Perfect Palette Update Autumn 2007

A Color For All Seasons

Autumn has arrived. The light is changing and our color sensibilities are shifting. Red, orange, and golden yellow are ablaze against the October blue sky.

Perhaps you’d like to introduce some smashing autumnal color to your home. There is still time to throw open those windows and take out your paint brush before the real chill sets in. Here are some wonderful ways to use these colors even for those less daring among us. You’ll enjoy a colorful home all year ‘round.

If you are shy of using vibrant or hot colors, throughout a room, just paint a door, inside a bookcase, the pantry or an alcove. It’s magical to find a surprising color inside a closet. I love to use an unexpected color on a landing or inside dormers. Some excellent choices include:

Try a vibrant color on a single accent wall. In a bedroom, that could be the wall behind the bed. In a family room, it might be the wall that the fireplace is on. The colored wall will give the room much greater interest. And art work “pops” against a rich backdrop.

People often worry that they cannot paint a small room in a dark or bold color. This is a myth. In fact, it is color contrast in a room that makes it look smaller, not the depth or vibrancy of color. If you are adventuresome and wish to paint the entire room using one of these striking hues, just remember……to keep small rooms looking large, be consistent. Use all light colors or all dark colors on the walls, furnishings, and accessories. If you are having trouble deciding on a color, simply bring an object that you love with you to the paint store, isolate your favorite colors and find chips to match. You will have an increased sense of well being after adding your own personal colors to your home.

Choosing colors is a personal decision. The colors you put in your home should reflect your needs and tastes because you are the one living in the space. What appears cheerful to one person may be irritating to another. Colors have a direct effect on mood, so enjoy what’s in vogue but do not feel restricted by it and choose what is right for you, rather than what is trendy.

Exterior Color Selection Workshop Planned

Color consultants are enjoying a booming business. Although they charge fees for their services, they ensure the homeowner’s taste is reflected and that the colors are suitable for the structure and the site. If a homeowner is spending $10,000 to paint the house, it’s absolutely worth it to hire an expert. Color consultants keep clients from making costly mistakes, and enable them to create a more enjoyable home without worry.

Interior designers follow prescribed curricula to obtain certification or licensure. Color consultants, on the other hand, may pursue training in various ways, some formal, some informal. There are many with little formal training, but who have worked in the paint industry or have an arts background. In Europe and Asia certification is a requirement. American clients are starting to inquire not just about the reputation of the color consultant, but also about the training the consultant has received.

Many of you have written to me expressing an interest in working as color consultants for both interiors and exteriors. Some of you have taken my basic home-study interior paint color selection course, Creating Perfect Palettes. Others have gone on-site for training, mostly for interior color selection.

The process of exterior color selection still stumps many of you who are working on becoming color consultants. Without a teacher to learn from who is already working in the field it is difficult to learn the skills needed and it feels too risky to make suggestions that could fail.

In the spirit of sharing what I have learned as a teacher, I am currently considering conducting a one- day on-site Exterior Color Selection workshop for those of you who are serious about doing exterior color consulting. I will continue to offer this and additional workshops if there is enough interest. The course will teach step-by-step all that you need to know to help your clients select appropriate exterior paint color schemes. You will develop the skills and confidence to go to your client with the best specific paint color choices for their home.

Class size will be small (probably no more than 4 or 5) and held in the Boston area.

I hope to be able to offer the class 3 or 4 times during the summer of ’08. I have not yet chosen specific dates, as I am waiting to see if I get a sufficient level of interest. Please let me know if you might be interested in attending. If enough creative, color passionate people express interest, I will plan a number of one-day sessions and will contact you by email to let you know the dates and the details.

Contact me here if interested in the workshop

Best Wishes,

--Bonnie