QUESTION:

We’re doing flooring and paint for an addition for a company here.  One of the rooms is a training room and they are wondering what would be the best wall color for that situation.  The floors are going to be vinyl tiles in and oyster white with some forest green and gold scattered in (their company colors).  Is there a color you would recommend for a learning situation that might coordinate with that floor?

ANSWER:

A really good color for training is a soft yellow, which sounds like, well chosen, can actually work with the gold in the flooring. I recommend something light but not too clean, something not too dark or deep as it might put people to sleep. Nothing like PonyTail, perhaps the value that is one or two above that particular color value. There are some nice colors in the new Atmospheric deck that are light and not so ‘clean’ that would work well. Something like Soleil ATC 23 is very nice for learning, soft and yet happy.  Also here are some others:

214-1 Satin Weave

111-2 Blonde Beauty

115-1 Combed Cotton

115-2 Soft Cream

114-1 Lotus Flower

114-2 Silk Sails

213-1 Candlewick

213-2 Crescent Moon

113-1 Moonshine

212.1 Cake Batter

212-2 Golden Fleece

112-1 Capri Cream

211-1 Clear Yellow

211-2 Bright Laughter

111-1 Sail Cloth

111-2 Blonde Beauty

111-3 Butter

What all of these have in common is a softness and a subtlety, what that will do is allow the space to emit an energy of mental clarity but not over-do it and make folks cranky because too much or too saturated a yellow will tend to over-stimulate our senses.  Yellow is a challenging color to get right, it’s the happiest color but too much or if we are in a space with yellow for too long, it’s just like being around a ‘way-too-happy’ cheerleader…we’ve all been there, it just makes us cranky.

Especially if this is in a Northern-facing environment, with windows receiving the grey-er northern light, it will be important to have yellow as the undertone for the paint.  With learning, it is also very important to have windows, natural light, sun-tubes to allow natural day-light harvesting, or at the very least, artwork that replicates the ‘long-view’ to allow our bodies the opportunity to visualize and see further into possibilities and not get overly grounded or hyper-focused on details and miss the bigger picture.

I want to redecorate my living room but I have no idea where to start choosing my colors. I’m lucky enough to be starting from zero, since I am intending to change my old sofa and my drapes. I don’t have to take these fabrics into account, but it’s almost as though this total liberty of choice is blocking me instead… there are too many possibilities! What approach would you advise?

Many people seek inspiration in a palette of colors from a piece of printed fabric, or even in the carpet in order to find the right color scheme. But inspiration can come from just about anywhere: a postcard from Tahiti with incredible blues, an illustration from a children’s book. If your eye finds itself attracted, there is a good chance it’s due to a color somewhere. My own sources of inspiration for creating harmonious color schemes include paintings by some of the grand masters of art. For example, I like Modigliani a lot. He was a painter who worked in Paris in the early 20th century. You have probably already seen his portraits of women looking a bit melancholic, with their long necks and eyes without irises. Modigliani often used ochre shades, and red-oranges and browns in his paintings; his use of color created a composition at once powerful and harmonious.

The Harmony Card DS-3, Postcard from India, combines a number of these warm and luminous tints into an inspiring palette, which will be the ideal basis from which to design an exotic décor. Take the time to note what it is you like in certain works of art or other objects you enjoy looking at, and you will probably find the colors that will inspire you by speaking straight to your heart.

We need to redo our home office; my husband and I both use it, but we don’t seem to be able to agree on color. How can we find colors that will please both of us?

The Voice of Color® has developed an amusing and highly revealing tool which will help you discover what your own tastes and needs are in terms of color. First, you and your husband must define your respective tastes. To do this, click on Color Sense Game™ in the main menu.

Then, to learn more about creating a décor which takes your different tastes into account, read the article entitled: Maintaining a harmonious décor… and relationship! in our Color Chronicles in the About Color section.

I would like to use more than one color in my living room, but I’m unsure how many colors I should use and in what proportions?

The Voice of Color® has a simple and effective way of coming up with a balanced palette, starting with three base colors. This involves the famous 60:30:10 rule, whereby approximately 60% of the space is given to the dominant color, 30% to an intermediate color and 10% to one or more accent colors. In order to properly understand this rule and play with the proportions in a color palette yourself, click on Proportions in the Harmony Collection™ in the Inspiration Café™ section. You’ll see: a picture really is worth 1,000 words!

My husband and I have just bought an apartment and we are going to be living together for the first time. Unfortunately, it seems we don’t have quite the same tastes when it comes to color. I like hot colors, reds and dark pinks. He prefers beige, brown and gray. How can we reconcile both tastes in terms of décor and create an environment where we both feel comfortable?

A good place to start when discussing your tastes and needs for color coordination is to do the Color Sense Game™. I don’t know what results you will get, but at first sight, it seems your husband is attracted to the Leather, Stone & Wood™ family and you might belong to Pop Art™ or Tapestry & Mosaic™. Whichever it is, it is always possible to please everyone concerned by playing around with the proportions. The photos I have chosen show clearly that even if we start from a palette of largely neutral colors — this one comes from the Leather, Stone & Wood family by The Voice of Color® — we can still put an emphasis on the accent colors and create a very vibrant décor. The Zen side of your husband will be respected and you will have that touch of color you need as well. To create a link between reason and passion, try using this palette in which a flamboyant red is displayed with pride and contrasts brilliantly with the whites and the chocolate brown. The Bordeaux tint of the cupboards warms up this corner of the kitchen nicely, even radiating out into the living room. The cushions and the raspberry pink lamp give echo to this red, allowing the subtle pink of the giant footstool to also have a say. It’s a perfect example of how we can integrate color from one room to another and an elegant manner in which to add a touch of color to a neutral environment. These photos are taken from the new Leather, Stone & Wood™ Inspiration Brochure, available in the Inspiration Café section and at all Pittsburgh® Paints retailers.