Will These Paint Colors Work For You in Your Home?
Maybe, Maybe Not.
A few weeks ago I received a frantic phone call – “I need help fast! Can you come now?!” It was a Friday evening and it had been a long day: however, I detected desperation in the man’s voice. When I arrived later that evening, the man explained to me he was trying to paint the interior of the house before his wife returned from traveling. The painters were coming in the morning and he needed to buy the paint before they arrived. He had samples painted all over his dining room wall: “I cannot figure out which one to choose.” After a few minutes of discussion, we narrowed down his choices to two color families. From that point, it was just personal preference. He was so relieved that the decision had been made in less than an hour, he still had time to go to the paint store, and the house would be painted before his wife returned. Whew!
While I collected my belongings he asked me if I could help him with one more thing. He had already painted the basement family room, but it looked horrible. His question – “What did I do wrong? I used the paint store’s APP and followed their suggestions.”
Well, from a color theory point of view, the colors were fine if you looked at them on a piece of printed white paper: or on a computer screen they might look appealing in that setting. The problem with the paint manufacturer’s APP is that it is not human – it does not take into consideration your furnishings, the lighting in your home, the light blubs, your age, or your brain and the way you personally perceive color. A computer will never be a human (at least not in my lifetime!).
The colors the APP put together were not paint colors that the average homeowner would or ever should choose to paint on their walls.
At this point the homeowner had already paid the painter, and the work had been completed. My job at this point was how to salvage the project and make it look better. The mistake cost him more money to fix.
Paint store APPs can be fun for ideas: a place to start. The average homeowner paints every 10 years: you want to make the correct decision the first time.
When it comes down to making the final decisions, the $200 – $300 you pay for an expert paint color consultant’s help can ultimately save you thousands.
http://www.americascolorconsultants.com/consultations.html