Picking Paint Colors

The number of paint choices is infinite! Melissa Gulley Portfolio You can choose from Benjamin Moore’s substantial pallet, or Sherwin Williams, California Paint, C2, Pittsburgh Paints, Fine paints of Europe, Donald Kaufman, Farrow and Ball, Muralo, Behr, Ralph Lauren, Martha Stewart, Valspar, Dutch Boy, Glidden, Pratt and Lambert (are you dizzy yet, there are still dozens to go) or simply have something matched for a custom color.  As custom colors go, you can have almost anything matched - fabric, a toy, a cutting from a magazine, etc. - and the best part is, it’s free to have a custom color made.  You just pay the price of the paint.  You would think that with the amount of paint choices out there you would be able to find the perfect color quite easily.  Not.  I can’t tell you how many times I have gone the custom route after searching high and low.  Now granted, I am pickier that the norm (I think even for designers).  Habitually chic When working on a project I like to pick paint last.  I work from the least choices- the rug – and end with what has the most choices - paint.  When I sit down with my fan decks to finally pick colors, my client - usually right next to me - is thinking “this is so fun! In a minute or two I will see the perfect color she picks”.  Not so quick.  Watching me pour over colors is like watching paint dry.  It’s long and boring and I am often quiet (I know you didn't think it possible), lost deep in thought! I am studying the minute color nuances and comparing them in different lights.  It takes a while, and it should.  Then when I have three fabulous options, we need to put them on the wall.  I need 2’ x 2’ color samples on each wall of the room and a minimum of two good coats.  I look at the colors in different lights – morning , noon and night, rain and sunshine and dark outside with the lights on.  My client is usually skeptical at first, but is always amazed at how the color that was the first choice changes drastically in various lights and is sometimes not the final pick.  The absolute right color always reveals itself after this test.  The right paint color can literally “MAKE” a room!  Michael Partenio People sometimes say to me “what’s the best color for living rooms or hallways etc…?”  There is no “go to” fan deck of the best colors for a specific room - not even close.  What looks good in one space will look completely different in another and it’s an BIG mistake to pick without swatching.  Click on the link below - I copied and pasted a post from one of my absolute favorite blogs www.maison21.blogspot.com about just that SWATCHING: http://maison21.blogspot.com/2010/07/good-swatch-bad-swatch.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DecorativebutnotSerioustheMaison21blog+%28maison21%3A+decorative+but+not+serious%29 Cote De Texas blog

Catch more bees with honey

I have been absent from the blogging world for a month, and I know you all thought I was in the hospital with a terminal case of “Awe” from meeting Tom Silva.  Well, almost!  Not only have I met Tom Silva (my hero- sigh), but I have actually sat next to him at a few This Old House team meetings. I know, pinch me!  I have now also met Norm Abrams.  He was wearing a long sleeve plaid shirt, jeans and work boots on a black rubber roof in 95 degree heat (total stud, the average man would have melted where Norm held strong and looked good)  The This Old House project has been so fun, interesting, and rewarding.  So far we have worked on tile selection, plumbing valve and trim selection, lighting plans, kitchen plans, furniture layout, and we are starting to get into color and flow.  My clients, Allison and Raveen Sharma, are so unbelievably nice and appreciative of this entire effort. 

The Sharma’s -Picture from This Old House web site.
It’s amazing how motivating it is when people are so nice. The Sharma’s personalities have mobilized the entire crew to put forth an effort of good will that is rare in the renovation world.  It goes to show: you catch more bee’s with honey.  While speaking with the producer the other day, we both remarked on how much we want this house to be perfect for this wonderful couple, as they make us feel so lucky to be part of the project.

Before picture- from This Old House web site.
I know, I know, you’re probably think I’m blowing sunshine up the skirts (pants) of the TOH crew and clients.  I’m not.  I have already been hired, so there is no need to say this kind of stuff to land the job, or even keep the job.  I want to drive the point home that being nice is an incredible motivator – especially on a renovation and design project.  Some people are motivated by money, fame, power, but I am so motivated by making people happy.  I’m a people pleaser by nature!  Often you work with clients who do not express happiness or gratitude for a job well done.  Honestly, those clients are usually not the ones for whom I call in the “once a year favor” from a key vendor.  Obviously, it goes without saying that you do your best work for everyone - each client gets 100% (that’s how we keep our reputations).  But we all know those people who - without asking for it or expecting it - end up getting 110%, just by being wonderful.

Proposed plan for the front of the house- Drawings by Newton Architect Chris Chu via This Old House web site.