Best Gray Paint Colors

I'm taking a quick break from my 31 Day Spooktacular to highlight the hottest color right now- GREY. Take a look through these favorite grays from True Colour Experts- me being one of them :)  While you there, take a peek at Maria Killam's new website!



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Clean vs. Dirty Colors- My OWN Experience

I can admit, before I went to the wonderful Maria Killam's True Colour Expert workshop, I didn't know much about color.  I liked color, I used color (not always right), and I noticed color... but I didn't have confidence in why it worked to use one versus another.

At the workshop, one (major) concept we learned about was the difference in clean and dirty colors.  I remember reading Maria's blog posts at Colour Me Happy over and over, trying to understand it.
I didn't.
To solve that problem, I took a little jaunt over to Vancouver and attended the workshop.

While I sat in class and filled my brain full of information, I kept thinking about how wrong a few colors in my home were... and how my husband would wish that I never attended after I told him we needed to repaint almost, well,  everything. 

One of the colors that I knew was wrong was an accent wall in my living room.  (If you read my earlier post about accent walls, don't be fooled, I am not completely against them!) 
The living room is very nuetral with pops of bright blue, green, and turquoise. 

To tie in the bright blue accents, I painted an accent wall a wonderful blue from a piece of art in the room.   Bad idea. It wasn't wonderful on the wall.
 So I repainted it with a different shade.  Better, but still not great.

There was just something about it I didn't like. Too bright? Too blue? I didn't know and wasn't willing to keep repainting it.  

BEFORE: 



Before.
It really wasn't this bright in real life.
Camera flashes + horrible photographers = SUCKY photos.





Before. No flash.


  During the True Colour Expert Workshop, I sat in that classroom and realized why I didn't the color I had blindly chosen. It was way too CLEAN for the room. It screamed 'kids room' and made everything else look dirty. All I did was find a DIRTY blue that was already used in the room and repainted.

  

AFTER:

After. The dirtied version of blue.



Better, don't you think?



Before 



 After

The best part? My husband didn't even notice.

And if I didn't tell him I repainted, he still wouldn't notice.  

Now... all I have to do is replace my coffee table, paint the other walls, install baseboards, replace all the lighting, find a new lam.. (K, I'll stop now)

 

Linking up to...

Savvy Southern Style

DIY by Design

No Minimalist Here

Tales of a Bloggeritaville

The Shabby Chic Cottage

At the Picket Fence

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

The DIY Showoff

If you need assistance with your own clean and dirty (home interior) issues, email me at coleyhueske@hotmail.com




You Dirty Color You

You walk into a room and feel something is 'off'. Nothing in-your-face-this-looks-hideous, just something not right. Your eyes scan the walls, looking for the culprit and...nothing. 



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It could be a simple case of mixing clean vs. dirty colors, a common mistake that happens to homeowners and designers alike.  Most rooms (read- most) look best if all clean or all dirty colors are used. When clean and dirty colors are mixed, not only does it break up the harmony, but it makes other items in the room such as the curtains or carpet look dirty.

 

So you know how I said this is simple? I may have exaggerated.  Because a clean color can be clean in some contexts but dirty in others. And the classification of clean and dirty changes when compared to one another. 

Look at these two swatches. Can you tell which is dirtier?

BM 2123



BM CC-730



It may be difficult to decipher on the computer screen, but the first is the dirtier of the two.  Neither is a 'better' color than the other, it just depends on where and how it is being used.

Stay tuned for my own struggle with clean and dirty colors in my living room... and how I fixed it! 

 

If you need assistance with your own clean and dirty (home interior) issues, email me at coleyhueske@hotmail.com.

Linking up to...

Savvy Southern Style

DIY by Design

No Minimalist Here

Tales of a Bloggeritaville

The Shabby Chic Cottage

At the Picket Fence

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

The DIY Showoff

 

Why it's Best to be Blue

My favorite color is blue.

Maybe my fondness for this color is because it has the power to evoke so many different feelings and can change hats in various contexts. It can be energizing, calm, fun, cool, earthy, elegant, or just plain pretty.

Maybe it's because this color sings when paired with yellows, greens, or pinks.

Or maybe it's because of it's versatility- it works as a strong accent color or as a soft neutral.

Enough of me talking it up, let these photos convince you themselves...

All photos courtesy of House of Turquoise

What is your favorite color and why?

Accent Walls- The Yes's & No's

At one point, it seemed that everyone had an accent wall in their home.  I think accent walls are overused and many times not implemented correctly. Before you roll your eyes and never read my posts again, let me explain...

In most cases, there should be a purpose to accent walls...to accent architectural details or to highlight something.  Sometimes it can be used to bring more color to a room inexpensively (if it is done right).

What is the purpose of the orange wall?

 (In this photo, I am not seeing one. This may change if the entire room was shown.) 

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 A lot of people aren't confident with the color enough to paint the entire room that shade, so they slop up a nuetral and then blindly choose a wall to accent in a color that they like. 
Clearly red was the chosen color in the following photo. What is being accented and how does it relate to the rest of the room? 

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 Which brings me to the point that it needs to relate to the room!  

 Where does the purple in this photo tie in with the rest of the decor?

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Wonderful places to accent walls are behind bookcases, behind a bed (it can serve as a headboard) or on a fireplace wall.

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Just make sure that if your fireplace extends to the ceiling that you do NOT paint the two adjoining walls.

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So... as a recap, accent walls should be used sparingly (read- not in every room!), they should be used to accent or draw attention to something, and they have to tie in with the rest of the room.

If you need assistance with your very own accent wall struggles, contact me.

Linking up to...

Savvy Southern Style

DIY by Design

No Minimalist Here

Tales of a Bloggeritaville

The Shabby Chic Cottage

At the Picket Fence

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

The DIY Showoff

A Few Tips from a Colour Expert

Guess who is now a Certified True Colour Expert?  ME!

The past three days I have been in an intense color course in Vancouver, British Columbia, taught by Maria Killam.  There is soo much to learn about choosing color, it's ridiculous!  It has honestly changed the way I see everything, whether that is a blessing or a curse. 

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Now, let me share with you a few tips I have learned over the past few days. Afterall, I am the expert. Hahahaha.... ok, not that funny. 

1. To test colors, you CANNOT tell what color will work by using a small paint chip. You have to make a larger sample, at least 8 by 11.



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2. Do not start painting a room or house just because you 'like' the color. How does it tie in with the room? Does it relate to your furnishings? Does it tie in with your art and decor? What are the fixed elements in the room that you have to live with?
If you do this, your house may end up looking like this...and most likely regret it.

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3. How many times have you seen people compare colors on the wall...or done this yourself?

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If you see this happen, now you know this is a 'what not to do'. And if you do this yourself, STOP. Let me tell you why... When you have various paint samples slopped on the walls next to each other, you are comparing the colors to each other, not to the space.  Always have a piece of white paper behind a sample or if needed, paint the area white and paint the sample color inside the white.


4.  After paint is applied, the appearance is twice as bright and and lighter compared to what it looks like on a paint chip!

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What color tips would you like to share?