Color Advice 101: Re-coloring is the NEW Remodeling
01/08/2009 06:45 PM by Gretchen Schauffler
Most people remodel one or two rooms at a time. Whether the remodeling project is large or small, one thing is for sure—remodeling indirectly affects the look and feel of un-remodeled areas in a home.
During a remodel, adding a color remodel, or re-coloring the rest of the home offers a fresh and inexpensive way to make everything look updated. How inexpensive, you ask?
A) If paint it was fabric, it would be less than a buck a yard
B) If paint it was hard wood floors, it be pennies on the dollar
I had a client put in new hardwood floors. Gone was the light plush carpet, gold oak floors, and neutral tile. They were replaced with richer, warmer, and toastier natural surfaces along with new kitchen cabinets, appliances, and granite counters. But there are color jig-saw puzzles that need to be solved after a every remodel like this picture shows below:
The entertainment center across from the kitchen (TOP) still had the gold oak stain that seemingly clashed with the kitchen’s new wood cabinets and surfaces (BOTTOM). The existing wall colors became ashen and cold next to the new natural surfaces.
While painting or re-staining the entertainment center was a good option, it wasn’t necessary. There were other options to make, not just the kitchen/family room look completely updated, but the rest of the house as well. When you remodel a room, you can re-color the rest of the rooms by repainting walls and making everything look brand-spanking-new!
The new reuse, revive, and renew vibe creates a great opportunity for rethinking design. Let me point out that the wood color in the entertainment center is a central color in the new granite counters as well as a highlight color in the new floors. Based on that, we decided to keep the gold oak stain on the entertainment center and re-color the home with a new paint palette for the main floor. We chose the following: Devine Oat, (as the main overall wall and ceiling color) Devine Cafe (living room walls and ceilings and part of the entry), Devine Shantung (family room and kitchen walls), and devinegreen: Cheetah (dining room walls and ceilings). I look forward to having the “after” pictures but in the meantime, I did a rendering of the colors for this blog.
By not painting or paying to paint the entertainment center, the home owner was able to paint new colors in the main floor and extend the new, toasty rich updated feel throughout the entire home—making it look like it all got a face-lift. Notice how the old fire place tile changes and becomes integrated into the new re-color palette.
There are further choices with re-coloring that can make a big difference, like painting the wainscot Devine Truffle. You can have updated feel of remodeling through re-coloring architectural features without tearing or replacing anything.
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So, my family has always been really into color and is constantly updating and renewing our home; however, they always ignore my room in the basement! which was hastily painted baby blue by my stepmother when we first moved in a half-decade ago. I don’t know how to bring this up to her without hurting her feelings even though I am pretty sure that she probably wouldn’t even wish a baby blue lifestyle on her worst enemies and that it was probably all one big misunderstanding. (BTW, I think that the baby blue is a underhanded way to poke at my manhood—who paints a young adult male’s room baby blue!) and since my stepmother only gets color advice from your webpage, could you please write a blog about the forgotten step son’s baby blue room and the importance of including all members of the family in the re-coloring process? I know that when she reads your blog, she will remember my room and, hopefully, save me from the Easter egg-shell hell that I have been living in for many years now. HELP!
~BBL
— boiling in baby blue 01/20/2009 05:01 PM #
VERY FUNNY, I am your step-mother lololol…luv u
— gretchen Schauffler 01/20/2009 10:08 PM #
Okay, the blog above is very funny. Perhaps the young adult male can paint his own space??? And, there are at least 144 colors that he can safely choose. lol
I have been looking at and studying the kitchen and family room done in Shantung. I love purple, but would never have thought to put it with the reddish brown floor color. That is my floor and my kitchen cabinets are a yellowed maple.
I was going to use Bordeaux, but keep hesitating because it’s not quite right. I think Dusk will work better in my space and is the perfect transition from one think to the next. Also, it contrasts well with my cobalt accents. I was sure that my husband would veto my choice, but he said “go ahead – you love to paint, and when you change your mind, you’ll repaint it anyway.” I think I will like it and keep it until some realtor comes in and tells me it’s not a saleable color. It looks really good next to the Bavarian that I am using. Also, I have found Cappachino to be a good companion to Bavarian, since my spaces are small (I have talked about this somewhat in another part of the blog.
— Cheryl 01/31/2009 10:00 AM #
Cheryl:
It was hysterical when I started to read the blog and realized it was my kid…lol He now has to paint his room and blog about it. He is a terrific writer! You sound like you are on the right track! You are choosing colors for the right reasons: because they look good with your natural surfaces and they look good with each other. You may be surprised about how your home could sell faster because of a great color environment. Hope you read the article Colors that sell your home :) Send us pictures!
— gretchen Schauffler 01/31/2009 05:11 PM #
I just painted my remodeled bathroom Olive. I love it, but I need a coordinating color(s). Any ideas? Thanks!
— Judy 07/25/2009 01:17 AM #
Judy:
Devine Olive has so many colors to play with! Think Olive with Devine Sangria, Impala, and Roast. Olive with Cocoa, Macadamia, and Bordeaux. Olive with Oat, Moss, and Encore. Olive with Storm, Penguin, Peacock…really the sky is the limit. Our color palettes make it so you can have personal color combinations that make you love everything in your home. The question is which direction to go. Get our Trend-Proof Palette, follow our PROCESS, and then narrow down choices.
— Gretchen Schauffler 07/27/2009 11:07 AM #
Any suggestions for baseboards? From these pictures is looks like the popular white or painted.
We painted our living room Devine Honey – absolutely love it and lots of compliments. However, our home is very open with oak kitchen cabinets/IKEA shelving (Beech color i think), and builder grade baseboards/doors. I’m at a lost as to what to do for an upgrade – really don’t want the white molding. Planning to use Devine Olive for the kitchen-family room.
Thanks for any suggestions.
— teekay 07/28/2009 09:28 AM #
Teekay:
If you are never going to change your wall colors then Devine Teak, Cafe, Butter, Roast, or Clover would be fun. But if you ever want to change your wall color to a different color scheme then the best thing to do is to try to find a “trim” color that will not limit your wall color choices. For example if you choose a tan trim color with a pink cast it may look tan with certain wall colors but might look pink with others. Trim colors that lean towards a high contrast spectrum (white or black) allow you to repaint different wall colors easier without worrying about the trim color changing. In this case I recommend to go with Devine Custard, Shell, or Whip…or go dark with Devine Truffle, Piping, or Rhino. I have placed high contrast colors on baseboards throughout the whole house with a different trim color on windows and doors to coordinate with wall colors. Everything is possible and can look amazing if thoughtfully planned. Create your color palette first and then think of placement. we have a Process that will lead your down the right path!
— Gretchen Schauffler 07/29/2009 02:10 PM #
where can I get the fabric in the Ashley collection?
— LeAnn Miller 09/22/2009 04:30 PM #
We have been remodeling our basement (low ceilings, duct work right down the middle, along with 4 beams in the middle of the room). We decided to paint the family room Filbert (which I also have in my living room upstairs), and it looks wonderful. The new bathroom down there is very small and will have a walnut color marmoleum floor, white shower, white toilet and dark vanity with a white surface top and no window for any natural light. Any suggestions on a paint color?
We also closed in the laundry room and plan on staining the floor a brownish color. What color might you use in there, so all the rooms flow together nicely but have COLOR! ?
— Kelly 09/22/2009 11:12 PM #
LeAnne:
That would be Calico Corners!
— Gretchen Schauffler 09/23/2009 11:04 AM #
what are the two colors in the rooms with the fireplace. It looks like red/orange and a coco light brown.
— audrey Samuelson 01/06/2010 03:59 PM #
Audrey, because color in computer screens vary, see the following:
LIGHT BROWNS
Devine Filbert
Devine Siamese
Devine Pecan
Devine Muslin
CHOCOLATES
Devine Cocoa
Devine Truffle
Devine Bison
Devine Gator
REDS
Devine Blush
Devine Ginger
Devine Sarsaparilla
Devine Clover
Devine Sangria
Enjoy!
— Gretchen Schauffler 01/09/2010 10:39 AM #
My house is very open – you can see every room from the front door. I painted the downstairs Cashew and still need to paint the upstairs as well as the family room. I was thinking of using teak upstairs but I’m not sure what color to paint the family room. I also have alcoves that I though I would paint the back wall cocoa but I’m not sure yet. Any color suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks
— Angie 02/03/2010 04:13 PM #
Hi Gretchen,
I recently painted the downstairs (open-concept) area of our small townhome with Whip as the main color and Pistachio Lime Beans as an accent. I wanted a true neutral and didn’t want to go too dark, so Whip seemed like the best choice. However, now I’m feeling just a little worried that it’s too light…too “white.” Are there other neutrals (perhaps from the Pebbles and Creams palette) would work well with Pistachio Lime Beans? Maybe the space will be OK once I get more furniture moved back in, but I want to make sure it feels warm, not stark.
— Shari 02/05/2010 12:02 PM #
SHari:
Sound fabulous and it’s great you are thinking about adding a more harmonious contrast to your Pistachio. See the following:
Pistachio Lime & Siamese
Pistachio Lime & Mantis
Pistachio Lime & Siamese
Pistachio Lime & Fescue
Pistachio Lime & Macadamia
Pistachio Lime & Shell
Let me know what you think and send me pictures! You know how much I love lime green!
— Gretchen Schauffler 02/08/2010 10:36 AM #
Angie: Have you followed our Process yet? In your case I would really recommend it. You need a whole palette, not just one color…so it needs to be well thought out. The Trend Proof Color Collection, along with the Process, will lead you towards the sequence of colors that look great with Devine Cashew along with all the other colors in your home. I love the idea of Cocoa, not sure about Teak…without knowing what other colors are in your home, it’s a hard call.
— Gretchen Schauffler 02/08/2010 10:43 AM #