Color is fun, exciting, can evoke emotions and can be difficult to work with successfully. Color is a science, it is a huge subject, but I will write about it as simply as possible and will give some great tips today that will help. Let's talk about light and color, choosing paint colors, artificial light (lamps, can lights in ceiling and fluorescent lighting), and texture and how each one can affect colors.
One of the very most important things about color is lighting. Without light there is no visible color. That is why it is absolutely essential to view all your selections in the room, if possible, in the lighting that they will ultimately be in. That is also why interior designers order color samples of fabrics, carpets, paint chips, even wood chips before final selections are made. Of course, if there is more natural light in the room, the color will be more brilliant. Conversely, as the natural light becomes less the color dulls. It is like on a cloudy day the green trees become almost grey. Consequently, the colors can change even throughout the day.
Paint is extremely hard to pick. One great thing is that many design magazines write the color of the paint used on the walls in the magazine. That actually is a wonderful way for a novice to choose paint color for their walls. It is still important to buy a small amount of paint the color that you are choosing and paint a 4' x 4' sample on several areas (at least one light area and one shade area, also, 2 different walls is recommended) where you are thinking of painting it as test samples. This can cost extra, but it is better than painting the whole job the wrong color. You might test 2 or 3 colors and select the best one. I highly recommend professional help choosing your colors, especially coordinating the colors for an entire house. By the way, exterior colors of your house should harmonize with the interior colors.
Artificial lighting also changes color. Incandescent light bulbs emit a warm glow and fluorescent light bulbs emit a cool glow. This can change the color. The most important thing about color is that the color is seen with the lighting in the room before final selections are made.
One more thing about color is that textures can change the color. The same exact color painted on a piece of wood with grain and then painted on a smooth wall will appear to be different colors. One other trick I use is to put the paint ship on a white piece of plain paper. This is more of a true color you will get on the wall. I recommend TEST FIRST, getting those samples and checking them in the room or rooms they are going to be used in first. Do this before painting the whole area and this one recommendation can save a lot of time, heartaches, mistakes and money.
