Category: interior design

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The Age of Creativity

Going into a new decade, I am observing a strong movement towards “creativity”.

We are living in the Modern Era, which has included the Space Age and the Dot Com era, both based on science and technology. During the last 20 years I feel the Arts have been disregarded. Five years ago a guidance counselor at my son’s high school told him there was no point in taking an art class, because there are no jobs in art.  I was horrified!  Everything around us is, was or will be created by an artist:  the computer you use, the car you drive, and even the label on the can of tomatoes you buy, all were designed by an artist.

Lately we are beginning to recognize this creativity. You can see it all around you. Paint colors for homes are no longer just shades of white or beige.  Paint manufacturers are putting more time and money into promoting paint colors:  everyone has a “Color of the Year.”  We are seeking out more creative and unique products for our homes. Food products are more creative in stores,  and presentation, in addition to taste, is an important element at restaurants.

In our era of shrinking job stability and stagnant wages, people are finding ways to generate additional income through their creativity. A “side hustle” is a common second or even third job. Creative sites such Etsy.com offer unique creations such as this Starry Night Birdhouse or Fantasy Hoof Boots . Visit your local farmers market and you will see that we are even becoming more creative in our local food products such as Immortal Mountain Chocolates.

If you have a creative urge, but don’t know where to start, a subscription to a site like mybluprint.com might be the answer.  With on-line tutorials in everything from quilting and photography, to jewelry making and cake decorating, it is a fun way to exercise your creative muscles.  Perhaps you caught the competition “Making It” hosted by Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman.  The goal of the show was simple:  to encourage everyone to “Make It”!  It was a “Project Runway”-styled show for crafts people with different skills and backgrounds in which the makers were given projects to create each week.  The variety of creative skills and imagination on display was staggering:  both impressive and inspiring.

Why all this creativity? Perhaps it is the resurgence of concepts such as Ikigai that are driving this new age of creativity. This Japanese concept means “a reason for being.” The word “ikigai” is usually used to indicate the source of value in one’s life or the things that make one’s life worthwhile, the word translated to English roughly means “thing that you live for” or “the reason for which you wake up in the morning.” Read more at en.wikipedia.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America’s Color Consultants franchise model fits perfectly into this new trend. We offer a home-based business which you can pursue part time as your “side hustle” by adding creativity back into your life. A great way to start the next decade.

 

 

 

 

 

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Why Hire a Color Consultant – A Cautionary Tale

Fall is a very busy time of year for my business:  lots of people are sprucing up their homes for the holidays.  My appointment schedule is booked two weeks out, which I note to potential new clients when they call.

Recently, I had an appointment with a new client.  The day before our appointment, she called to cancel saying that her painter had a color consultant who he would send over for FREE.  I told her I understood and wished her well.  A week later I received a desperate call from the same woman telling me that the house was half painted and it “looks awful!” and can I come right over?

Sadly, I had to tell her that I was booked for the next two weeks!  She also told me a bit more about the painter’s “consultant”, who did not ask her anything about her own preferences, didn’t look at her furniture or use any kind of process to help with paint color selection. No samples were provided and she felt strong-armed to use the colors they recommended.

I hoped I could fit her in, but the timing for us both couldn’t be worked out.

Over the last 15 years as a paint color consultant, I have developed a personalized process to assist my clients with their selections, so that they love the colors that they paint.  My system is now used by all our America’s Color Consultants franchisees and we offer customer satisfaction. What does “customer satisfaction” mean? After your paint color consultation you can text or call us and we will continue to help you tweak the color selection until it is perfect.

Painting your home is an expensive proposition. While there may be painters with a very good eye for color, there are others who are just excellent painters. Paint color consultants are talented experts who are specially trained professionals – and do the job right the first time. Take your time and don’t feel rushed to make a decision.

It’s your money and your home.

 

 

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Purple is the color of royalty, dating back for centuries.

But why? Was it the vivid hue, the stately but sedate shade? Or was it simply a matter of rarity that made purple exclusive only to sovereigns?

Back before modern paints and dyes were discovered, the only way to get that signature purple color was to open up a rare sea snail named the Bolinus Brandaris and extract the purple essence- it can take over 250,000 of these mollusks to get one ounce of usable dye, making clothes dyed with ‘Tyrian Purple’ cost more than most people earn in a single year. This trend continued throughout the years, with other restrictions such as Queen Elizabeth the first forbidding anybody other than royalty from wearing purple.

 

It was only in 1858 when a synthetic purple dye was created by accident, when a chemist was attempting to find an anti-malaria drug, only to realize that the compound dyed clothes in a purple hue. This allowed the market for purple to spread like a drop of violet dye on a white cloth. But the connotations of purple being a rich color reserved for the rich remained.

Nowadays, you can simply buy purple paint places such as Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams and local hardware stores, for that touch of nobility in your house.

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Color Wheel

Growing up, we all learn about the color wheel in art class- the way all the opposite colors complement each other, like green and red or orange and blue.  The way they contrast each other can be vibrant and beautiful if done right, and jarring if done wrong. However, there are other ways that colors can mix beautifully besides opposites attracting.

Analogous colors are colors that are similar to each other, and they are next to each other on the color wheel. They use their similarities rather than the contrasts to create a well matching color scheme.

Blue, teal (blue-green), and green are a good analogous set, as are red, orange, and blood orange (red-orange). It’s a good, very natural set up, although be careful to stop these from matchingtoowell and blending the colors together.

Split complementary is a mixture of complementary and analogous colors- it uses two parts analogous colors and one part complementary colors. Purple, indigo, and yellow would be a good example. It softens the edges of the complementary paint colors and is a good pattern for beginners.

If you want to be daring and use four colors at once, then the rectangle and square patterns can be wonderful- the rectangle or tetradic color scheme uses two complimentary sets of colors to match each other, such as green and red, plus blue and orange. The square color scheme are colors evenly spaced around the color wheel, such as red, green, purple, and yellow.

These are only the most basic color patterns, and there are a multitude of other patterns to use- however, those should be left to professional –  like a paint color consultant!

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Five Franchising Misconceptions

Misconceptions 1- Franchises discourage creativity/freedom

While franchises create the basic framework for a business, that doesn’t mean they would micromanage all decisions that the franchisee makes.  In fact, most of the day to day dealings are up to the franchise owner, including who they hire/fire, where they advertise, what events they host, or any other similar details. The guidelines put in place by the franchise aren’t there just to tell people what to do – they’re tried and proven methods for success. Many of the guidelines are put in place to maintain the franchise brand.

Misconceptions 2- Franchises are too expensive

While the startup costs for certain franchises can be expensive – even exorbitant – that doesn’t mean all of them are: the price is much less if you’re operating a home- or service-based franchise rather than opening a chain restaurant, for example. Besides, the most common occurrence in franchising is a one-time franchise fee which is used to set-up and train the new franchisee. An additional royalty paid to the franchisor is also required. Royalties support the cost of additional back office services provided for the franchisee.

Misconceptions 3- Franchises are not small businesses

Most people want to support small businesses over big ones, and that’s great! Support the local businesses run by people in the community. However, that often does include franchises- just because there’s a bigger corporation involved farther back in the start of the company, doesn’t mean the local chapter of it isn’t owned by a mom and pop couple who wanted some support starting out.

Misconceptions 4- Franchising only applies to fast food

This is patently untrue. While the most visible franchises out there are fast food restaurants like McDonalds and Dairy Queen, that doesn’t mean every franchise is built from milkshakes and French fries. There are pest control, house cleaning and even doggie day care franchises. If the business in question is a chain, then the chances are that it may also be a franchise.

Misconceptions 5- Having a franchise will instantly make you rich

In many ways, being a part of a franchise is a lot like taking a short cut in building your business. A lot of the trickier parts are already set up from you, and there is built in support and ways to make it work, but it doesn’t mean every franchise location is successful. It takes hard work and determination to make a business successful, even if you have a franchise backing you up. Are you ready to put in the work?

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What Color to Paint Your Bedroom?

The bedroom is one of the most important rooms in your house. It’s where you start and end your day: and, the first and last thing you see is your bedroom walls. While it may not seem important, the color of the walls you stare at as your drift into sleep can change the way you sleep. Not all colors are created equal when it comes to helping you sleep, and some colors can even hurt your chances of getting a restful slumber.

When it comes to calming colors, blue is the best for sleep. Studies showed that people with blue bedroom walls get 7 hours and 52 minutes of sleep a night on average, and 60% of the people in the study found that they woke up happy. Gotta love that! Pastel shades of yellow, green, silver, and orange are also good colors for sleep.  There are other ways to prep your bedroom for sleep. Flat paints are also good for sleep, compared to a glossy finish, and complementary colors are the best when choosing accent colors.

Research says that the color purple may inhibit sleep. While it stimulates creativity, purple also causes more nightmares and only gives an average of 6 hours of sleep. Grey, brown, and red are also poor choices for a bedroom, although there is nothing wrong with these colors for other rooms in the house.  For those of you who love purple use it in your bedroom in a pastel shade, such as Sherwin Williams (SW) Silver Peony SW 6547 instead of SW Clematis SW 6831.

Silver Peony SW 6547

 

 

 

SW Clematis SW 6831
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Spring In DC

Cherry blossoms are blooming, all through DC, and with them the cherry blossom festival is in full swing. Stalls are sprung up full of fun food and Japanese souvenirs, shows combining traditional arts and modern music, and events ranging from ‘Art Blooms at Mosaic District’ to the ‘Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival’. All while the icon pink petals rain down upon the fairgoers.

The cherry blossoms first arrived in DC on March 27th, 1912, as a donation from the mayor of Tokyo to celebrate the friendship between America and Japan, and after over a century, the tradition is still going strong- although even Mayor Ozaki couldn’t imagine the result of his thoughtful gift.

While the National Cherry Blossom Festival is the largest and oldest of cherry blossom celebrations, it isn’t the only one in America. The International Cherry Blossom Festival is located in Macon, Georgia, and involves an airshow and an international food fair. The North Carolina Cherry Blossom Festival is in San Francisco and features both a film festival and a ‘Mikoshi Purification Ceremony’. Major locations from NYC to Philadelphia boast their own cherry blossom festivals.

Of course, the way to have the cheer of the cherry blossom festival at all times is with paint and décor:  Benjamin Moore boasts a soft, sedate shade called ‘Pale Cherry Blossom’ BM 2101-60 (sample shown) as well as a more vibrant ‘Pink Blossom’ BM 2081-40. Other paints, while not named specifically for cherry blossoms, match the beautiful petals- Sherwin William’s ‘Dragon Fruit’ has the exotic flair of the cherry blossoms and ‘Eros Pink’ if you’re looking for that zest of romance. And most brands have that delicate white color that matches the gentle blossoms.

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Product Review

Multi Purpose Tool
What is this tool? It is one of the painting industry’s most versatile tools. Even if you do not paint regularly, this tool is a great addition to your tool box. It has a total of 14 different uses:

Hammer

  1. Flat Head Screw Driver
  2. Phillips Head Screw Driver
  3. Large Hex Nut Wrench
  4. Small Hex Nut Wrench
  5. Convex Scraper
  6. Concave Scaper
  7. Nail Puller
  8. Crack Opener
  9. Chisel
  10. Spackler
  11. Paint Can Opener
  12. Roller Cleaner
  13. Bottle Opener

Most of these tools are very common; a few may not be. #9 for example, is used when painting a corner edge. You run the tool down the corner edge and it creates an invisible groove that your paint brush then follow, allowing you to paint a straight line without tape. For #13 the roller cleaner, use this edge to scrape excess paint off your roller before washing.

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Color often elicits very strong reactions in people.

What do you think of when you think of the color pink? Pink is culturally associated with femininity and love and romance.  It‘s emotional effects can vary.  While bright shades of pink such as magenta or hot pink can be stimulating or even aggravating to some, lighter shades of pink can actually have a calming effect.

In 2005, and as a result of 45 years of scientific research, there was a psychological experiment in Switzerland to see whether painting jail cells in a little girl’s favorite color could actually calm down violent inmates.  The two main hues used were appropriately called ‘Cool Down Pink’ and ‘Drunk Tank Pink’.  These were color saturated bubblegum, pink flamingo pinks.  At first there were signs of success that the color indeed seemed to have the desired effect.  However, once the prisoners had become acclimatized to their surroundings, they became agitated and vocal about their distaste for the color. This was most likely due to the cultural connotations of pink, and thus taken as an attack on the prisoners’ masculinity. Yikes!

While pretty pink cells may not be a cornerstone of prisoner rehabilitation efforts, Cool Down Pink and Drunk Tank Pink are calming colors in their own right, even given their intensity.  In the past few years varying shades of pale pink and rose have become a new neutral trend in paint color due to their calming effect and ability to work well with others.  Take a look at Farrow and Ball “Pink Ground”, a pale dusty pink; Sherwin-Williams  SW6028 “Cultured Pearl”; and Benjamin-Moore  2093-70 “Pink Bliss” if you are considering adding this hue to your home. It would be an excellent choice for that room in which you look to relax after a hard day’s work.

America’s Color Consultants understand the psychological and even cultural effects of color. Every client and every home is unique and a trained, experienced paint color consultant can help you choose the perfect hue for the emotion you want to evoke.

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2019 Color Of The Year

PPG Paints – The Power of Nature “The restorative power of nature is important in society now more than ever,” explains Dee Schlotter, PPG senior color marketing manager. “Night Watch” (PPG1145-7) is about bringing the healing power from the outdoors into your home through color. The dark green hue pulls our memories of natural environments to the surface to recreate the calming, invigorating euphoria we feel when in nature.”

Behr – EMBRACING REIMAGINATION – The 2019 Behr Color of the Year, Blueprint S470-5, is an honest, approachable color that conjures up the blueprints that builders rely on to bring architectural designs to life. Blueprint creates a space where you can build your own reimagined life–where awareness of what we want to build for ourselves can transform into action.

Benjamin Moore – Calm, composed and effortlessly sophisticated, Benjamin Moore’s Color of the Year 2019, Metropolitan AF-690, exudes glamour, beauty and balance. Metropolitan AF-690 is supported by Color Trends 2019, a coordinating palette of 15 harmonious hues.

Sherwin Williams – A warm terracotta color with ancient, elemental roots. SW 7701 Cavern Clay is a nod to midcentury modern style, but with the soul of the American Southwest, which together creates a desert modern aesthetic.

Dunn-Edwards – has announced its 2019 Color of the Year – Spice of Life – a dark, browned, fire brick red with orange undertones. “Spice of Life is an outgoing, confident hue that adds drama and stimulates the senses,” explained Sara McLean, color expert and stylist for Dunn-Edwards. “It’s a celebration of what makes life interesting and exciting. Spice of Life makes a bold statement with a melding of diverse and global cultural influences.”

Pantone – Vibrant, yet mellow PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral embraces us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in our continually shifting environment.