Big Bang for Your Paint Buck
10/17/2008 10:27 AM by Gretchen Schauffler
As a young mom, I remember the days of toys in every corner, and a high chair being the high light of the kitchen. When I decided to stay home with my babies, I saved money by wearing a lot of white shirts with jeans because I could bleach them and they always looked clean and new—this saved me from clothes in the wash fading away, looking old, and having to be replaced. Along the way I learned that rich wall color did not fade away but covered a room with a lot of charm and luxury without having to spend a lot of money on replacing furniture or accessories. When there is a will there is a way. The question is what can you do to make your home a place to raise your family that is beautiful and comfortable easily.
This homeowner wants to paint her living room Devine Paprika but has doubts about her choice. You can see the tape and the color she tested by the door. Her intuition was right!
She is looking to unify in the white leather couches and living room with the kitchen’s warm hard surfaces such as tile and wood. She has the look of Devine Hosta, Devine Georgette or Devine Moss in her kitchen and Devine Reflection in her laundry room.
Devine Paprika is too bright for the home because it would over power the soft brick-like red tones in the kitchen. This does not mean that red is ruled out but that the right red needs to compliment the permanent non-negotiables like countertops, wood, and flooring. It has to be the right red.
So before I explore the red option, I first have to explore the neutral options. Why? because our philosophy is “when you find the perfect Devine Color neutral, you can use it in at least 50% of the house, ceilings and rooms, to tie all color together”. I had to consider the blue light sheer curtains (easy to replace), the white couches (costly to replace), the kitchen (won’t be replaced) and the way the ceiling folded up. When a ceiling is vaulted and folds at a soft angle, the wall color either has to curve up on the ceiling, or a complimentary neutral color is needed to balance the wall color. This is because there is more ceiling surface than wall surface above you—easy to make colors look unbalanced. You will see how I illustrate this point when you scroll down…
The two images above show you how a warm neutral can come in and soften the light and space in the room. It is also an easy solution if you want to keep the light curtains. This look will have to accommodate painting the ceilings. The neutrals are taken right from natural tile surfaces. For various possibilities, on the cool side try Devine Macadamia, Devine Filbert, Devine Sumatra, or Devine Muslin. On the warm side try Devine Cashew, Devine Shade, devinegreen: Persian, and evinegreen: Persian. One or two will have the perfect look and temperature for your personal taste.
Now lets play with the red idea…
There are perfect reds for the home! Devine Ginger, Devine Dust, and devinegreen: Cheetah. These are earthier reds and will give the room the red cast you want without overpowering everything else in the home. You can see that leaving the ceiling white would be too harsh and this is why knowing your neutral first is so important. The curtain is too light for the the beautiful drama. Balancing the whole room will have to accomodate changing the curtain and painting the ceiling.
I put a neutral on the ceiling and deleted the curtain. I also replaced the curtains to show that the red will need a different kind of look for the window. Recommended Devine Window Dress: Devine Pebbles.
Then I carried the look of Devine Hosta, Devine Georgette or Devine Moss out of the kitchen into the dining room with the chosen neutral on the ceiling. Stopping in the middle of a wall is a sign of not knowing what to do next, being afraid of color, or trying to divide a room into two. Open rooms need to remain open, so color needs to flow like rivers do. NOT knowing what to do, or being afraid is understandable.
Finish the dining room in Devine Hosta and dont forget the ceiling in the chosen neutral.
Now, what if you reversed the colors? Green in the living room and red kitchen…anyone?, What do you think? Another possibility would be to carry versions of the existing wall colors like Devine Hosta and Devine Reflection into the living room and paint with colors like Devine Glass, Devine Date, or Devine Almond and tehn paint the kitchen and dining room in the suggested reds. Suggested Devine Window Dresses: Devine Cocoa and Devine Breeze.
Once you know what you need to do in order to make it what you want, you can get rolling. Cheap paint is different than paint being the cheapest way to change a room. Cheap paint takes more coats, doesn’t last as long, and doesn’t save you time. There are 33 square yards of luxury paint in every Devine Color gallon, and at 77 CENTS per yard, that means big savings.
The home owner loves purples so Devine Tempest, Devine Bavarian, Devine Skyline and devinegreen: Jasmine would be beautiful for bathrooms and bedrooms!
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Gretchen,
I am completely smitten by your approach to color and your paint—I have the color palette and your book.
We’ve communicated before when I was in chaos, now seem to be making headway. I would like to send you sample of new sofa fabric, rug (made of former carpet) hardwood, and photos and get your help in planning my complete redo of my house, color-wise. I have so many friends, all telling me what to do—and I’d not only like to show them how, through your expert advice of course, but further the mission of Devine Paint. I love the idea of powdery on the walls. Will get fabric sample next week and get package ready if you’re willing to point me in the right direction. I think the color is going to be something mushroomy, but I’ll await your opinion.
Loved talking with Bonnie this past week. What a great group at Devine Paint.
Frances Graham
francesnc@aol.com
— Frances Graham 11/12/2008 08:22 PM #
I am flattered by your comments and by your support. Thanks so much for spreading the good word about us. If you want, send me digital pictures of your rooms and we will look at them and give you direction…this gives you suggestions that you walk through yourself with the paint palette and our color “philosophy. Please read the comments by Dorene under HOW to Use Our Paint Palettes. If you send me a box and I do a full blow color consultation for your entire home, that is a different story. This takes a communication process I walk my clients through. I do charge clients for my time, the lay-out, the phone conference, and walk-through the entire proposal. I believe that expertise comes with responsibility. When I am general and give you ideas, you are the driver. When I give a color consultation, I am the driver and it’s my job to nail it perfect every time. If you are interested in this option, please call our office at 1.888.81devine. I know how difficult choosing color can be! I launched my paint line in the middle of a suburban crisis. Women were spending hours of sleepless nights not knowing what colors to paint their walls. I became a color consultant with a color process that worked. Every time the colors were right! But then, painting was a problem. Paint dripped, splattered, and smelled bad. So I had to make Paint that Went on like Yogurt and Looked Like Chiffon. Devine Color began to satisfy the real paint needs of women with mistake-proof colors, eco-friendly paint pouch samples, and the wisdom of a woman inside every paint can. They began to save time, be right about color, and enjoy themselves in the process – what you would naturally expect from great makeup, or a great recipe. Let me know how we can help.
— gretchen Schauffler 11/13/2008 10:33 AM #