At Home with Color
Selecting the Color Palette for your Home is an Art Form
Seared into my memories is color: the deep red vinyl of my grandparents’ kitchen chairs, the salmon-tinted walls of my parents 1970s living room, the vibrant blues of the Greek Isles. Memories take on all senses; a scent can transport you back decades, a song can remind you of a special night, but color brings it into focus. It is the backdrop to the experience. Every place I visit has a color scheme that sticks in my mind. The bright rainbow of Buenos Aires’ La Boca neighborhood, the deep Dupont red of London’s phone boxes and buses, the bold Pantone Yellow of Manhattan’s taxi cabs. These colors, even out of context, transport me back to a place and time.
“Color is spiritual, it glows, each hue has its own aura”, says California based Decorative Artist Katherine Jacobus. In addition to the breathtaking murals, faux bois and other skillful paint finishes she is known for, Jacobus often works with clients to choose the color palettes for their homes. It is not a simple process. Many things come into play. Among them she says, “the light in the room, the angles on the walls, the height of the ceiling, the openness of the room, the furniture and fabrics that will live in the room and the personality of the inhabitant.” The perfect blue can appear wildly changed in different rooms based on these subtle (and not so subtle) factors.
This makes me think of the internet dress sensation from a few years ago: some saw the dress as gold and white and others blue & black. In the end, the scientists explained it had to do, in large part, with light and shadows: the environment we were in when we saw the picture of the dress, and how our eyes individually processed the colors as a result. This is an extreme example, but a wake-up call to those of us who assume we all see color the same way. It depends on the person and the environment.
The size of a room matters too. “There are some colors that sit back and allow the objects and art to come forward” says Jacobus, “colors that don’t over-power a room, especially a large room.” Bold colors work well in a small space. “a dressing room with no windows where the color will not be affected by sunlight, where it can define the space. Light can suck up color”, she says. “Almost every color has pigments of other colors. If you have a green bathroom, it can affect how you see your skin tone when you look in the mirror. A smaller room can also handle a sheen on the paint. Larger rooms fare better with flat paint; to open up a room I use a flat finish and for a dramatic effect where I want the walls to become more concrete, I use a sheen” she shares.
I collect colors when I travel, often in small ways. My Serena & Lily “Coastal Blue” bedding transports me to a summer holiday in Mallorca, where the various shades of blue blanketed our world. The coral armchairs in my living room are reminiscent of the rooftops of Florence where we rented a villa overlooking the city on my daughter’s first trip to Europe.
“A room is like a painting,” says Jacobus. It’s not just the wall color, it’s all the colors with all their pigments, put together”. The words of a true artist. I think we can say the same about the world. We are all living in one giant colourful painting.
3 Pro Tips for Selecting Paints
1. Find a good paint store. Look up reviews and find one with a staff who is knowledgeable and skilled
at mixing colors.
2. If you have a color you want to match that you can bring to the store, such as a scarf, find the closest
match you can in the paint chip cards. Then, bring the chip along with the scarf and ask if they can mix the paint
to transform the color on the paint chip card to one that matches your scarf.
3. Use high quality painting tools, brushes and rollers to ensure a consistent coverage.
4. Bring a sample of the paint color home to try on the wall and leave up for 24 hours to see it at different times of day
with different light.
5. Brand is important. Jacobus recommends her top 3 paint brands, which she uses for different purposes below:
- Very mixable paints
- Stand the test of time
- A wide range of colors and sheens
- Affordable. Great quality for the cost
- Sheens are very European and have
a sophisticated feel - Smaller range of colors
- Every color is stunning
- Higher cost
- Beautiful paint. Has an old European feel
- Very good for high gloss finish
- Great for a small area such as a front door
- Expensive
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