apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Really great, useful info! Here's what the Color Marketing Council had to say about colors for 2009:

http://jgkitchens.blogspot.com/2009/01/trend-watch-2009-colors-to-come.html

Just wished to point out, in that photo before the jump, a color is named "DEAD SALMON" which is...descriptive, if not exactly appealing.

"Elephant's Breath" - something that poor salmon may have been subjected to moments before its demise?

Number 10 is a myth that persists even from people who should know better. Dark colors recede and will actually make a rook seem larger. The secret is the greyness or purity of the color, not how dark or light it is. A warm light color will advance and make a room seem smaller.

So, quiltmaster, to make a room "look" bigger I should be looking for a cool, pure color either dark or light,(minimize the gray)? Or the opposite? Sorry, I'm trying to pick a color for my new kitchen which gets very poor natural light and I keep getting confliciting opinions about what I should be doing.

I agree with thesiren and amphora and would like to add Smoked Trout? For your walls????

As a left brained decorator, I don't pay much attention to the alleged romance of evocative or seductive color names (oh yeah, baby, gimme some of that Elephant's Breath...) and prefer to just look at the actual color itself without any mental filter going on, but I have to say I really like the Farrow & ball range of murky tones. When you have as much antique furniture--OK, junk--as I do, clean pastels can make everything look really dingy, but F&B's dulled-down palette makes my stuff look really historic, even if it's not.

Having said that, I don't think much of the silly & self-contradictory sound-bite color recommendations. Let's see, if I want to make my dark hallway "open up" I should either use a single color on everything (No.9) or on everything BUT the ceiling, which should be darker (No.6) or everything should be light except the TRIM, which should be darker (No.3), since that will make the space "open up." OK, each of those three different approaches may work in certain circumstances but they can't all produce the same effect.

And in a room with no natural light, the recommendations are to use either white walls (No.3) or a dark, dramatic color. And how exactly is that different from no real advice at all?

I'm kind of with magnaverde in that a lot of the advice seems to contradict. I think the point is that you really have to look at your own space to figure out what will work. A small room with lots of natural light and high ceilings will require different paint from a small room with little natural light and low ceilings- even though both are small rooms. And it depends on your goal too- do you want your room to feel large and "open" or small and "cozy"? The advice here is good, but if you don't put it in context of your own space and goals then it's just plain confusing.

Also why I love paint samples :) I have never been able to figure out what will look good in the store.

~Amanda
onehappypanda.blogspot.com

I love Farrow & Ball, but living in LA, the light's just not right for these colors. I wish they'd come out with a line for those of us south of London (or Chicago, nodding to Magnaverde).

I KNEW someone would comment on the name "dead salmon"!!

I like Farrow & Ball, but they don't fit modern North American homes very well I find...

There are lots of amazing British paint companies that do however -- wish we saw more of them.

I'm more of a Fine Paints of Europe/Donald Kaufman/kt.clour woman myself...

err, really have to learn to preview before I post...
that would be kt.color,

http://www.ktcolor.com/

In intro painting and drawing classes, one of the first things you learn is cool colors (towards the blue end of the spectrum) recede and feel far away, and warm colors (towards the red end). You can achieve a lot of "tricks" using this theory. Similarly - darker values feel closer and lighter values further away (think atmospheric perspective on a foggy day.) So a light blue color will make a room feel its largest, and a dark red its coziest. And for a more advanced color theory: putting complementary colors next to each other will make them both pop.

I'll take off my art professor cap now...

Somehow cut out the end of the sentence that warm colors "feel closer."

Very interesting !
I can't help sharing my own experiment with colors (in my flat, every room has a different one !) :
> i don't agree fully with
"The hallway typically sees no natural light so paint the walls white and the trim dark will allow the space to feel as if it's opening up. "
As a small room with no light - as said later in your article - it's very nice in a strong color. My very small hallway is a bold green and it's delicious opening on lighter blue rooms with lots of light. By the way, have fun with small rooms such as toilets !
> absolutely true : "Pick a color family with the same weight." It's really funny that from one room to the next, colors interact one with the other and a lighter color in one room might make the darker one in the next room appear even darker.
Your advice also allows different colors from one room to another - as long as it is on the same "weight" (and they are harmonious)
> If you choose to go for color : take your time to select the right color and shade which is very personal. Test it on the wall, moving a card painted with some sample from one wall to another, observing the change depending on the hour of the day.
Even the texture/finish of the paint may change the way it feels in the end !
I had to repaint my living room cause even after a year the green in it still did not feel right !
Now I am fully happy with all the colors at home and never seem to get tired of them, fresh blues and greens which makes me feel relaxed and balanced.