My Approach to Color — David Chamberlain

Color is an infinitely fascinating subject. Color for homes is my specialty. The selection of interior and exterior paint colors will contribute significantly to how your home feels and to its enjoyment. In this section of the site I will share what I have learned in my three decades of helping clients choose and apply paint to their homes. There are numerous color theories that attempt to categorize and organize the range of color as experienced by human perception. Here’s mine.

"Whites"

Let's start with the boring basics: the whites , or more accurately the off-whites. Not everyone needs or wants the bold dramatic colors that are highlighted on my website's front page. My goal when selecting an off-white is to have your mother-in-law exclaim (when visiting), "Good Lord! How much are you paying the maid?" — "I can't believe how clean your house looks!"

I learned this approach while doing rental properties for a few clients. The wrong "off-white" makes the carpet seem like it should be smelling pretty funky — and likewise the right off-white will look like the landlord just shelled out big bucks for a new carpet.

When starting to select an off-white, forget about your favorites. Instead, look around and see what predominates in the room. Here's an example: I recently did a job where the client wanted to keep her ( model) home's wallpaper, so we selected a color that was just a tad darker than the background whitish hue of the wallpaper. We used a tint that matched the predominate wallpaper color, giving us a bright clean look. This revived the wallpaper, as it had sorta disappeared with the previous color, but now it was celebrated. Additionally it became apparent that we were also complementing the fireplace brick. This approach also works wonders around bathroom tile —using a color that makes the tile & grout look clean.

Here's another example of manipulating the illusion. I painted some kitchen cabinets in Pflugerville. The client recently had about 450 sq. ft. of light blue Corian countertops installed, mainly on a humongous island that they used to make bread dough. After the counter installation they were upset that NONE of the off-whites (from the fridge, stove, breadmaker, mixmaster, microwave, blender) matched! They knew if the cabinets were repainted just the right color, everything would blend together. Several painters told this client it couldn't be done — that they were nuts.

I put up 5 samples on 5 separate cabinet doors and presto, it instantly became obvious whitch witch was which!

"Colors"

Any idiot can pick two colors that go together. It's when you start combining 3, 4, or even 5 – 7+ colors that one quickly enters "clown pants" territory and become the talk of the neighborhood. Samples are absolutely ESSENTIAL. A quart of paint, applied in 3 different areas or "lights" will prevent the most common mistake I see on virtually every house — "It’s only off by a shade".

Color will enhance, celebrate, & add vitality. My experience has been that clients, who are building their color schemes around WHAT THEY LOVE, come out the happiest. In other words, a color scheme that complements ones art collection, carpets, décor, children, mood or lifestyle.

I've found a pretty simple formula for choosing and combining numerous colors. Balancing them on the paint store's color "wheel". Kind of like "for every force in the universe, there’s an equal and opposite force". Color is an optical illusion waiting to be exploited. Color theory can be an adventure to the edge of infinity.

I tend to work on older homes and have developed an affinity for the ‘historical’ color charts. THESE ARE NOT (technically) VICTORIAN colors.

‘Victorian colors’ are usually rather ugly and in my not so humble opinion derive their charm from the sheer unrepentant audacity of their ugliness (much like the whole Victorian era itself). That said, I have Victorian colors on my home. (see photo at right)

Inside I’m a big fan of painting (or keeping) the trim and cabinets the same WHITEish color throughout the house and accenting only the walls. This makes repainting easier and cheaper if/when you redecorate or move.