May 26, 2010

Design 101: Finding A Color Palette

I have known what colors I'd like to use in our master bedroom for years.  Years before yellow was in style and on every magazine cover.  Why?  Because I love yellow.  I love how it makes me feel.  I realize that sounds like a response you'd get from a child, and it is.  It has ALWAYS been my favorite color, so why wouldn't it be the accent color of the most personal room in my house?  I also realize this post is not the textbook on how to pick a color palette.  To be honest, I don't really agree with the color wheel theory on picking colors.  It's what you learn in design school, but it's soooo in the box.  Take me out of the box, please!


So if not the color wheel, how do I pick color?  By how it makes me feel.  Go ahead and think I'm crazy, but when I thought about our dream master bedroom, I first thought of how I wanted to feel when I walked in there and spent some time.  I wanted it to be cheery and calming at the same time.  I wanted it to be comfortable and clean feeling.

cheery - yellow
calming - gray (the easiest color for your eyes to look at and the only true neutral)
comfortable - brown
clean - white




Yes, please!  In other rooms of the house I may use other palette finding methods.  Color inspiration can be found from clothes, photos, fabric, a piece of furniture, temperature, or really anything else that you love or catches your eye!  I want to hear from you - how do you pick colors for your house?
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2 comments:

  1. nancy rayMay 26, 2010 at 10:29 PM

    i am STILL in the process of choosing colors for my home, but in short (or not so short), it goes something like this:

    1. think of all the colors that make me happy
    2. choose those colors in many different shades at lowes/ace/home depot (i like lowes the best!)
    3. choose which room gets what color (and make sure the hubby likes it)
    4. select the transition colors for the hallways/bathrooms
    5. make sure the colors all go well together from room to room
    6. pick favorite 3 shades and leave them up on the walls for many days (to see in lots of different light!)
    7. CHOOSE the final colors (the hardest part!)

    as i mentioned, i'm STILL in this process. not sure if there is a better way? i would love some advice!

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  2. Rachel BarkerMay 26, 2010 at 10:38 PM

    Wow Nancy, that is awesomely detailed! I love the thought of transitioning colors in between rooms - so many people don't think of that.

    One thing that helped me a little when choosing colors that coordinate were to keep things in the same color temperature arena. For example, all the the grays that I liked were in the 790s in the Behr line, so when I looked for a darker gray in the bathroom, I looked in the 790s line. That way, one didn't look too warm (orangish) or cold (bluish) when next to the other.

    I dont' know if that helped or if it only made sense to me! haha

    I wanna know what you end up deciding on though, girl!

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