Hue

Seeing Red...

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:42:00 +0000

I'm back! Well, sort of...

After an exciting drive across the country with our dog Lucy in our trusty Subaru station wagon, we are now at our new place in Rockridge, a cute little neighborhood in Oakland, CA right on the border of Berkeley. Racing across the country to meet our moving van, we arrived to discover that in fact, the driver had never picked up our stuff, and that our possessions were still in Baltimore. Somehow, Bekin finds it impossible to find a driver to take our things to CA, and they've had a month to do it! Needless to say, we are furious with Bekin. I know this post has little to do with color, but I just had to share with you my experience, to hopefully save someone else the stress and frustration. Don't ever use Bekin!

Okay, more soon....

Soothing Colors for Babies

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Today's guest post comes from Kelly Berg, IIDA, IACC-NA, an interior designer, color consultant, and style expert. Her website is Arte Styling. Kelly is a woman of many talents - from set decorating for TV and film, to recipe development, to event decorating, to residential and commercial design work. She recently rediscovered her passion for color and become a member of the IACC- NA.

Soothing Colors for Babies

I recently received my new Baby & Child catalog from Restoration Hardware. Cute, but where is the color? I was hoping to see some great new color palettes - maybe some punchy tangerine? Shimmering turquoise? Apple green?

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Instead I got “cloud” (a pale sky blue), “petal” (a soft pink), “silver sage” (a soft grey-green), and “bisque” (a creamy neutral.) Not bad colors, but couldn’t Restoration Hardware have come up with something a little more original? Sure, they brought in a very sophisticated chocolate-y brown to change things up, but aren’t these still the same baby colors we’ve been seeing for years and years? Am I the only one a little bored with the colors in this “new” collection of baby goods?

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Restoration Hardware says it’s a soothing color palette for your little ones. But is it really soothing? Do we really know that pastel pinks and blues create a soothing environment for infants? 

I was curious what sort of information was out there regarding the topic, so I did a little google search on “soothing colors for babies.” And, surprise, surprise - everyone seems to want “soothing” colors for baby. According to popular opinion (nothing scientific), “soothing” colors are pastels- soft yellows, blues, pinks and greens. Here are a few other babies’ rooms that celebrate pastel colors:

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Again - not bad design or bad colors. They have sort of a “soothing” feel, right?

I continued googling and and uncovered recent research published in Wired magazine, suggesting that adults may not even see color the same as infants, making it even more difficult for us to determine what colors may or may not be “soothing” for babies.

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Another recent study from the Smith Kettelwell Eye Research Institute reports that

“Infants' color vision is not likely to be as rich and sensitive as adult color vision since the receptors and nerves in the eye that are most sensitive to color (again, in the fovea) are not yet mature. Thus, infants may not be able to distinguish very subtle color differences (like distinguishing between red and reddish-orange, or between very subtle pastel colors).”(source)

So all the “soothing” pastel colors we think are perfect for baby may not even be differentiated by an infants’ eye? Perhaps more vibrant nursery designs might be more interesting for baby?

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What do you think? Do you like Restoration Hardware’s new Baby and Child catalog? Which nursery designs do you think might be better for babies? Is “soothing” really what babies need? Or is it better to add a bit more stimulation using more saturated colors?

Why Yellow for Yoga?

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Our guest post today is by Jessica L. Gordon, a fellow color consultant whom I recently had the pleasure of having lunch with. Jessica has been a professional artist and color consultant for 10 years. Her obsession with color began in a figure painting class with Alan Loehle. Each color had to be mixed on the pallet, scooped up with a pallet knife, and compared against a model to match his or her particular skin tone before the paint was allowed to touch the brush or the canvas. It was then that Jessica was sucked into the world of paint colors. She provides color design services to homes and businesses in the Annapolis, MD area.

Why yellow for yoga?

I’ve been searching around on the internet trying to find some rhyme or reason to all the yellow walled yoga studios I’ve read about or seen lately. I looked at as many pictures I could find in a half hour period of time.

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Ouch! I think my heart would be racing in here!

I surprised myself with my findings…

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Not bad…

I have to say that I cannot live in yellow. Not that I’ve ever tried, but I have an aversion to yellow on MY walls. Not to say that for my clients I can’t pick out the absolute perfect yellow to harmonize with the household, because I definitely CAN and DO. But the thought of doing yoga regularly in a yellow walled yoga studio gave me anxiety to imagine.

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I’ve always pictured yoga as something that you do with your body. You don’t NEED special equipment in order to start a practice. All you need is you. It’s always felt natural and earthy to me. My father practiced yoga pretty much daily my whole life, and he never even acquired so much as a yoga matte. So naturally the perfect environment to me seems to be the natural world. Actually in nature is still my favorite place to practice. However I couldn’t seem to find a picture of a studio that mimicked the colors of the earth that I liked in its expression inside.

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That’s not me!

I think the perfect situation would have to actually be wooden floors, stained dark enough to feel like the earth. Floors that are too light can cause balancing issues. The walls would absolutely need to be either glazed to look like, or actually be clay; a product of the earth. Clay on the walls actually some how translates to life and energy in the interior of a space. The great thing about it as well is that it will help to maintain a steady temperature, staying cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

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It’s hard to see in this picture, but this olive would be perfect.

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This might be too cool, but wow!

But the color, I think it needs to be a mixture, not too cool and not too warm. A very muted gold could be energizing, but a yellow/brown/green might be the optimum way to go. Colors that mimic our surroundings and have life seemed to be most harmonious to this natural way of maintaining one’s health. What are your thoughts?

Eye Candy: For the love of chocolate

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Oh goody, another guest post from Holly! She and I went through the International Association of Color Consultants education program together.

For the Love of Chocolate

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My favorite part of any meal is dessert…actually who needs a meal, let’s just get dessert! So, when I heard that a new chocolate boutique had opened in my neighborhood, I just had to check it out. Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates did not disappoint. As soon as I walked in, my senses were overwhelmed by the glorious wonder that is chocolate!

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The interior of Ginger Elizabeth is urbane, sumptuous, and decidedly feminine. But the star of the show is most definitely the chocolate. Confections in every texture and shade of the heavenly substance filled the counters and shelves. The effect was really candy for the eyes as well as the palette. It’s no wonder that brown has become a staple in interior design.

So, what makes brown such a great choice? Well, since it is technically a neutral, it pairs well with all of your favorite accents, adding contrast and depth to any combination.

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On its own, this pale blue color would seem like a juvenile choice for a living room. But set against the brown leather sofa and crisp white accessories it becomes fresh and sophisticated.

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Brown is perceived by most to be stable and grounded. In this combination, the bright orange accents are toned down and balanced by the brown, creating a room that is bright and vibrant without being overpowering.

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Here, the bold use of deep chocolate brown challenges our normal association with this neutral. This, paired with raspberry accents and fresh white linens, creates a dramatic effect and a room that looks almost edible!

Ultimately, so many people choose brown because it connotes comfort and richness, much like its edible counterpart. We want the spaces we live in to make us feel good, and really, what makes you feel better than chocolate?

Is there any such thing as neutral?

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Our guest post today is by Beth Burns, who loves lattes and chocolates, sometimes with blues and even the occasional pink in her office. . .
Beyond White LLC - the right color for the right space
serving some of her favorite neighborhoods of Virginia and Maryland
and grateful student of IACC-NA.

Is there any such thing as neutral?

Switzerland was neutral during WWII. But this so-called "neutrality" caused tremendous impact - the opposite of what you'd consider a neutral response. Shouldn't neutral be calm? (One article called them dull and uneventful.) So it is with neutral colors - they are anything but. Because they do make a statement - bold or boring, serene or loud.

Neutrals can't even be located on a color wheel. They're off the chart - literally. Black, white, gray - and some say brown and tan, though others call those "near neutrals." Mix two complementary - opposite - colors on the color wheel and you get a neutral. Orange and blue make a neutral - brown. How odd. Can odd be neutral?

An on-line "House Beautiful" article asked some designers for their "go to" neutral paint colors. One chose a rich black-brown, Benjamin Moore Wenge AF-180. The designer said it looks like dark, bitter chocolate. Imagine walking into a room with dark chocolate walls. Would the room feel neutral to you? (It would send me on a chocolate hunt, but that's a different subject.)
Another chosen paint color was Ben Moore's Pale Vista 2029-60 - light spring green. The color wheel tells us green is not neutral, because there it is on the wheel. To be fair, the designer said he "uses" pale vista as a neutral. Of course he knows the definition. He found a light color that works in many spaces. In common vernacular, neutrals are more than complement mixers; they are colors that can be used with many other colors as workable backgrounds
This example, using "smoky lavender with both refinement and sex appeal" is obviously not a neutral by definition, but by the way it's used.(source)

Tammy, a PhD biologist who describes herself as color-challenged, emailed me the other day and told me she didn't "get" neutrals. "What are they?" she asked. "Every beige I see is warm or cool, but theoretically, shouldn't neutral be neither?"

original photo source / montage by Rachel

Yes, Tammy, there are true neutrals. But any choice we make evokes a response, from ourselves and our viewers. So Switzerland - and lattes, browns and grays - may by definition be labeled neutral - but their impact is anything but.
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Balancing Color

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Denise, our guest blogger for today, is the editor of bellisblog, a graphic designer and runs a letterpress business on the side. Quite a multi-talented lady!

Balancing Color

Orange, bright pink and yellow. Sounds like a color disaster waiting to happen, doesn’t it! Not necessarily, not if they’re balanced.

A request for bright orange or pink walls came from my 13-year-old stepdaughter. She was tired of the circa 1970 wood paneling in her bedroom and I couldn’t blame her.

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It did look like the inside of a VFW Post!
Armed with paint swatches she collected from many visits to the hardware store, she planned to paint two walls orange (or pink, she wasn’t sure) and two walls white. Her thinking was that if she did all four orange (or pink) it would be too much and the white would brighten it up. Her instinct was to balance it: two in one color and two in another. She didn’t consider BOTH orange and pink, way too much, right?! Until she asked me what I thought! Being the color-obsessed freak I am, I took off on a color lesson.

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We had just purchased a floral basket for her grandmother, so we took a look at how Mother Nature does color. There were little pale yellow flowers with a punch of bright pink in the middle and just a hint of orange on the petals. The pink was so strong that there didn’t need to be much of it to make an impact and the pale yellow petals worked nicely as a neutral. You barely noticed the orange. But without it, the flower would have been too plain.
We changed her plan to one wall bright pink and the remaining three in pale yellow with orange as an accent throughout.
It worked!, and this is why:

You can create visual balance without literally doing equal amounts. It won’t take much of a bold color to balance out a softer color.
Think three and go for asymmetrical balance, it feels more natural.
Neutrals are important because they give your eye a place to rest. The bolder the color, the more important it is to have that visual resting place.
Look to nature for color inspiration. Mother Nature has been at the color game far longer than any of us, she has a lot to teach.

It’s been a year and my stepdaughter still loves her room. And so does her little feathered roommate, who’s partial to pale yellow as well.

Hot Hotel Color

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Today's guest post is by Mary-Frances Cimo, a color designer serving fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. In her own words, "I’ve been fascinated with interior color since I was a little girl. In college, I was famous for splatter-painting dorm rooms to match roommate bedspreads. The rest is history."
www.mycolordesigner.com

Hot Hotel Color
What’s it like being a Color Designer in the most colorful city in the America? Absolutely fascinating. Every imploded hotel is briefly mourned in anticipation of the next architectural marvel.

This past week, I had the chance to visit two iconic but vastly different hotels—the Hard Rock Hotel and Wynn Las Vegas.

Website screen shots from both hotels- can you guess which is which?

The Hard Rock caters to a younger, hip crowd seeking the rockstar lifestyle for a weekend.

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From a color perspective, I was mildly disappointed.
The walls are a sickly yellowish-green, complemented by purple curtains (the hotel’s signature color). The carpeting is pale green, while the accent chair is reminiscent of worn miniature golf turf. I’m not sure if they converted these rooms from another color scheme, but the greens did not work together at all. The colors did not make me feel like spending a lot of time in this room.
Now to the bathroom:

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The sickly yellowish-green did not work in the bedroom, let alone in the bathroom. With the fluorescent lighting, the color felt muddied and dirty—not words I’d want to be associated with a bathroom. In addition, greens are not flattering to the skin in a place where women are applying makeup. Did you catch the airplane lavatory theme with the tiny stainless steel sink, and yes, that’s a push-button toilet in the background.

Wynn Las Vegas caters to an entirely different clientele. It seeks to attract worldly travelers who want to be pampered in an opulent atmosphere.

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While I didn’t stay at Wynn this time, I had a chance to capture their wonderfully colorful décor.

The designers of Wynn chose this warm chocolate brown hue offset by elaborate creamy white trim. There is color everywhere. Notice the contemporary flowers around the archway. You can also see the cool mint green column on the right.

Newer casinos like Wynn are incorporating windows as a design element to bring nature and natural light into the space.
The deep red rug incorporates the same flowers as the archway above. The warm and cool mix of colors creates a lively, yet welcoming space. Extravagant, yes, but it’s not intimidating or stuffy at all. Imagine the difference if the marble floors weren’t broken up by this splash of color.

Your home may not look like the hottest new resorts, but you can take cues from these color hits and misses to create the space you love.

interior images by Mary-Frances

Vetrazzo tiles: More Than Just a Pretty Face

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:00:00 +0000

Guest post by Hollie Jackson

Hollie lives in Sacramento, California. She is an associate member of the IACC-NA and has been involved in interior and exterior color and material selection for commercial projects for 7 years. She also dabbles in developing residential palettes for color-challenged friends and family. Her current obsessions include cork flooring and paint colors named after delicious foods.

Vetrazzo tiles: More Than Just a Pretty Face

Looking for a new way to bring some dramatic color into your kitchen or bath? Check out the recycled glass countertops by Vetrazzo. Made from recycled glass mixed with concrete, Vetrazzo is as environmentally friendly as it is beautiful.

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When you think about the glass that you find in curbside recycling bins, you usually think clear, right? But what about the green and amber glass used for some beer bottles? Or the deep blue of some fancy brands of water? Throw in some red, yellow and green from de-commissioned traffic lights and you can start to see why Vetrazzo is such a colorful choice.

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Look at this color, called Charisma Blue. It calls to mind a day spent at the beach in a tropical paradise with its blues, greens, and golds.

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But look what happens when a patina is added to the concrete mix. The same colors are transformed evoking a completely different mood. This one makes me feel like I’m spending the night out on the town, maybe having a cocktail at a sophisticated jazz club. I think this color would be a great choice in a restaurant or nightclub as a bar or tabletop surface. Mixed with understated wood tones, it would also be beautiful as a kitchen countertop.

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Not all of Vetrazzo’s color schemes are so dramatic. Hollywood Sage has a soothing, monochromatic look, while still having the textural light-catching quality of its counterparts. Because it evokes both serenity and luxury, it would be the perfect choice for a day spa or residential master-retreat style bathroom.

And this is just the beginning! Vetrazzo has 16 colors currently available, and their collection is always evolving. But the most important color associated with Vetrazzo is, of course, “green.” Eighty-five percent of every countertop comes from recycled glass. The glass mainly comes from curbside recycling, but can also come from post-industrial usage, stained glass, or demolished cars and buildings.

Helping the earth while still looking fabulous…what’s not to love about that!

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Going Coastal in the Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Today's guest blogger is Danielle Burger, a friend of mine and wonderful kitchen designer at Canton Kitchens in Baltimore, MD. In addition to her design degrees, she studied art and architecture abroad in Rome, Italy for a semester and during that time traveled extensively throughout Europe. For the past 4 years, she has been working in the kitchen and bath realm and loves every minute of it.

With summer finally here, people are drawn to the water for some relief from the heat. Why not bring the cooling effect of the coast into your kitchen through color?

Going Coastal in the Kitchen...

It's the newest trend to bring hues inspired by the sand, the sea, and the sun into the kitchen. A splash of color through the use of paint, tile, cabinets, appliances, or dinnerware – be it a little or a lot – can add a dynamic effect to the overall feel of your space.

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Along with these paint swatch colors, some tangy oranges, mandarin golds, salmon, taupe and oyster hues would complete the coastal palette.

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In a white kitchen, the calming blue of a ceramic tile backsplash gives this otherwise blank canvas some visual interest.

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For a significant change, cabinetry lines are offering new finishes with coastal aesthetic and fun names, for example, Sundance, Seagrass, Islander, White Sand.

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This vibrant turquoise range is another bold way to bring in color. For the less adventurous, start off with a smaller appliance, such as a kitchen mixer or blender.

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Finally, accessories such as these pastel cups, bowls, and plates can be incorporated into the space very easily without having to renovate your kitchen. Even vibrant seat covers, lighting fixtures, or dish towels make a difference.

Thinking of your favorite destination can be a great way to get inspirations for color ideas in your home. So if it's the coast, or the mountains and forest, look at the colors in the environment and you'll have your palette. Has anyone used a specific location to get ideas for colors in your design projects?

Guest Bloggers

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:00:00 +0000

With the majority of my house packed in boxes and stacked to the ceiling in my dining room, I've held out until the last possible moment to pack up my desk and computer. What would I do if I can't check email at least three zillion times a day?

So I'm going to start the guest posts this Thursday to get the ball rolling. We head out on Saturday, and begin to make our way west. We should be in CA by July 12th or so, and hopefully I can get my internet up and running right away, as I'm sure I'll be going through blog-withdrawal. I may try to check in from the road, but we'll see how that goes.

So, please welcome our wonderful guest bloggers and be sure to leave them lots of comments!

The Joys of Moving

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:00:00 +0000

Crunch-time has arrived, as our moving company comes Friday to retrieve our belongings. Then, we hit the road for CA! I can't believe how much stuff we have acquired over a relatively short period of time. The last time my husband and I moved, we color coded the boxes so we'd know which rooms to deliver them to. But this time around, we don't even have a place lined up for when we arrive! Eeks...

More later when I catch my breathe. I might start the guest blog posts early!
If anyone still wants to contribute a post for July, I can accept them up until this Wednesday.

Thanks!

Crash Course in Color

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Great little video touching on color theory and how we perceive light and color. Points out some really important concepts, like looking at color in context (how your perception of it changes based on what is around the color in question)

Learn anything new?

When Color Risks Pay Off

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:00:00 +0000

As an architectural color consultant, I work with a really wide range of tastes and aesthetics. For the most part, I find that people are pretty intimidated to try something too daring. But every once in a while, I take on a client who is willing to take some risks, and really embrace the colors she or he (99.9% of the time it's a 'she'!) truly loves.

This client was remodeling a condo unit she and her husband had just purchased. I arrived to find a gutted space, the carpet ripped out, and stacks of blonde floor boards ready to be installed. Luckily, she brought over a few items to give me some idea of her taste in colors and palettes.
She had some paintings and a folder full of magazine clippings. That's all I needed to get started.

Here are some of the results of our coloring adventure.

When I first entered the condo, I was struck by the overwhelming paleness of the space. The architecture was so impressive, with a dramatically-slanted, vaulted ceiling, that it really needed to be emphasized somehow. My client showed me a book cover she loved in a ripe apple green color. I asked her if she were willing to try something dramatic, and she was. This was going to be fun!
Bright apple green emphasized the fireplace wall which extended up to the loft space. The other walls were left a soft caramel color to balance the bright green.
In the back right corner, you can see the dining room with a rooster painting. We matched the yellow from his legs for the wall behind the art. Another punch of color to balance the saturated green and keep the eye moving around the space.
The kitchen was another challenge, as the home owner didn't care for the dark wooden cabinet faces, but wasn't sure she would have them resurfaced. She knew stainless steel appliances were going in, with dark granite counter tops. But how to bring it all together?To balance out the warm wood, we looked to the other end of the spectrum. How about a steely gray blue? Now, the space felt balanced, and the wood cabinets contributed yet another punch of color to the overall scheme.
The guest bathroom began with a light, too-sweet violet color. My client disliked the space so much she kept the door closed all the time. We chose chocolate brown to give it some elegance. Tiny closet-like spaces such as powder rooms are excellent candidates for deep colors. You can't pretend they are bigger than they are, so why not have some fun, and embrace their tininess. In fact, deep colors can sometimes make a small space feel bigger, erasing the boundaries so walls recede. Finish up by painting out the cabinet in black, and the space is now updated and ready to show off.

By using pops of saturated colors around the house, balanced out by less-commanding neutrals, we designed a color palette that really transformed the space. As for how it was received? My client says her neighbors are always bringing friends by to check out her space, and she and her husband are really pleased with how everything came together. I don't often get a chance to return to spaces I've designed, so it was gratifying for me to see the end results.

What do you think?

Sexy apartment in the city

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Okay, I have to admit it, I was a Sex in the City series fan. So when the movie came out, of course I was excited to re-unite with my favorite characters Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha. But after seeing the movie, what wowed me weren't the Main characters, but the Secondary characters- the costumes and the sets. I almost feel like they over-shadowed the actors! Did any of you feel the same way?

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But I sure was impressed with Carrie's re-decorated apartment. Loved the blue walls. So lively, and yet sophisticated by pairing it with browns and golds. Yum.

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"We felt like she needed to grow up a little," says Lydia Marks, set decorator for "Sex and the City: The Movie." Jeremy Conway, production designer, dialed up the apartment's old pale blue walls with an intensified version, Benjamin Moore's Electric Blue. "We thought of it as bringing out her personality even more," he says.(source) I'd say it was quite successful, wouldn't you?

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How's this for before and after?

In the original show, Carrie's apartment was a grayed-out green washed with a lavender iridescent glaze. (A neat screen trick to make the walls appear less flat, and flatter skin tones by contrasting against the warm tones.) I always thought it was a bit dull for her character's personality, but it has been argued that this space was her sanctuary, and needed to be a peaceful respite from the craziness of her life (and wardrobe!) More about her apartment styling in this design break-down.

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What do you think of her updated digs? Anyone see the movie?

Great Color Research Journal

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:20:00 +0000

The long-awaited second issue of Colour: Design & Creativity has finally arrived, and it looks fantastic!A sneak peak:

(click to enlarge to read text)

It might be a bit scientific for some of you, but after I get a chance to read it myself, perhaps I can offer some boiled down reviews of articles I thought were interesting. Or, if any of you read the issue, and want to write a little commentary on a bit of what you read and got out of it, I would be delighted to include your thoughts in July as a guest blogger!

Trim- to contrast or not to contrast, that 'tis the question

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:00:00 +0000

When people get ready to paint a room, does the color of the trim ever come into question, or do people always opt for white? A great post on this very topic over at My Notting Hill got me thinking about the dilemma.

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I think the one-color approach works really nicely in this scenario because there is so much trim detail- the fireplace surround, chair rail, panels, crown molding, window trim... It adds visual interest to a large wall space without breaking it up as much as it would if the trim contrasted.

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White against another color presents you with a certain level of contrast, heightened, obviously, the darker your wall color goes. Sometimes, white trim against another color just doesn't give you the desired effect, instead. In the picture above, white trim would have been too busy, and competed with the architectural lines of the furniture.

image source via desiretoinspire

Another way to look at the white trim dilemma is to head to the dark side. This luscious chocolate brown room wouldn't be nearly as successful broken up with light trim. I think in the above scenarios, matching trim to wall colors is really seamless and clean.

I'm here to officially state, "It's okay to try something different!"

So, I'd love to know, how many of you have experimented with trim colors? How did it turn out?

The many colors of house-hunting

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Phew! I am back from our whirlwind trip to the Bay Area to try and secure housing. Emphasis on "try"... Boy oh boy, are houses out there expensive! I guess it's all about "location, location, location".

Nondescript white-walled room. Totally forgettable.
Really dated kitchen in desperate need of a make-over.

While house hunting, I had a completely different perspective from that which I normally inhabit- that of adviser. Often, I have clients who want to spruce up their house, but are concerned about selecting colors that will make the house easier to sell, eventually. So, here I was, a potential buyer, examining houses for my own needs. I have to say that staging and colors helped a TON with the appeal of a property. Of course, I'm rather biased, but in my head, I imagined I could see through what wasn't there to what I would do to the spaces. But after days and days of touring properties, you don't want to expend the energy. Turns out, I was much more intrigued (as were other house-seekers I noticed), by those spaces with color.
Love, love, loved the colors in this house. We were ready to move in, and I didn't even have the desire to change their paint choices. This house wasn't staged, but really tastefully done by the owners. After peeking in an office cabinet, I discovered someone living there works as a color consultant.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, staging refers to taking a house for sale, and spiffing it up to make it more appealing to potential buyers. Sometimes, a stager works with existing furniture and accessories, editing where necessary, re-arranging items to maximize space and flow. Other times, stagers will bring in furniture and pieces into an empty house, to give the buyer a sense of how the space would feel when its inhabited.
Testing the authenticity of a staged "bed" that turns out was just cardboard boxes draped in fabric. Aren't these walls just screaming for chromatic assistance? A distinctly unsuccessful staging, I hate to say.

Sometimes, stagers will go further, advising refinishing floors or painting walls. I've got to tell you, it made a huge difference as we were strolling through our 15th house of the day.
Soft yellow walls and muted sophisticated accent colors (check out the throw pillows, rug, even the golden bowl on the table) really made this room appealing. The touch of green helped round out the palette. This was another favorite house, but alas, an offer was already in on it.
Those properties with unique, rich or even just understated colors on the walls certainly made the place feel more homey and more personal. Loved the pumpkin.
There's something so sterile about an empty, white walled house. This fireplace wall would have looked much better with an accent color to ground it in the space.
I'm not big on black counter-tops, as they are hard on the eyes, ergonomically. Not enough contrast between the work surface and items on top. But I loved how the stager took cues from the existing palette to bring in black and white plates in the empty cabinets and pulled in touches of bright blue here and there. I couldn't get enough of the sunshine streaming through the window-just like a cat, I suppose...

I noticed it in new apartment complexes, as well. They advertised "designer colors" and would point out accent walls in the model unit that were either standard, or not included.

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Unfortunately, I forgot my camera when we toured the complex, so I can't show you the cool hall and unit colors. In any case, evidently, the general public has become much more color and design savvy, for the salespeople to emphasize color so much.

So, that's just a little taste of our adventure out west. For the time being, I think we will settle for a rental while we continue the quest for our house. I'd like to hear from those of you who have gone house-hunting in the past: how important were the wall colors in your impression of a property? Did it make a difference in the end when you bought something?

Reader Design Dilemma-joining rooms

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:00:00 +0000

What do you do when you have combined living spaces that flow together? Do you paint them all the same color? How do you visually separate the spaces? Or do you want to make them more cohesive? We've got a great example of this quandary, submitted by reader Mary Beth.

I would like any advice you can offer about what color to paint my kitchen/family room. It's all one big area and needs to be painted the same color.

Here's a montaged image of the breakfast nook and the living room area

(Kitchen cabinets being painted, so doors are removed.)

I'm planning to put a beige slip cover on the small side chair in the family room, but I need to keep the burgundy sofa. The floors are a medium reddish oak color. And there's a small traditional area rug that is gold, beige, black, and burgundy.

I'm really sick of beige walls! But I need to keep the color light. Maybe a light blue or green? I love the grayish blues and greens, and think they might work with the burgundy sofa. Any suggestions?
-Mary Beth

Okay, here's my take on the matter. First question-why do the areas need to be the same? Who says they have to be the same colors? I say, each space has it's own purpose, and deserves its own color. Of course, there are architectural restrictions to work around. For instance, you shouldn't try to break a wall into multiple areas of color without natural breaks in the wall, such as columns, cabinets, or other elements. So, the structure and layout of the space does determine where colors are placed...to a certain extent.

So, where do we go from there?

First, you need to figure out what kind of lighting the space gets. Is it bright and sunny, or shady and cool? What design goals are you hoping to achieve with the spaces? Is the living room supposed to be relaxing, or energizing? Should it be spacious and airy, or cozy and intimate? These are all issues to consider before launching into color selection. That being said, since we don't have all those answers for this dilemma, let's play around with color:
Here's a soft sage green living room, paired with a neutral warm mocha color (you'd need to check how it worked with the detail work in the tiles, as I can't quite tell what color they are)
Alternatively, here's a cool gray blue, paired with the same mocha kitchen color.
Just to get daring here, pushing towards cleaner, brighter colors could further liven up the space. Here, I simply bumped up the saturation level of the green and added a cheerful blue wall for the kitchen.

You may wonder where I pulled the bright blue suggestion. When you are really stuck trying to figure out a good color for a space, try inverting the colors to find the compliments. If you have a photo editing program, you can do it digitally. Otherwise, grab a handy-dandy color wheel, and travel across the wheel for the color opposite your color in question. (Ie with a red couch, we'd be looking at blues and greens) Here, for example, are the inverse colors of Mary Beth's rug. Voila- a lovely complimentary blue shade.
As a last suggestion, to tie the couch into the decor, a rich burgundy wall would work really nicely-pulling in the living room colors with the reddish undertones in the tile work.

I'd like to hear from readers to weigh in with your suggestions. What colors do you think would work best for Mary Beth's kitchen/living room combo? How would you solve her color dilemma?

Making a statement-Hillary's color choices

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 26 May 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Has anyone else noticed the progression of Hillary Clinton's outfit colors as the primaries progress?

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“Hillary Clinton’s biggest criticism is how harsh she is,” said Mary Lou Andre, president of Organization by Design Inc., a professional image consulting firm in Needham. “I think by wearing certain feminine colors, she will connect with voters. I think the public knows she can do the job. It’s her likability that’s the issue.”(source)

Evidently a way to appear more accessible, she wore red in Texas, ginger in South Dakota and buttercream in West Virginia. It certainly sets her apart from all of those somber dark gray, black and navy blue suits out there in on the campaign trail. I am fascinated by how far color psychology can penetrate into marketing strategies. Just look at most official uniforms- navy blue is favored because the message it sends says: authority, dependability, and strength.

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A Washington Post article dubbed her, "Clinton-the-human-color-wheel". But it's a smart way to set herself apart, to communicate more of her message through the colors she wears.

What do you think? Is it chauvinistic to focus on Hillary's clothes, or do we do the same for her male counter-parts? Do you think what the politicians are wearing have any bearing on their appeal as candidates?

When color studies aren't real

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:00:00 +0000

I'm always amused when I read about certain "studies" paid for by companies to support some marketing project or advertising campaign. While there are most certainly credible research studies conducted on the efficacy of colors and how they relate to user/user experience, I must caution you. There are many many so-called "studies" out there that have absolutely no credibility. A sure sign is when a blanket statement is made, encompassing huge demographics and situations.

For example, I was at a lecture the other week, listening to an eco-friendly company rep talk about using green products for building. While he had a captive audience of color consultants in the room, he asked our opinion about a specific paint color chosen for a doctor's office.

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The architect of the project had supported his color choice by declaring that "studies had shown" that this particularly dreadful shade of diarrhea green was calming and soothing to patients. I wish I had taken a picture of this color sample- it was SO awful!

Then you have this article on US News and World Report about how car colors reveals the psyche of the driver. This "study" comes from CNW Marketing Research where they evidently asked nearly 1,900 Americans about their attitudes toward their own lives at several points over the course of a year. They also asked each participant the color of the car they drive most often, which allowed the researchers to develop a kind of color-confidence index.

Pixar images source

I am immediately skeptical... A color-confidence index? Obviously, automotive companies invest a Ton of money on market research to reach their target audience. But honestly, this seems just a tad bit formulaic. Maybe it works for caricatures, but we're more complex than that.
According to CNW, here's what the color of a car says about the person who bought it:
They were also able to calculate the "moodiness" of drivers—how widely their confidence varied from one extreme to the other, in the course of a year.
What do they mean by "confidence"? See what I mean? Recipes involving colors just don't work. There's no validity to that. What if a subject chose their particular car, not based on a color, but instead based on availability of that model? My car is silver gray. Probably one of the last colors I would have personally chosen, had I had options.

Well, that's my take on this, in any case. Anyone share my sentiments?