Follow your motives
08/03/2006 10:17 AM by Gretchen Schauffler
I recently got a call from a client whose colors were just wrong! The funny thing is that when I saw the colors all together, they weren’t wrong at all.
As a matter of fact it was a perfect palette. All the colors were rich neutral purples, reds and greens like Devine Bavarian, Devine Cappuccino, Devine Merlot, Devine Georgette, Devine Date and several more prefect relationships that she absolutely hated…So I set out to make a visit. She had avoided moving to the NW from the fear that the gray winters would do her in. It was no longer avoidable.
She felt she had been done in by her colors even before winter had set in. There had already been a few mistakes like a black couch leather set (her husband’s choice), so things were already heavy and her reality was not the lighthearted feeling she was envisioning.
As we talked about the color journey that had landed her with the absolutely perfect wrong palette, I once again confirm how personal color really is and how most of the time, wanting color is not about color at all. In this case it was about motives.
You see, the definition of the word motive is this: the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior. Intention (An aim that guides action).
Here is something I have learned by creating a color company that is about emotional rewards and quality inter-dependence: people are sometimes unable control theirs circumstances to be happy, but they can honor their motives and get there. Color can be used as a perfect motive.
The colors she had received were not aligned with her perfect motive. She was looking for some control over her indoor environment and she wanted the same light, refreshing feeling and warmth she had left behind. Although the palette she had been given was rich, beautiful and lovely, it was not aligned with her motive, the reason for action, the arousal towards a goal.
So we took it from the top. In my color consulting philosophy, you can actually live with the colors that make you insanely happy regardless of where you live, who you live with and what you own. It is about what makes you tick (motive) and how to make the reality you live with align with the colors you love. So we ended up with the following colors: Devine Whip, Devine Butter, Devine Agave, Devine Pool, and Devine Grapes and Beans for a very special room where it looked onto a garden she loved and reminded her of sunnier stomping grounds.
A far cry from the other colors that were so perfectly wrong for her motive.
Her motive had been honored and she felt understood and not guilty, and guilt is a whole other story. Permission to pastel away into a new bright life! Please send us your comments about your color motive.
Gretchen Schauffler
Artist and Founder of Devine Color®
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My motive is this painting by Emmanuel Oberhausen. I chose it to hang over our tub in our newly remodeled master bath full of warm brown travertine. I just love this painting, when I saw it I new it was the one! It has become my motive as I am repainting our house with Devine colors. The answer to my paint frustration for the last ten years! I want to embrace our orangy/red brick fireplace and make it look smashing! I am the woman you write about in your book “When Color Sings” who is consumed by color choices and drives her husband and family mad from talking about it every waking moment! With the advice from your book I am really looking at the things I love in our house and the things that we have purchased over the years. I don’t want to live through color trends, but I also don’t want the predictable! Part of me wants to pay the money for a consultant- the other side wants the challenge -but still desires the approval! I hope to make our house a colorful ( as you say we live inside 9 months out of the year) exciting place to be!
— Lisa 05/13/2008 11:22 AM #