Keeping Up with the Joneses
It all started with the new couch.
Bernie and Rose Marie Jones realized buying the new couch meant painting the living room walls a different colour. They also knew they wanted to make a change, a big change, and they needed help.
Two of their (ten!) children had recently painted with colours chosen by Barb, a Benjamin Moore PDS Colour Consultant, and Rose Marie and Bernie had loved the new deep, rich colour palettes.
The Joneses described their house as painted in “bland, muted pastels, old people colours.” They told Barb they wanted to stir things up; they wanted their kids to think they’d lost their minds.
Barb’s initial task of recommending a new living room wall colour quickly expanded as the Joneses walked her through their house. When she chooses a colour palette, Barb considers all the furniture (upholstery and wood colours), bedding, carpets, tiles, lighting, window exposures, and the homeowners’ preferences.
When Barb returned a few days later, she had a fistful of colour chips, a floor plan, and a list of recommended colours and products for all the Joneses’ walls, ceilings, doors, and even accents.
“We are just thrilled. We can’t believe how Barb was able to pull colours out. I don’t know how she does it. The new colours even make our old furniture look better.”
“The house looks amazing. We love it. We were nervous at first, when Barb showed us the colour chips. It is so hard to tell what the colour will look like from a small chip. One of our sons said that the colour chip for Marshlands looked like what’s left behind when the swamp’s been drained, but on the wall…it is amazing. The dark green-brown brings out colours in the new couch that we didn’t see before.”
“Barb also suggested a darker colour (Bittersweet Chocolate) for the hall walls, because we have a lot of family photos, and she said a darker wall would really show them off. She was right. She suggested painting our dark mahogany stained trim and doors in Natural Linen, which Bernie is doing.”(Bernie is currently taking a break. He has a total of 18 doors to paint.)
Rose Marie had coveted the deep red Bonaparte at her daughter’s newly repainted house, so when Barb couldn’t fit it into the home’s interior palette, she suggested it for the front door, a natural complement to the foyer’s Sundried Tomato.
Rose Marie also loved the colour Biscotti, so Barb suggested using it in the kitchen, on the wainscoting, cabinets, ceiling, and trim, and then found the perfect wallpaper to tie all the adjacent colours together.
The first of three bedrooms has Cranberry Cocktail walls and a Sulphur Yellow ceiling; the second, Dry Sage and Wild Mushroom walls and a Camouflage (light green) ceiling; and the third, Rawhide walls and a Woodstock Tan ceiling.
Their kids’ reactions? From”Good God, you’re 74. Why are you changing everything now? “to “We’re so proud of you.”A couple of their kids loved the new colours so much, they wanted to move back home.
Barb was recently hired to choose colours for a fourth member of the Jones family.
ASK A COLOUR CONSULTANT
Why does the beautiful green on the paint chip suddenly look mustard when I paint it on my wall? As colour is reflected light, the way we see different colours is affected by
1. paint sheen
2. lighting
3. surrounding colours
1. Colour chips are printed flat, or without sheen, so no light is reflected. Higher sheens (pearl or semi-gloss) are shinier, reflecting more light, and appearing lighter on your wall.
2. The type of lighting in your room also affects how your colour will appear.
- Halogen lighting is the closest artificial light gets to natural daylight, which is the truest light.
- Incandescent light can make a colour look more yellow or orange.
- Fluorescent light has a harsh blue/cool light.
- Which direction your room’s windows face will affect how you see your wall colour. A room with lots of bright sunlight, for example, can take deeper colours more easily than a north-facing room. A northern exposure can make colours seem cooler in tone.
- Colour will change throughout the day and the year. Direct sunlight can wash out a colour, at dawn the colour is pinkish, at midday, yellow, and at dusk, reddish.
The colour of your ceiling, carpeting, hardwood floors, upholstery and fabrics all reflect colours that affect the colour as it appears on your wall. Warm-toned carpets or wood floors will warm the wall colour. A white ceiling will reflect 10-15% more light than a painted ceiling.
Benjamin Moore suggests the following tips for selecting a colour from a paint chip:
1. Hold the colour strip vertically, as on a wall, not flat in your hand. A vertical surface gives the chip 70% light reflection, as opposed to 100% light reflection on a horizontal surface. A chip held flat may appear at least two shades lighter than it does when seen vertically.
2. Once you’ve chosen a colour, separate it from the other colours on the strip, so the surrounding colours don’t influence it. Similarly, don’t hold the paint chip against of the walls in the room you intend to paint. The existing wall colour will influence your perception of the colour chip.
3. Always examine the colour chip in the room you intend to paint. The colour will likely look different in your home than it did under the paint store’s fluorescent lights.
4. Buy a big chip or a colour tester and brush it onto a large sheet of cardboard. Move the giant paint chip around your room over the course of a few days. A larger sample will give you a better idea of the impact four walls of the colour will have.
How do I choose colours for the outside of my house?
Choosing exterior paint colours is often more challenging and frustrating than choosing an interior colour scheme. For one, the pressure is greater: It’s one thing to paint your kitchen the wrong colour, but the whole neighbourhood knows if you chose the wrong siding colour.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
- Look at the other houses on your street, especially those on either side of our own house. Stand across the street. Is every house the same colour? Consider colours that will complement your neighbours’ houses, not duplicate them.
- What colours on your house will you not be changing anytime soon? Your roof, brick/siding/stucco, driveway, walkway, landscaping? Choose colours that complement these fixed elements. Tie disparate elements together by repeating colours; so pull a tone from the roof shingles or brick colour for your trim or siding.
- What features do you want to stand out and which would you rather downplay? If your house has one of those prominent garage doors, do you want that to be the first thing people see/look at? If you do, then paint it a lighter or darker colour. If you want it to “disappear,”paint it the same colour as the surrounding siding.
For inspiration and colour combinations:
- Benjamin Moore’s Exterior colours brochure matches 12 brick/siding samples with matching palettes of four colours each.
- Look to other houses with similarly hued roofs and siding.
- Check out NOTL’s approved heritage colours, even if you’re not in the heritage area. To see the approved colours, visit the town offices or Creek Road Paints.
An Interview with Sharon Grech, Benjamin Moore's Colour Expert
CRP: Who names the paint colours? Is it decision by committee or is it one person sitting alone (and laughing to themselves) in an office?
SG: Historically, Benjamin Moore only used numbers to identify colours, but in 2001 with the Colour Preview launch we gave all colours both a name and number. The 2000+ colours were split up and sent out to regional offices across North America and the employees at each office were encouraged to suggest names. (As you can imagine, there are far more employees in the U.S, so, in many cases, the Colour Preview names are a reflection of their geography.)
All of those suggestions were sent to B.M's Director of Colour, and her team, and the final choices were made.
More recently, we here in Canada had the opportunity to name our own colours because we developed "uniquely Canadian" colours for the Designer Classics Collection. All 231 colours were named by a team of employees from the Colour & Design, Marketing, and Customer Service departments across Canada, and we all researched and suggested names. There were a lot of meetings and emails to discuss everyone’s suggestions, and the final names were decided by consensus.
CRP: How do you come up with some of these names?
SG: Inspiration is everywhere! I do find I pay a lot of attention to lipstick and nail polish names!
CRP: Could you tell me how any of these paint colours got their names? Sultan's Palace, Desolate, Wizard, Deer Granite, Pirates Cove Beach, Queen's Wreath.
SG: Well, the only one I recall is Deer Granite, which was recently named for the Designer Classics collection. As you know, there are quite a few taupes in this revised collection -- and there are only so many ways of saying "stone"!! That particular colour reminded me of a granite I had recently specced for a countertop that had a similar name. The rest of the team agreed! Not sure of the others. Wizard, I remember, again a Regal Signature colour that we used for the Room Recipes book, had a very deep, mystical, magical quality to it -- as do many purples . . . hence Wizard. How about Inukshuk?? Sometimes you have to have some fun -- like I said, how many ways can you say "stone"??
CRP: Why is a colour that seems clearly brown, for example, called Nordic Gray?
SG: There in lies the beauty and subjectivity of colour!!! I would definitely not see that as clearly brown!! I distinctly remember the naming of that colour, as it was originally one of our 99 Regal Signature colours. We felt that colour was a complex taupe - very warm (the browny-grey influence) - yet there was something cool about it - which is where the Nordic part came from. At the time, we were reading a lot about the Scandinavian design influence.
CRP: Why are the French names often not directly translated from the English names? For example, "Pearl Harbour" & "Jasmin", "Durango Dust" & "Ivoire Polie".
SG: The original naming of the Colour Preview colours was done primarily in the United States, so were only in English. The entire palette was given to our French-Canadian counterparts, with the daunting task of naming in French. It was not always possible for a direct translation. Since the Designer Classics are strictly Canadian, we were able to give them "bilingual" names.
CRP: What comes first, the name or the colour? Do you see a wet sidewalk, for example, and think, we need that colour (Wet Concrete, 2114-40)?
SG: The colour tends to drive the name . . . we choose colours that we feel we need, and then name them. I find inspiration for new colours in many places, but I find I look to fashion most often. Trends in fashion colours seem to dictate the colours we’ll be using in our homes a year or so later.
CRP: How do you get such a great job? Seriously, what are the qualifications? What is your background?
SG: Qualifications???? A good sense of humour?! . . .hee hee. I have my degree in Art and Art History from the University of Toronto, and I have taken interior design classes at college. My counterparts at Benjamin Moore in Vancouver and Montreal both studied Interior Design at University and College..
CRP: What’s your favourite Benjamin Moore paint name?
SG: Raindance