Color is inexpensive, right?

March 5th, 2009 by Mary Schmelzer

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You don’t have to search too long through HGTV shows, home magazines or the internet to hear that color is an inexpensive way to update your spaces. Color is inexpensive if it is done correctly, but it can be quite costly in time, money and personal energy if it isn’t successful.

Painting is certainly an inexpensive change, if you do the painting yourself. Where it starts to be more costly is if you hire the labor, if you need to rearrange a living space to get it completed and if you need to make repairs before painting. Or if you get the color wrong. High quality paints are now reaching over $50 per gallon, so it isn’t exactly pocket change to redo several rooms or a large room. Premium paint is worth the upcharge: you get better coverage, durability, color stability and it is quicker and easier to apply.

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The perfect color can take a room from just a living space, to the room everyone wants to be in. A wrong color (too bright, too dull, too gray, fights with the woodwork, etc.) can make you and guests feel on edge or unsettled. Color is constantly perceived by our eyes whether or not we are consciously paying attention to it.

How do we select the perfect color? We take into account items the home already has: collections, woodwork, floor covering, natural and artificial lighting, furniture. Calculating the time of day a room is used most also factors into the color selection. Adjoining rooms need to coordinate and the final color needs to feel appropriate. We also employ use of large color chips and paint modeling software when necessary. Most often we have custom colors mixed: even with thousands of options from several paint companies, it is rare to find the tint that is just right. Sometimes it is more than one color: with a decorative painting technique or multiple colors strategically placed, depth and interest can be created and keeps an open floor plan (especially) or large room from looking too monotonous.

We offer color consultations for home and business owners who are looking to make a change with color and want to get the right look and feel the first time. Let us know if we can help you with a change.

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