Finding Pleasing Colors The procedure of picking paint colors for your home may seem totally subjective--you simply select the colors you like. That is only partly true. While it makes sense to start with the colors you like, other elements come into play. For example, do the colors you've chosen work well together? Do they compliment furnishing, carpeting, and window treatments already in use? Picking paint colors is really part skill and part science. Let's start with the science part first.
Employing the Color Wheel The color wheel arranges the color spectrum in a circle. It really is a sensible way to see which colors work well together. It includes primary colors (red, blue, and yellow), secondary colors (green, orange, violet), and tertiary colors (red-blue, blue-red, and so on). Secondary colors are made by mixing two primaries together, such as blue and yellow to make green. A primary color such as blue and a secondary color such as green can be blended to make a tertiary color--in this case, turquoise.
Now that there is a color wheel in front of you, utilize it to help you envision certain color combinations. An analogous scheme consists of neighboring colors that share an underlying hue.
Complementary colors lie opposite each other on the color wheel and often work well together. For instance a red and green living room in full intensity might be hard to stomach, but look at a rosy pink room with sage green accents. Exactly the same complements in varying intensities can make attractive, soothing combinations. A dual complementary color design involves yet another set of opposites, such as green-blue and red-orange.
Alternatively, you might choose a monochromatic scheme that involves using one color in a variety of intensities. This ensures a harmonious color scheme. When creating a monochromatic design, lean toward several tints or several shades, but avoid too many contrasting values, that is, combinations of tints and shades. This can make your design look uneven.
If you want a more technical palette of three or more colors, look at the triads formed by three equidistant colors, such as red/yellow/blue or green/purple/orange. A split complement comprises three colors- one primary or intermediate and two colors on either part of its opposing side of the wheel. For example, instead of teaming purple with yellow, switch the mix to purple with orange-yellow and yellow-green.
Lastly, four colors equally spaced round the wheel, such as yellow/green/purple/red, form a tetrad. If such combinations seem a little like Technicolor, understand that colors designed for interiors are almost never undiluted. Thus yellowish might be cream; blue-purple, a dark eggplant; and orange-red, a muted terra-cotta or whisper-pale peach. With less jargon, the color combinations fall into both of these basic camps:
Harmonious or analogous; strategies, derived from neighboring colors on the wheel less than halfway around.
Contrasting or complementary; strategies, derived from colors that are directly opposite on the wheel.
Colors for the Interior Don't just choose one color; think in terms of picking a color scheme. Review your furniture, curtains, draperies, and rugs, and take note of which colors might go with them.
Next, be aware of how many colors you think you might be using. Will the baseboards be a different color than the walls? They usually are unless the trim is in bad shape and you do not want to call attention to it. The same is true of other trim, such as windows casings and chair rail.
How about the area where the walls meet the ceiling? Will you install crown molding or some other type of cornice treatment there? Or will you be painting the walls and demarcating the ceiling and wall junction with a color change?
In addition to paint colors, you'll also need to look for the level of finish or sheen the paint will have. The options range from the most shiny (high gloss and semi-gloss) to the dullest (eggshell and flat). These designations differ with paint suppliers, but they are essential because the sheen of paint influences the color. A rule of thumb states that walls usually get flat or eggshell surface finishes whereas ceilings are almost invariably decorated with a flat finish. Trim is normally painted with a semi-gloss or high gloss. These coatings are stronger and simpler to clean than duller surface finishes.
Think in terms of groups of colors.
Paint manufacturers group like colors together like below:
Color Chips for Interior Walls All paint stores provide color chips of the paints they sell. Color chips will give you a small scale idea of what the actual colors can look like once applied. You will need to do more than check out color chips to obtain a true sense of your colors... nevertheless they are a good place to start. Actually, a seasoned sales person at your local paint store can help you select color chips in a scheme. In the event that you choose a buttercup yellow for the walls, the sales person can suggest color chips that are typically associated with a design that has buttercup yellow as its anchor color.
When you have whittled down your color choices, go through the color chips or swatches in different types of light including natural light at differing times of your day and in varying levels of artificial light. Even then, this color chip process is merely to get a concept of paints that you will sample in bigger swaths of color. Very few professional designers select from chips, even though they could start their color selection from chips. If they do examine chips, they examine them one at a time on a white background.
Color Changing Keep in mind that large surface areas make any paint color look darker than the color chip. The degree of variant is usually up to two shades. If you select the color chip you want, step "back" two shades darker for a true representation of what the color can look like when dry. Also, paint always looks darker once it dries. So, when you finally apply the paint, don't worry if the color doesn't look right initially. Hang on until it dries.
When you are zeroing in on your final colors, paint a 2 x 3 foot poster board or cloth material with the anchor color and stick it around the house so that you can see it in different light and near different colored carpets and furniture.
Color and Room Size Colors make a difference the way you perceive the size of a room. Warm colors like reds, yellows, and oranges will make a space appear smaller because they can provide a cozy feeling to the space. The so called cool colors like blues and greens may actually recede from you, making a room appear larger than it truly is. If you really want to make an area seem large go with a vintage standby like a shade of white (there are dozens) or a neutral color.
Estimating Room Size As you get closer to buying paint, determine the square footage of the room you will paint. Multiply the length of each wall by the width. Subtract the area occupied by the entrance doors, house windows, and other openings. Add all of the measurements together to get a total square footage of the area you must paint. If you're applying two coats which is normal for most paint jobs, you will be painting the surface twice.
Sound Quality Painting
824 90th Dr SE suite B
Lake Stevens WA 98258
(425) 512-7400
https://sites.google.com/1upserve.com/painter-lake-stevens
