NEWSLETTER - SUMMER 2006

9 Questions to Ask Yourself About Choosing Color
By Zekio Dawson & Heather Bergstein

Color. In your everyday life, it can soothe, inspire, contrast, liven up, tone down, or coordinate. In your home, it can set the mood for a space, expand a small room, modernize a dated home and always express your unique personality. Above all, color is emotional, and for most people, hard to commit to in their homes.

Choosing a color scheme can be one of the most harrowing choices a homeowner can make during the course of a renovation or interior design project. Most of MyHome’s clients look to us for tips and recommendations on working with color, and here are nine questions our experts typically ask clients before starting any project. Start with a one-room evaluation move on from there.

1. How big is the room?
Dark colors create the intimacy required by small spaces. Lighter colors provide the ease and openness large rooms require

2. What is the room used for?
In rooms that you spend little time in, such as bathrooms and entry halls, you can use a dramatic color that would be tiresome in living spaces. However, multi-purpose rooms require versatile neutrals

3. How do you want the room to feel and how do you want to feel in the room?
Asking yourself how you want the room to feel is as important as how you want the room to look. Color is not only a visual phenomenon, but it also has great emotional power. Studies have found that color affects people’s judgments and reactions. Blue is sedative and can calm anxious nerves, red and warm colors make time move more slowly, and yellow improves alertness. Color theory can be an enlightening tool when planning your room’s décor.

4. What kind of lighting does the room have?
Lighting activates color and can change its character completely. Incandescent lights add a warm glow to some shades but can turn others sour. Halogen lighting neutralizes and flattens color. Lampshades add another layer of color to light, as do sheer window treatments. Natural light can add yet another dimension to the mix.

5. What time of day or night do you use the room most?
The quality of lighting changes throughout the day. Morning light is pink and lilac; midday light is lemon yellow and evening is a deep rich gold.

6. How many windows are there and what are their exposures?
Within the same house rooms facing north will be filled with a bluer, cooler light than rooms with a southern exposure. Keep this in mind as natural light can have a potent effect on the tones and shades you choose.

7. What are the predominant colors in your furniture, window treatments, floor and/or floor coverings?
Most people are not starting from scratch when they choose their color palette. Your color choices are probably already limited by the upholstery, carpets, and artwork you already own. Don’t match. Go either softer or richer with gray or an earth pigments added. These slightly mismatched colors will create a more vibrant environment. White is seldom the most satisfying solution, it makes other colors jump out. Neutralize and blend.

8. What colors are you naturally attracted to?
You are naturally drawn to certain colors, and these feelings should be respected and listened to. Choose color that draws you in, and then work on creating a look that is pleasing and satisfying to your senses. And don’t forget there is something in a name – café au lait is more pleasing to the mental palette than beige.

9. Are there pictures or places that inspire you?
If nothing comes to mind, take the time to look around. Architecture and design books are good sources. You’ll start noticing color combinations that appeal to you and others that make your hair stand on end. You really need to buy test samples of a paint color and spend at least 24 hours with your chosen hue. Context is everything, and when that context is your home, the right color can bring it all into beautiful harmony.


Color Theory and Color Selection
By Caroline Woldenberg

The secrets of color selection can seem overwhelming to many, especially in light of the thousands of choices we are now presented with in our local paint and home improvement stores. Often, I see homeowners standing quietly in front of glorious displays, grasping handfuls of color swatches not knowing exactly where to begin in making their final choices. With a little color theory and lots of old fashion observation, committing to color can be easy.

Q: How do I begin to choose a color palette for painting my room?
As a general rule of thumb, start building your palette with one major piece in the space such as a rug or main fabric used in the overall design. Paint is usually the easiest thing to change in a room and the tools used in its selection, such as fan decks and swatches, are the most portable. Choosing to paint first then select fabrics later can be limiting and frustrating.

Q: How does color affect mood?
Not only do color families affect mood, but the values (how light or how dark), the chroma (how intense or neutralized), and the pattern presentation of individual colors can influence how we feel in a space. What may seem exciting and invigorating to some can feel overwhelming to others. And, what may feel sophisticated and quiet to you can feel boring and cold to your friends.

Some basic “mood” theories of the main colors on the color wheel include:

Green:
Easy to live with, changing like the colors of lush foliage in nature.
Because this color can fall into both warm and cool palettes, it can pull a room’s color theme together like no other.

Blue:
Dependable and changing as the sky. Generally considered a serene and cooling color.

Orange:
Vibrant and exhilarating. Can be a sophisticated but exciting choice when neutralized down to rusts or orange tinted browns.

Yellow:
Warm and pleasant, imitating the sun.

Red:
An intense color that can range from earthy such as tomato reds to
elegant crimsons.

Violet:
Can range from regal to dreamlike, partly darkly glowing to partly delicate.

Q: What are the basic color themes?
Color themes study the relationship of colors to each other on the color wheel. Understanding these relationships can help you build your palette from one color to the next. The basics are:

Monotone:
One color used at the same value and intensity throughout a space. This theme depends on variations of pattern and texture.

Monochromatic:
One color run up and down a value scale. This theme in neutral tones is sophisticated and elegant.

Complementary:
Two colors that lay opposite each other on the color wheel, such as violets paired with yellows. Considered one of the most exciting themes.

Analogous:
Two to three adjacent hues on either the cool or warm side of the wheel. A very calming and safe theme.

Triadic:
Colors that form a triangle.

Tetradic:
Colors that form a square or rectangle.

Caroline Woldenberg, introduced to decorative finishes as a hospitality and commercial interior designer, found her passion for painting in 1987. The projects Caroline’s Atlanta-based company has been commissioned for range from residential projects through large commercial and religious installations. Her projects have taken her throughout the United States, as well internationally to Paris and Milan. Working in the southeast, her company has been creating for the area’s top designers as a full service decorative arts company including painted furnishings, gilding, wall finishes, plastering, and murals. Caroline's work has been featured in Southern Accents, Veranda, European Home and Garden and House Beautiful. Her workshops in the principles of color and design are offered 6 times yearly from Atlanta to Los Angles and New York. Contact Caroline at thefinishingschoolatl.com.


Home Color Trends for Summer and Fall 2006
by Rainy Lawrence
Color Consultant/Designer
Janovic Paint



What’s new and exciting in the world of paint? What colors should you pick? What colors are our customers asking for over and over? Well it can be said that paint colors are becoming more sophisticated and complex, reflecting the demands of an educated consumer with a much more discerning eye. Here are a few of the hot interior color trends we are spotting this season.

White in a New Light
Let’s start with whites and neutrals. Warmer whites, dimensional whites, whites that have a hint of color – these are the whites showing up in magazines, home centers and DIY shows. Try a white with a hint of pink or peach for a complexion pleasing bathroom or a touch of blue to cool down and soothe a bedroom.

Very-Now Neutrals
Neutrals are sandy with undertones of yellow very much like straw or wheat. Grayer neutrals with traces of green or brown are great paired with deep colors like red or aubergine.

Blue Hues
If you love blues, turquoise has found its way back onto walls, furniture, apparel and accessories. Muted, cloudier shades are a good choice if you’re afraid of tones that can be a little jarring in a more traditional home.

Colors - Bold & Vibrant
On the more daring side, sizzling reds and earthy oranges are lighting up walls with splashes of luminous colors. These colors are great back drops for black and white photos or hanging plates of blue and white. Of course yellow on its own can be a very strong color but this season’s palette is more muted with undertones of brown.

Paying attention to the colors that excite you, that soothe you, that kick up a pleasant memory – these are the colors you should consider when making choices for your next paint project. Allow your color sense to speak for itself in your paint choices – be a trendsetter in your own home. There is no better way to reflect your personality in your own space.

Painting your home is one of the easiest ways to update a room and bring new life to a tired space. MyHome can help! Contact us to schedule a Free Design Consultation.