how to choose COLORS

There are no rules, but a bit of color theory and some expert tips will make your decisions easier.

- BY AMY KRANE

So the walls are repaired and primed and you’re faced with a blank slate. You may be overwhelmed by the endless choice of colors, not to mention paint brands and finishes. You may doubt your design chops, fretting over which color “goes with” which, thinking there is only one answer. It can be paralyzing. Choosing paint colors presents a challenge for homeowners and building professionals alike. I am trained as an architectural color consultant, but you don’t need to be a trained colorist to get architectural color right. Understanding some basics about color—how to combine colors, how light affects them, and how the human eye responds to color generally—should give you the confidence you need. Hard-and-fast rules don’t work when choosing color. Each set of environmental variables presents options that work, but as one variable shifts, they all do. The number-one thing to remember is that every person comes to the painting party with their own individual likes, dislikes, and color associations that are just as important as (if not more than) any guidelines. Nevertheless, here are some fundamentals to get you started.

COLOR (the hues and shades you choose) is only one component of the decision process. Context, sheen, brightness, and more are in play. For example: Repetition creates flow, cohesion, and balance. Flow refers to how we perceive movement through a space. Is there natural progression as we move from room to room, or does a color choice stop us in our tracks? There should be a pleasing rhythm to color placement as you advance through a house. Repeating certain colors and using variations of a few different hues helps with flow.