastels? 

Light colors? 

Washed out color? 

I would say yes, dreamy colors can be all of that. The colors that are shown here are perfect for a Master Bedroom. There are three colors to choose from so you'll have a main color, an accent and perhaps one for the master bathroom. You can mix and match them at least a few dozen ways to get the look you like best.

The same goes for these colors. You'll have a soft transition from room to room. This is so soft and beautiful, almost like the colors of an opal. 

The colors in these palettes will be a happy medium for BOTH him and her - a little blue for him and  some pink for her. You've heard me mention this in other posts before. That's one of the tricky obstacles about choosing color for a master. There are TWO people that will have to love the color choices.

Where can you find color inspiration for soft, dreamy colors for your bedroom?

Paintings

Fabric

Photographs of sunrises and sunsets

Beaches 

Dishing Out Color

When I was in my early 20's, I had some extra money and wanted to make an investment in China tableware. So I marched myself to the local Macy's and stayed there for what seemed like hours, trying to decide on my first set of fine china.

Of course I was looking at all the pretty patterns and colors. Do I want a solid plate, one with a pattern, bright color, dark color? I had no idea.

Macy's

Let me also tell you that back when I was 20, it was the 80's and most of us know what colors were popular than. See what I mean?

Everyone likes flowers right? 

Maybe a floral plate would be nice?

Black and white goes it everything - maybe this?

Wow - classic Lenox with gold banding - how boring! 

Who'd want a plain old white plate?

Well my friends, think back when you were 20. I keep saying to myself if I only knew then what I know now … you've said it too right? So anyway. This is what I did.

I chose the Mikasa Purple Crocus pattern. Why? Because I love flowers, crocus's symbolize the beginning of spring and even back then I thought purple in any shade was a pretty color. Well, unbeknownst to me the best choice would have been to go with the “boring” white Lenox.

Is it a pretty plate? I think so but do you know how gross food looks beside purple? It's very distracting when food is on this plate because I always see the flowers poking through the food - it's almost like a game. Try to eat all the food on my plate so I can uncover the flowers. Not a good game to play by the way.

Another disadvantage of this plate is that's is very seasonal. Crocus's are symbolic of new beginnings, much like Spring. I tried using this plate at Thanksgiving and it was just so very wrong.

So ladies, gentlemen, brides to be, whoever is thinking about purchasing fine china, definitely consider a white or soft white plate with a little bit of gold or platinum banding on it. It's timeless and will go with any table setting you have, any meal will look good on it and you can use it year round. 

Worried that it's too boring? Not at all! You can always bring color onto your table with napkins, tablecloths, flowers - just about anything. 

So if I had to do it again, yes I would probably choose a classic soft white plate but also still choose something a little whimsical too - just to make the Color Specialist part of me happy too!