Perfect Color

By Connie Britell, ASID
Special to the Coastal Point

It’s really not that difficult to pick a favorite color for your room. But one color does not a room make! In order to keep things interesting, there needs to be a visual tension that is created by the mixing of colors. Combining various colors and patterns in a decorative scheme is nothing new, but it does require a certain discipline and sometimes a discerning eye. First of all, you will need to decide which colors to combine — but how? Inspiration can be found everywhere — most often in nature, but frequently in the most unexpected places.

It popped up just this week when it came time for me to select which of the myriad summer bedding plants on the market I would choose for this year’s garden. As I wandered the rows of annuals, wondering which possible new color scheme might sway me away from my usual favorites, I remembered the time years ago when the sight of a simple red bell pepper made me marvel. This single, pre-packaged, grocery store red pepper was presented in so perfect a color combination that it demanded attention. My young daughter took it from the grocery bay and blurted, “Look at these colors!” And we stopped to study it. There, within its taut cellophane wrapper, lay this simple red pepper cradled on a tray of deep purple cardboard. The shiny red skin was perfectly accented by its sturdy green stem. Couldn’t have been prettier! With that colorful moment in mind, I began excitedly selecting flats of crayon-red Salvia spikes and velvet-purple petunias as the basis for this year’s garden palette.

Tricks of the trade

So, a trick in selecting color combinations may be to take note of those objects around you in your every day life. See which colors excite and inspire you. Nature, of course, is a constant source, be it flowers and fruits or patchwork fields or sunset summer skies. But there are other sources of inspiration put forth by those in the creative arts and associated with design and decorating. Fashion designers, textile and furniture designers, painters, ceramicists — merchandising in all its aspects — even grocery store packaging experts, bring us trustworthy mixtures of colors from which to draw for our own use. How often, in my own design practice, have I drawn together a color scheme from a fabulous fabric or patterned rug.

Careful planning and sticking to some basic principles will ensure success. Color balance — grouping stronger colors or brighter colors with similar intensity — prevents the palette from becoming jarring. Successful mixing of the palette lies in balancing color, tint and tone. In other words, it’s not so much a matter of whether blue goes with yellow or purple goes with green, it’s the shades of these colors when used together and how much of each is used in the final scheme. If, for example, the scheme incorporates three colors, remember that it is best not to use equal amounts of each color. Instead, emphasize two of the colors, letting one be predominant. Use the third as an accent. One fabric should also dominate the room.

There’s a natural tendency for most of us to try to “match things up” when decorating. In so doing, many of us, who take our decorating assignments seriously (if not compulsively), become basket cases. Sometimes a client will pick out the smallest speck of color from a fabric or floor covering and ask that I select the same color in paint. In my experience, this never works because your eye doesn’t read that color in the same way when seen at a distance. This is where the ‘squinting trick’ comes in handy (or, as in my case, simply removing my glasses). In this way you allow yourself to see color as it is in the larger context and with the surrounding colors that influence it.

There’s another little secret that may not only help you relax with color selection, but also surprise you. Once, when attending to every meticulous detail of the design of her young daughter’s bedroom, my sister, Mary Jo, produced the ever-so-perfect picture of youthful combinations of pinks and yellows: walls, comforter, bed skirt, pillows, trims, art and painted furniture. But when completed, it lacked that certain something and she knew it. To her rescue, she called her designing sisters.

After the appropriate oohing and aahing, we got down to the business of trying to identify the missing element. After dissecting the design, we concluded that the room was just too, too … perfect, planned, expected. All that pink and yellow was just too much. We left it there and a few weeks later, Mary Jo called us back to see the solution she had created. The beautiful pink and yellow patterned window coverings had been reworked and were now spiked with a narrow band of bright aqua along the length of each leading edge. It hit you as soon as you entered. It was the perfect touch, the perfect relief. It didn’t match anything. It stood alone, punctuating the sea of pinks and yellows, bringing the room to life. What genius!

Ask yourself

Eve Ashcraft, a paint and color specialist in New York City has developed a list of questions to help her clients choose colors. The list is intended to get you thinking about color. What is the room used for? You can often get away with using vibrant colors for rooms in which you do not spend much time, such as entrances and powder rooms. Conversely, you may be wise to choose versatile neutrals in multipurpose rooms. How big is the room? A large room requires lighter colors to keep it open and airy, whereas, a smaller room painted in dark colors might give the sense of intimacy. How do you want the room to feel? And how do you want to feel in the room?

These questions are tricky, says Ashcraft. “People often say they want a soft room or a cozy room, but if you need to be thinking and working, you don’t want colors that are too sleepy.”

Color has emotional power. Blues set a tranquil tone for work and rest, making it an appealing choice for bedrooms, home offices and bathrooms. It’s easy on the eye and always popular, especially when paired with crisp white. Warm colors such as reds are welcoming and are said to make time seem to move more slowly, making it the perfect choice for a dining room. What kind of light does the room have? Light actually brings color alive and changes its character. Always make your final paint selections in the light it will live. Test the color in both day and evening light. What time of day or night do you most use the room? How many windows are there? North facing rooms will naturally have a cooler feeling. What are the predominant colors of the furnishings?

Your choice of paint colors is most likely limited by floor coverings or fabrics or wood tones. What colors do you like? Dislike? People are often influenced by the name of a color. “If I call a mud color ‘Café au Lait’, said Ashcraft, “all of a sudden you’re in Paris having a blast.”

Are there pictures or places that inspire you? Start noticing colors and combinations that move you. Go to museums, showrooms, gardens. There’s so much beautiful color already around you that you don’t have to be totally original. Feel free to copy. After answering all these questions, it still boils down to you and what you want.

Try and try again

Remember, two colors that look almost alike in small color chips might produce totally different effects when applied to a wall surface. “People have to be brave enough to buy a few test quarts and put them up and look at them for twenty-four hours,” said Ashcraft. “It’s the only way to really know.” (In a recent design project of my own here at the beach, selected colors, when trial painted in large areas, were found to need adjustments. When viewed in various lights and in context with the fabrics and floor covering, the colors were subsequently changed.)

Ashcraft continued, “You can’t take a color aside and examine it any more than you can take a note out of a symphony and decide if it’s a good note or bad note. Context is everything.”

In this case, that context is your home, your nest. Your artful choice of colors will reflect you in perfect harmony with your environment.

My next article will address the subject of the proper scale of furnishings relative to each other and room size. Meanwhile, I invite your e-mail questions or suggestions on the subject of interior design addressed to DovetailDeziner@aol.com.

Connie Britell, ASID, is owner of Dovetail Interior Architecture and Design with offices in Washington, DC and Ocean View, Del. She is also co-author of SOS, Sisters On Style, The Professional Organizer For Your Home Designs, available this month.