In my first post I thought I'd talk a little about interior painting, and in particular, what color to choose.
Interior painting is one of those things you either love or hate. Okay "love" might be a bit strong, but knowing what color to choose can make the process a little less frustrating.
A basic understanding of color theory can be helpful when trying to decide on a color pallet for a particular room but when it comes right down to it, choosing color isn't so much science as it is emotional. The color you choose needs to make you feel the way you want to feel and that's the bottom line.
Warm or advancing colors such as reds and oranges are considered to be energetic colors. These colors should be used in areas where you might want to create more of an active feel.
The warmer colors can produce feelings of confidence, adventure, and socializing.
A word of caution here. One of my customers had me paint her master bathroom with a color called Red Alert. Now I knew it was a bold color with a very aggressive feel to it but despite my gentle guidance toward another less intense color, she remained committed to Red Alert.
The act of painting the color itself was alarming!
Within a week she had me back to repaint the room saying she felt as though the walls were "angry with her every morning" while she readied for work. We all have things that bring intense feelings into our lives - our bathroom walls probably shouldn't be one of them.
On the other side of the spectrum we have the cool colors such as blues and greens. Like the color of water and trees these colors seem to retreat and relax us. Green, as you've been told in every conceivable way is the color of health and wellness, at least from an environmental viewpoint. Soothing colors help you relax and unwind and find a perfect home in bedrooms, bathrooms, and sitting areas.
When trying to decide which color to use you can go to your local paint vendor and collect color chips within the family of colors you think might work. Make sure you grab all the shades within the color family that interests you. This will keep you from making too many return trips for the color just above or below the one you took home.
Another way is to purchase or borrow the paint vendor's color deck. Generally these decks have over 6000 colors arranged in a useful manner. I like working from color decks because you can get into a family of colors you like and fan them out on your flooring or next to your bed spread or whatever you want to coordinate with.
This first step in painting a room is deciding on a color. This exercise doesn't have to be frustrating and can actually be quite enjoyable. Look through some of your favorite magazines for ideas or check out Benjamin Moore's color finder software program. There's a link to the program on my website at: www.absolutepaint.com
Although I have more to say on this and other subjects regarding interior painting I'm thinking brief is better here in the blog world.
So bye for now - and keep on painting!
The Painter Dude
Michael Cadieux
