I wrote in a previous article the most important factor in being able to understand and chose paint colours is EXPERIENCE.

What does that experience mean? It means a good colour consultant knows you can’t pick a colour from a two-inch paint chip alone.

So many things impact colour. Light being the single biggest factor.

I have put a colour on a wall that I have used over and over again, and it looks totally different in that setting simply due to the amount of natural light in the room. Start factoring in the time of day, the direction the room faces and the other lighting in the room and one colour starts to look like a fan deck in itself.

When I do a colour consultation, I bring large poster board size paint samples which are 11 X 14 inches in size. They make such an enormous difference in my ability to accurately choose a paint colour over my architecture sample kits. My architectural kits are better than a normal fan decks, but still not big enough to get a real picture of the colour.

Before I had these, I would paint squares in five shades of a colour across one wall to see which one I liked best. Now I use my large samples and skip the paint patches on the wall. The large paint samples allow me (and the homeowner) to stand back and see the colour in relation to the other features in the room. I move them around to compare to floors, curtains, trim, counters and furniture. It also is much easier to compare colours, which is a very important part of the process. It is not until you compare a colour to another colour that you can judge it properly.

There is another huge benefit of the large samples. They are painted. Paint chips, fan decks and even the big board colour samples you can order online are printed in ink not paint. Painted samples are way more accurate.

So, if you are considering a colour change and have been pouring over paint chips trying to wonder why you can’t pick the perfect colour, give yourself a break. That is the hardest way to go about choosing colour and not even the pros have some magical ability to pick a colour this way.

And if you want to save yourself from painting multiple squares on your walls, give me a call and set up an appointment for a colour consultation. I’d be happy to help you make your space one you love.