Color is as powerful attribute to ambiance as music is to a dance hall. Color is one of the most fulfilling elements in our lives. Color can change your mood, it can draw attention or it can camouflage and protect. It speaks to who you are, how you feel and where you're going. Here are three more good arguments.
1 Color can unite unique rare accent pieces with standard mass produced items in your home.
2 Intense hues that shine of boldness can add spirit to spaces that also feature more grounded elements like wood, wrought iron or woven textiles.
3 Negative space gains a glimmer of happiness with the enhancement of bright colors.
Hue
the property of light by which the color of an object is classified as red, blue, green, or yellow in reference to the spectrum.
Spectrum
this band or series of colors together with extensions at the ends that are not visible to the eye, but that can be studied by means of photography, heat effects, etc., and that are produced by the dispersion of radiant energy other than ordinary light rays.
Value
When in reference to fine arts= a. degree of lightness or darkness in a color. b. the relation of light and shade in a painting, drawing, or the like.
So how do we complete the complex task of choosing a brilliant color scheme?
Erase everything from your mind but that which stays
Determine what features or existing elements of the space you would consider permanent. For example: the bricks and/or stucco, or the fine Italian sofa you got as a wedding gift or anything that is staying put and that has spatial value within the scope of vision in the project you are looking at. The colors you select must work well with these elements as well as with themselves.
Determine a point of focus
There are things about your project that you would want to see naked and things that don’t give the space any definition at all. Emphasize your project's attractive features, like an arch or a crown molding. You can draw more attention to these details by means of contrast. If there isn't much to work with you can create interest by adding a border.
Simplicity creates flow
Once you have created you color palette, continue the theme around the house without deviation. This doesn’t mean every area has to look identical, but if you deviate from your palette you will lose that which ties the entire home together.
Don’t finalize your selection at 11 AM on Saturday morning
I realize that the week is busy and that projects get accomplished when there is time. If you start looking at colors when you get up on Saturday morning and have them chosen before lunchtime, you might get lucky, but you might find out the hard way that you didn’t take enough time with your color palette. When the sun is in the west it creates a completely different look as it does in the morning. The same goes with your artificial light after dark. You might find that the brown you chose that looks so full and rich at midday turns black at night. You might find that the wonderful blue you selected that was so calming and crisp in the morning only turns mottled and bland in the evening. Spend at least twenty four hours before purchasing multiple gallons of paint. Look at your colors in every light possible. Another note I should add here is make sure you like the color from every angle at the various times of day you view them. Some hues can change by entire shades of value on different walls. A slightly more challenging imagination gag is that small blotches of color can appear different when finished if it is a grand space like an entire room from floor to ceiling or the color of the siding on an exterior. Even what is considered an overwhelming color in small proportions can soften in a large surface and sometimes vice-versa. Something rich in small amounts can become bland in large amounts. Now I probably have you really confused.
The most important thing when deciding colors is will you be satisfied with it for years to come. What is hot this year may become old news next year. Choose colors by your overall taste in what represents you at your core, not just what you are attracted to right now, unless you want to repaint every other year. There is nothing wrong with wanting changes often if you have the means. Most of us don’t though, which is why it is so important for us to take the time and energy to really consider our colors. It is the most underrated aspect of any project because we all get excited about it but few of us really know how to do it right.
Creating a tasteful color scheme can add so much value to your home. I have seen lovely sturdy homes sit on the market unsold with mediocre curb appeal while neighboring homes in need of repair but tastefully colored sell immediately. Only about 5% of the houses have a well selected color scheme. I am not saying that it is going to bump your square footage up and increase your value by twenty thousand dollars, but if you decided to put it on the market right now, as it stands, would potential buyers stop and stare in the street pondering the idea or walk tucking a brochure into the enormous pile that they have already collected? That makes for a huge difference in value. And if you aren’t considering selling, it sure feels nice to have the pretty house on the block to come home to.
