It’s no surprise that when you hire a painter, you also have the decision of what color to paint the space. This decision can feel daunting and overwhelming in a world with so many possibilities and if you want to avoid ending up with any color surprises, keep reading. At the beginning phase of your paint project, we recommend starting with color consultation; the process we recommend to our clients is simple and what we refer to as the Color Journey. We hope going behind the scenes of our color consultation will help you as you embark on finding that perfect shade you’ve been dreaming up.
What is a Color Consultation?
Before we dive more in-depth, let’s first look at what a color consultation is and how they are beneficial to you as a homeowner. A color consultation is a meeting where the main focus is to dive into color selection for your painting project that takes color psychology, your vision, design style, and various hues of color into consideration. Color consultations are helpful when narrowing down your paint choices so you can confidently move forward with a paint project that you will love for years to come.
1. The Ideas + Research Phase:
Start big; we recommend creating a private Pinterest board, naming it by the room/project, and then just photo dump all (and we mean all) of the images representing the feel and look you are hoping to achieve. After you have photo dumped these images, look through what you have pinned. Hopefully, you see a trend of similar paint colors and shades used in most photos and write down some of the names of paint colors used.
2. The Color Collection Phase:
Head down to your favorite paint store (we recommend Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore *(click the link to find a store near you), and grab all the paint chips that fall into the range of the colors in your inspiration. If you would rather avoid going in person, Sherwin Williams has a virtual color wall where you can order paint chips and have them shipped directly to you, the max is 10 chips but definitely a good option if you can’t make it down to your local store. If you choose the virtual route, we recommend ordering additional ones in various shades (light to dark), as it can be hard to identify the true color of the paint chip online.
3. Working with a Pro
If you have not already found your paint company and/or design team, it’s time to narrow down what pro you will be working with on this project. Whether our team, another paint company, or an interior designer – we recommend talking through your vision and color inspiration with your pro of choice. (If you need help narrowing down your pro? Check out our top questions to ask during your search for a Raleigh Paint Company.) This will help ensure that the chosen colors align with the feel and look you want to create.
During this step, we take a more in-depth look at your color inspiration and the coordinating areas around the painted space – such as furniture, floor colors, decor + cabinet colors. This will help us narrow down what two to three paint colors we will order in a larger 8 X 11 paint sample to deliver directly to your house for final paint color selection. Please note: only companies that offer design services + color consultations are able to offer this step.
If you are the pro (and you’re tackling this project full DIY, Joanna Gaines Style- we are here rooting you on – skip to the next step.
4. Mock it Up
Mock-Ups – aka where the magic starts to happen. A note to add, these aren’t 100% accurate of what your space will look like as every screen has slightly different light settings, but this will give an excellent overall direction. If you are a photoshop wiz, color mockups in photoshop are the most accurate. If you’re like us and not a master of editing photos in your free time, our favorite tools to do a quick mock-up are The Color Snap app and Instant Paint By Sherwin Williams. Both instantly transform your space with the selected colors.
5. Time to Paint
The final step in your color journey – it’s time to officially transform your space. This step is the magical one as it is the phase where the vision for your space has been drumming up and is finally starting to come together. Stay tuned for a post coming soon about how to prep your space for your paint job, and for tips on getting ready for your paint day.
