The color you choose to paint your walls can set the mood for
your entire home. Make sure you do it right with tips from these
local paint expertsThe color you choose to paint your walls can set
the mood for your entire home. Make sure you do it right with tips
from these local paint experts
It can be hard figuring out whether you want Thundering Clouds in your living room or if Twilight Mist would be better. Then again, maybe you want to put Bliss in the living room and have Champagne Glee in your bedroom. When it comes to picking paint for the walls inside your home, there are literally hundreds of color options.
As if narrowing down colors isn’t hard enough, deciphering the
difference between shades such as Lioness and Bedouin Trail can bring grown men to tears. But despite all the challenges of picking the right paint for a room – an arena where mistakes are glaringly obvious – changing wall colors is one of the most popular home-improvement projects, said Karen Cobb, a spokesperson for Lowe’s Home Improvement. Fortunately, South Valley residents have several resources to ensure they make the right paint choices.
“You can make the process of picking the right paint a lot easier by bringing in samples of things already in the room or pictures of colors you like,” said Robbie Retzlaff, a manager at Hollister Paint Company. “People bring in fabrics and tiles that are in the room so we can make sure the color of the paint will match. Or they bring in pictures of rooms in magazines, or anything that shows us what color they’re looking for. It’s a big help when we’re trying to send people home with the right color.”
Sometimes the color customers think is exactly right for the room turns out to be exactly wrong once they get it up on the wall, which is why putting samples of paint on the wall is so important, Retzlaff said. Hollister Paint makes half-pint samples that cover about a 3-foot-by-3-foot piece of wall.
“Every color looks different in different kinds of light,” he explained. “If the room gets a lot of natural light or no light at all, or if the light is reflected off something into the room, that can change the color. The color of the carpet or the shade of the furniture can throw off a color. You can’t just pick a paint from the chip and say for sure at the store that it’s going to be right for the room. You need to get it on the wall.”
The people who will use the room that’s getting a fresh coat is another thing to consider when choosing the paint, said Tuan Dang, a manager at Kelly Moore Paint Company in Gilroy.
“For rooms with new babies or people who just got out of the hospital, we make special kinds of paint,” he explained. “There are different chemicals in the paint, so there’s no smell and it’s better for people who may be weak. It’s called ‘Envirocoat.'”
For homes with younger children who may still think walls are a perfect canvas for crayon masterpieces, paints with more sheen can be a life – or wall – saver.
“Paints with more sheen – those are the ones that look more shiny – are much easier to clean,” Dang said. “So if kids draw on the wall, it’ll be easier to get of a high sheen than a flat sheen.”
Beware of trends when choosing paints, Retzlaff warned. Right now, popular colors from the 1970s are coming back in style, but like any fad, Retzlaff said it won’t be too long before another fad comes in and the old one is rendered obsolete. Reds are also a popular color right now.
When you’ve finally decided on a few colors, there are a few rules to keep in mind, Retzlaff said. If the paint is a dark shade, keep the ceiling white to avoid making the room too dark and cave-like. If the color you’ve fallen in love with is really outlandish, you don’t have to pass it by for a more tame shade. Paint one wall the far-out color and keep the other three walls in the room a soft, neutral color, such as a creamy white.
If you’re still at a loss about choosing a color for a particular room, feng shui – the Chinese art of placing objects in and decorating rooms – may help. According to feng shui, colors have strong effects on people’s moods and can even influence their sleeping patterns.
The trick is to be very conscious of how different colors in different rooms make you feel. A bright yellow may be cheery in the kitchen, but it may be irritating in a bedroom. Dark colors can either be depressing or relaxing, depending on the room.
Aside from paying attention to how paint samples in a room make you feel, pay attention to how you feel when visiting other people’s homes. Does someone have a certain room that makes you feel good? Take note of the color, and try shades of it in your own home.
“When you pick the paint, don’t just go with your first choice on a color chip,” Retzlaff said. “Try three or four colors. You’ll be glad you had options.”
Learn how to paint with deep and vibrant colors at a free how-to clinic.
When: Starting at noon, Aug. 12, 19 and 26
Where: Lowe’s Home Improvement, 7151 Camino Arroyo in Gilroy
Info: (408) 848-3128 or www.lowes.com
Orchard Supply Hardware and Home Depot occasionally has painting clinics, too, though none are scheduled for this month. Check the Web sites at www.osh.com or
www.homedepotclinics.com for future clinics.
Some of Our Favorite Paint Names
– Posh Red
– Ginger Bite
– Lyndhurst Victorian Rose
– Bedouin Trail
– Super Nova
– Waterloo
– Thundering Clouds
– Golden Popover
– Champagne Glee
– Lioness
– Mesabi Copper
– Twilight Mist
