The internet is a wonderful thing, where else could you find articles like this to help you choose paint colors? There are sites to help you decide “what color am I” and “what are the most popular color trends” and on and on. There is so much information now that the average homeowner can easily be overwhelmed!
That was the case when I met a recent homeowner on an estimate. She had a lovely home with tasteful decorations and furnishings. She also had a whole basketful of color swatches and no idea which walls to put the color on. She had the home custom built several years ago and could not decide on colors then, and the whole home was still the original builders white.
So we sat down at the kitchen table and looked at color samples and talked about options. The first decision we had to make was what would be the main color, after looking at several samples of beige, we agreed on Kilim Beige. Now for the colors! We had a general idea of which palettes she preferred, based on her personal preferences and the colors of the carpets and furniture.
On many projects, we can pick up a “Color to Go” sample from our favorite paint store, Sherwin Williams. These are less than $10 and allow you to paint a small swatch on a wall to see it in different lighting during the day. We did do a few of those, but we still had decisions to make as to which wall would be the best for an accent wall, as this house had many angled walls and arches.
Back to the internet we went! By using an online Color Visualizer, I was able to upload photos and add any color to any wall with the click of the mouse! I was able to create several options and email them to the customer, she was able to look at them at her convenience and make suggestions or approvals. We still applied some color samples to the wall for the final color approval, as computer and monitor differences may vary, and this allowed us to fine tune the colors to match existing fabrics in the home. We also used Sample Boards to create several Faux Finish options for approval.
It was a lot of fun to work with a homeowner on choosing the colors, when we started, she was overwhelmed by the wide variety of choices, by the the end of the project, she was making color suggestions and confident of her choices. Because of her input and the use of technology, I think she made some great decisions!
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