But the Color Looked So Good in the Store!
by Evelyn Bartin

"I'd like the bedroom done in the most beautiful shade of blue. Not so blue as navy but not so pale as powder, either. More like the blue of a robin's egg, just at the moment the chick is bursting from the shell. And I'd like the kitchen to be yellow but, mind you, not any yellow. I'd like a nice, happy, sunny yellow. Somewhere between the yellow of butter and the yellow of a daffodil in full bloom. And as for the den, I'd like that painted in the loveliest shade of green with just a hint of gray. Like the green of the early morning sea on the coast of Maine, just as the dawn is breaking. . . "

I hope the Motion Picture Academy will forgive my loose remembering of the scene from Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, in which Myrna Loy gives color direction to the painting contractor. I also remember that after Myrna leaves the room, the contractor's subsequent direction to his workman goes something like, "Ya' got it? Blue, yellow, green!"

In my experience as a designer I would say that I've found my clients' response to color — more than their response to any other design element — to be the most dramatic, sometimes the most contentious. Color is a unique animal: it's very, very personal. Physiologically speaking, we all see color slightly differently. In fact, despite Myrna's direction to her painter, the experts say our brains cannot retain true color memory, only approximations. Psychologically speaking, color is thought to evoke emotion, trigger mood, stimulate imagination. Over the years, whole schools of color psychology and color therapy (chromotherapy) have evolved. Indeed, in classic Stanislavky "method" training, actors are taught how to build a character based on color. Here's the summary of thinking:

- Red is the most extreme color; it is the color of intensity, even agitation (think Valentine's Day, The Scarlet Letter, "seeing red").

- Yellow is the color of cheer; it is also thought by color psychologists to improve concentration (thus, they claim, its use on legal pads).

- Blue is red's opposite; it is the color of the sky and the color of the ocean; it is thought to enhance feelings of peace and calm, to increase productivity (studies have shown that weightlifters are able to handle heavier weights in gyms painted blue).

- Purple connotes luxury, wealth, sophistication; but because it is rare in nature, it can also connote artificiality.

- Orange is the color of warmth and enthusiasm; it is thought to trigger feelings of energy and excitement.

- Green is the color of nature; it is the easiest color on the senses (you've probably heard of the "green rooms" that are intended to relax guest stars before chatting with Dave or Jay).

In design school we are also taught the color wheel, on which the three primaries and three secondaries are further expanded to twelve basic shades, with their relative placement on the wheel (next to, opposite of, etc.) having design meaning. For instance, purple and light green are directly opposite one another on the color wheel and are thought to be a complementary pair, often a dependable combination for room design.

So much for the crash course in color psychology and the color wheel. The bottom line is, if you want a purple room, you should have a purple room. However, as a designer, I must tell you: there's purple, and there's purple... and then there's purple in the light and composition and context of your particular space. Whether you're painting an object, a piece of furniture, a room or a whole house, my advice is to take home lots and lots of paint chips (they're free!) and try them out in the space they're intended. Cut them up and tape them to the surfaces you're considering. For that matter, buy small cans of paint (some of the manufacturers are now making sample sizes) and paint several test patches. If you're working with faux finishes, have the painter assemble a few sample boards and bring them into the space. The way light plays in your room is critical. Watch how the color changes from wall to wall, from plane to plane, from cracks and creases to flat surfaces, from morning to afternoon to evening. The absolutely worst thing to do is to choose a color in the store!

Also watch how the color changes in the context of other colors. That same purple you love on the wall or that you love on a fabric swatch can look entirely different when it's placed in combination with other colors, even other monochromatic colors. This is especially important if you're planning to have lots of fabrics in the room (rugs, upholstery, draperies, etc.). Make sure those fabrics or swatches are all in hand as you make your color choices and decisions. Realize that texture can also affect color, especially if the fabric has a nap (think of the most dramatic example, velvet). If you have to pay for swatches, trust me, it will be a good investment. While you may be able to re-paint a room relatively easily, you probably can't return that new $8,000 custom purple sofa. And don't forget the color on the floors. Whether you're using rugs on hardwood floors, wall to wall carpeting or any other type of floor covering, that's yet another color consideration. Composition is everything!

In the end, color is the single most important design decision. It can be your friend or your enemy. It can point your eye toward something lovely or bring attention to a mistake. It can give new life to something old or turn something beautiful into an atrocity. Here are a few design tips when working with color:

- Warm colors (such as red and orange) tend to come forward; cool colors (such as blue and green) tend to recede.

- Color appearance can be altered dramatically when using contrasting colors or backgrounds.

- Shade can affect your like or dislike of a color — for instance, you might hate mint green, but love sage green.

- The degree of saturation can also affect your like or dislike of a color — for instance, you might object to a light, pale green, but embrace a dark, rich green.

- When choosing colors for a room, light colors will tend to open it up, dark colors will tend to shrink it; however, the interest a darker color creates may be worth losing a few square feet to the eye.

- Our eyes are drawn to the places where light and dark meet.

- Adding white or black to any color composition can change the whole feel.

Because designers are trained and have lots of experience assessing color with a professional eye, they can usually anticipate what effect various combinations will have, even in a showroom or store. But for the most part, designers will gather samples and swatches and then place them all together in the actual room before making final decisions. If you're not working with a professional designer, take a page from her/his book and do likewise. In the final analysis, color can make you miserable or can make you smile, with little gray area (sorry, no pun intended!) in the middle. On his deathbed, Picasso was rumored to have said: "Someone, please, show me the red!"

Evelyn Bartin is a designer whose company, E. Bartin Inc., is located in Milan.