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THE SECRETS OF COLOR
I can remember vividly the colors from the house I grew up in. The colors never changed, they were consistent and constant. I can’t help but think, they somehow played a part in shaping my childhood. These are all colors from my second home. The first home that I saw is only remembered in pictures. Faded color renditions of what that first house looked like. This was the 70’s so everything in the photos is coated in an orange/yellow haze. Probably just the photo.
My parents started building the house that they are still in today when I was 4. I lived in that house from 4 until I was 18 and leaving for college. The colors that pop in my head when I think about my childhood home are the golden natural wood tones of the heart pine floors, the weathered wood of the ceiling beams, the gray steel blues and muted reds of the trim and doors.
See our house not only influenced my childhood and the colors I see and recognize to this day, but they themselves were influenced by the past. My parents, when building their dream home, visited colonial Williamsburg and were attracted to the style and colors of that time.
The colors of that time period were muted yet bold colors. Historic yet contemporary. I do believe this is one of the reasons the colors in my home never changed. They grew with me over the years. They were repainted, but always with the same or very similar color. The carpet on the other hand changed a lot. Generally the carpet went from a solid color to more patterns and textures. There was a lot of excitement in the carpet. I remember helping to select the carpet in my room. It ending up being a plaid pattern with shades of blue. Each blue over laying the other. The subtle blues continued throughout my room up the bed skirt into the spread and eventually into the decorative pillows.
Yes, thats right. I had decorative pillows on my bed growing up. Thats ok. One thing it taught me was how to properly make a bed.
The walls were white along with the ceiling but the trim carried the blue. The Williamsburg blue. I can see it right now. And I wonder why when asked what my favorite color is I usually say blue. When I say that I have a blue in my mind but I’m sure anyone asking sees another shade, another blue. The blue not from my childhood but their own.
If you want to see the blues I am referring to you can go to the Benjamin Moore paints website and just browse to the Williamsburg Collection. You know that a time period has affected a color when a company dedicates a line to that period of time. The colors are classic.
Are you picturing my blue? My blue was a calming blue not bold not busy not overwhelming but there. Interesting and somewhat exciting. Do the colors you surround yourself influence you?
Do you feel hungry when you see red? Do you get calm when surrounded by greens? The most common color in nature is green. Do you think that it is a coincidence that you feel calm with the color green. Our house had color. Today is a different story. When I talk to some homeowners they seem very intimidated by color. Constantly thinking about resale. That is a problem in itself for another day.
What frightens us most with color. It’s probably not the color itself so much as the fear that if we make a wrong decision we will have to live with it for years. How many people put in colored bathroom tile in the 70’s and you still see it when you visit there house today. Lets just be honest. Tile is usually best white. Usually. If you are the person that changes tile like you change paint then go for it. Select something exotic and crazy.
I personally choose white. But when it comes to paint we can branch out a bit. a bit. listen to me. I’m already nervous. a bit. being bold with color does not necessarily mean choosing a bold color. We have many literally millions of shades between the three primary colors. As you know the three primary colors are colors that cannot be mixed with other colors to be derived. So they are Red, Yellow, Blue. Everything else is a shade of those colors. We also have neutrals. These appear to be different. They look like they don’t have any of the primary colors. Red, yellow, blue mixed together gives you black. Add white and you get gray. All whites and grays shift between the color wheel. One white might be cool, meaning it has more blue. Another might be more warm, It has more orange or brown.
Warm tones appear to be smaller and more cozy. They advance towards you where as cool tones retract away from you and seam larger or further away.
So where do you start? How do you get away from the fear of color and how do you know that you will choose a color that you like and can live with. A color that will be so prolific throughout your Childs life that they will remember it when they are older?
Look around the space you live in now. You may have blank walls with white trim but you are surrounded by objects with color. Look at your plates, your dishes. Look at your books, your furniture. A true indication of your palette is in your closet. Go to your closet and pull out your favorite clothes. Lay them out on your bed or sofa. See the colors and patterns. Some are shiny some are dull. Some pull in various shades some are bold. Take inventory of the colors and the ones you find to be most drawn towards.
Think about how those colors might be used in accents of your home. Remember you don’t have to have each room the same as the next. Each room can be somewhat independent from the next. Just be aware that if you have a visual connection to the next room the colors need to relate. Perhaps it’s only a slight change. A gradual shift on the color wheel from room to room.
Don’t forget that natural vs artificial light will have a major effect on your color and how it gets rendered. The paint and big box hardware stores are not a good reflection of the light inside your home. A color that looks like the perfect color in the store might look horrible on your wall. Colors change with our lighting depending on the temperature of the bulb. Is it a warm or a cool light? Do you have a lot of natural light? What does it look like at night when all the outside light is gone.
Colors also change with the texture or finish. Paints have several different finishes and I feel like they are coming out with more, but the basics are:
Flat, Satin or Egg Shell, Semi-gloss, Glossy, High-gloss.
The higher the sheen or the more glossy the lighter the color will be. It will have areas where it can turn white if reflecting light. Imperfections are much more visible when light is shimmering across the surface than with a flat paint.
Flat is typically used for ceiling and walls. It can easily be touched up and hides imperfections in the walls and ceilings. Trim on the other hand is more glossy. It gets highlighted and emphasized. Glossy paints are more durable. Bathrooms and wet areas typically have more glossy paint.
So you have done an inventory of your style. Now start to look outside your home. Visit websites like houzz, visit furniture stores. Furniture stores usually have the furniture highlighted with color. These are colors that you can pull from, but sometimes they are the color of the day. Try to be aware of daily trends and I would suggest to focus more on colors that are sophisticated and can last through time. The reason I say that is because you will be investing a lot into a color when you make that selection.
Everything from fabric, carpet, curtains, and paint. To create a palette choose only 2 to 3 colors. Any more will be overwhelming and appear to be random. I would even suggest that one of the 3 colors is just a much lighter shade of the other color. Don’t forget that white is a color.
In reality someone can talk to you about color and give you suggestions or tips but it really comes down to what you like. What you want for your home. How do you want to surround yourself with color. Whether you surround yourself with white or with green is really up to you.
All I can tell you is that it might be more important than you think. It might be a connection to a place that can instantly take you back. They say that smell is our strongest sense and it can spark a memory and instantly take us back. I believe color can do the same. Don’t underestimate it.
So, just like I always do on each episode, I wanted to end with one final take away for you. We shape the spaces around us. We spend hours in our homes and live life around the colors in our homes. Take a step back and look around you. What colors do you see? How do they make you feel? Do you find any memories within those colors, or do you have any desire to tie your new memories, the memories of tomorrow, do you have any desire to create memories with color. I know that I do. I know that it might sound strange but having a consistent color palette from my childhood has and will always connect me back to my parents home. Create colors for yourself, if you don’t have them already. Create colors for your children.
I wanted to end this episode with a quote from David Batchelor. This is a pretty deep one kind of in keeping with today’s show:
“Colour is uncontainable. It effortlessly reveals the limits of language and evades our best attempts to impose a rational order on it… To work with colour is to become acutely aware of the insufficiency of language and theory – which is both disturbing and pleasurable.”
