apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I adore this.

I've just moved into a high-water bungalow with my boyfriend and it's the first time that I have lived with color in my house! Our living room is a celery type of color and he was just given a set of fabulous vintage chairs from his grandparents, that look quite similar to the one shown above.

This photo makes me smile because it reminds me of how happy I am.

I agree about the golden-greens/greeny-golds vs. green/yellow. I am going to make a note of this color because we are repainting the dining room.....I am going to fight for another shade of green!

And PS, those floors are way cool.

Mark, another great color suggestion! I don't know if I am going to be able to handle this special column. You are going to have me wanting to paint my walls a different color each week. : )

Can I do this to my parquet floor ( after i have sanded and put primer on it )

I live in a 23 storey bldg and the floors are not level

i love this floor.
also i love all the tiny imperfections. really gives it all personality.

oooh, this is nice. the yellow is so soft and doesnÂ’t remind me at all of Big Bird. the chair is right up my alley: partially because it almost looks like it was found in an alley and partially because that shade of ochre is such a great compliment to the wall. and the floor is just plain fun. after awhile, I might get tired of the shapes and take it back to that nice, scuffed bone color, but for now, itÂ’s all working quite well.

I'm moving in.

that really is lovely.

this color is so pleasant and could go with any style; I'd like to see the rest of the room and at a different time of day...maybe evening?

Mmmm, pears. Looking at the room makes me hungry. Yummy!

:D

Wow, that looks so different than the color at Color Charts:
http://tinyurl.com/h7cys

You might want to add in the usual paint disclaimer, like the one at BenMo:
Please note that the on-screen color representations are not necessarily precise representations of actual paint colors due to variance in monitor calibrations.

Here's a press release mentioning Sweet Pear and other colors. It might be "if you like this, you'll like that too" kind of thing, so it could be worthwhile to check out the other "Morning Light" colors.

I know that what I'm seeing on my monitor is not what anyone else is seeing on their monitor. And, nothing that we see on our monitor may be exactly the color as it would be in the form of actual paint...or how it would look in our rooms.

That might be a post in an of itself to write about. So everyone who sees this GREAT color doesn't race out to buy it...only to find it looks neon, washed out, too dark, too light, too bright, etc, once they've used it in their room.

Using BenMo's Color Viewer and selecting Sweet Pear...guess what? I get a third color. It's different than what is in the above picture and at Color Charts. Oh, they're the same color number, just that they appear different. Very different.

I see pale apricot at Color Charts.
Limeish yellow in the above picture.
And more a sun-drenched yellow with a tinge of green at BenMo.

Color is fascinating!

what the heck is a high-water bungalow? lol

This doesn't relate to Sweet Pear, though I love it. This is a question for the color therapy site. What do you recommend for complementing old, no longer white bathroom tiles? I chose a cream thinking it would make the tiles look whiter but it just made them look dirty. I'm looking for strategies not specific colors, i.e., try to match as best you can, select a very high contrast color. Any ideas?

Margaret (in D.C.)

For Margaret who asked about what color to paint when the white tiles are no longer white. I have a small bathroom with white tile halfway up and a black tile border around the top. Tiles are 75 years old now and no longer white. I painted a buttery yellow on the the walls and ceiling. Looks great. Kind of glows. I think color is definately the way to go.

Margaret -
I have 1931 bathroom w/white tiled walls and floor w/a bit of black tile trim. I chose Benjamin Moore Antique White...and it works.The contrast makes the paint look just barely pink or opal. Fresh white rugs and shower curtain and ever changing towel colors make the space appealling. I think white is The Color for a bathroom! Don't give up on the whites!
Patty (in CT)

Far from being a shift of topic, the Sweet Pear would probably work with the not-as-white-as-they-once-were tiles. It's light but definitely a color, and it's not a clear, bright color that would make the off-white look dingy.

I think wende's onto something, but I think that whatever direction the off-white is in already is the direction that the wall color should be. Because then, instead of looking "dirty", it would look as if the whole room was bathed in a lighting gel of that color, or as if that color were just being reflected of the walls onto perfectly white tiles.

So, basically, I would look for a color chip that had the exact same (or nearly) shade as your off-white, and then go a couple of shades darker on that exact same chip. I think you kind of can't go wrong with that.

So, the cream that you chose that didn't seem right to you might not have been quite in the same line (or same chip) as the off-white of the tiles. Or, perhaps it needed to be a shade deeper to make a tad more contrast.

What beautiful colors! I love the floor--it's really lovely, and something I wouldn't have thought of.

I just painted my bathroom with Benjamin Moore Blue Spa and it made my whole bathroom look new and the tiles whiter.

Wow, that's lovely. The floor design is really interesting, too.

BM's Sweet Pear was one of the potential wall colors for a room I'm going to paint, but it looks a little too yellow.

I really wanted to find the perfect shade of golden green, but finally gave up, convinced that the color only exists in my head.

Does anyone think a color wash could achieve the indescribable shade I want? I've never played around with paint effects before.

Color wash could do it...

If you're after a very specific look, I'd get some paint samples that come close and some large pieces of sturdy posterboard. Paint one sample on each board, covering the whole board (and make sure you label which is which!). Then live with the big samples for a while, so you see them in different lights -- and move them around, so you see them at both the lighter and the darker end of the room. One of the colors may actually be what you want.

My perception is that some paint brands change color in different lights more than others, btw. Am I nuts? I'd swear the Valspar flat latex we used back East shifted a lot throughout the day (which is why I liked it) but my parents' Glidden eggshell doesn't change at all.

The sweet pear is lovely. Hi there, this is my first post and I am peading for help, please, because I feel like some sort of demented Goldilocks not pleased with any color I try.

I am attempting a botanical garden/botanical print look for my very small studio apartment. I like the light wash of color in the background of Audubon prints. I was thinking light green, but maybe light blue like Clear Skies from Benjamin Moore would be okay? I don't really like yellow although a green with yellow in it would be fine. (sweet pear would be too yellow for me).

So far I have tried, all from Benjamin Moore, fresh cut grass (too bright, too apple green), summer lime (too yellow), celadon (not different enough from summer lime), neon celery (too baby nursery-like). All these failed runs are getting expensive for me. I realize I stupidly haven't gone for the palest spectrum yet. Should I give "frosty lime" a go? Does anyone have any suggestions? Would a pale blue be easier to choose?

Thank you in advance! I was really glad to see this column. I need therapy.

Jamie, it sounds like you and I have similar problems! The colors are either too green, too yellow for me.

Maybe you could do a white wash over one of the greens, to mellow it out?

Also, yes, I'd definitely check out the paler tints of the colors you've been looking at.

I know! After I read your post, marm, I thought maybe the perfect shade only exists in my mind. Then I looked up color washing, and that is the kind of look I want, but maybe achieved with the fluctuation of light. Because it just sounds way too technical for me to achieve. (I was hoping I'd be done with this whole thing in one weekend).

yeah, i would definitely suggest looking at paler tints. i've noticed that when looking at paint chips (especially in-store or while flipping through my ben moore chip deck) my eye tends to be attracted to the really saturated colors, but when i get a sample on the wall it looks too dark or nauseatingly intense. when i painted my kitchen recently i ended up going WAY lighter than i thought i would, and even with the lighter shade i sometimes walk into my kitchen and get a bit overwhelmed by the intensity of the color.

personally i would like Mark to come to my house and help me narrow down the 15 different paint chips that are taped to my bathroom walls, all of which are starting to seem the same to me... how can 15 different shades from 4 different brands all look so exactly the same?

Jamie, from what I gather, colorwashing is actually a pretty simple technique to do, and doesn't require a lot of technical skill.

I definitely want color on my walls, but I want the room to still seem airy and not claustrophobia-inducing.

Annie. A craftsman. Sorry, it's my own little term for it as it has a raised foundation.

Actually, "high-water bungalow" is an official architecture term, at least out here. I've seen it used to refer to Craftsman-style houses in Sacramento that are built on a raised base (sometimes raised as much as a full story) in the areas that flooded before the levee system was built.

Wende - Yes, that is where I live! I know very little about architecture or interiors so I tend to err on the side of caution when throwing around "terms."

Thanks for the clarification :-)

It's a great house, and I love the feeling of looking down to ground level.

Jamie! I'm painting my bathroom in Benjamin Moore's Wales Green. You may want to give that one a try -- it's a softer, slightly more melon-than-citrus green.

I hope this is not a hijack, but I am hoping someone can help me out. (I have learned a lot from lurking.)

I am looking for a color similar to Sweet Pear, but something more tangerine. Something light, variable, recognizably orange-y and not "peach." Any thoughts?

NEVER, EVER pick a paint from the store based on the paint chips as seen IN the store. NEVER. Unless you live in a warehouse, have fluorescent lighting, and have ALL THE OTHER COLORS as points of reference in your home decor. I mean all the other colors on the paint chips.

Yes, this shade is darker than that one and a little brighter than this one over here, you say to yourself in the store. But you don't HAVE those other two colors in your home to compare with. So the only color you have in your home on the walls will be the paint color. And it won't be darker than that one or a little brighter than the other one, because you didn't paint your walls all three colors.

Secondly, NEVER pick a color based on what you see online. AAAAAHHHHHH. The color IS NOT ACCURATE. I gave an example that is readily available for all to see in the first post.

Third, NEVER pick a color based on your friend's home, or just a general color mentioned online. Unless YOUR home is facing the SAME direction and has the same amount of window light at the SAME latitude, your results WILL vary.

Our monitors are NOT calibrated the same, photos uploaded may not reflect the actual color. And even the names are confusing. What I call tangerine (which IS orange) might not be what you want.

So...here are some IDEAS. Browse rooms of color. Here is a starting point.
http://tinyurl.com/pgv2w

Remembering there are many colors within each "color category", like the peaches and terracottas are in the Orange slideshow. So browse Decorating with Orange to see several room pictures.

Don't be upset because the wall color isn't mentioned. You don't want that paint color, because it may not be the same color as shown in the picture. What I mean is that the picture may appear different than the actual color.

What you WANT is a color that LOOKS LIKE THAT IN YOUR ROOM. It's not the same as getting the same paint color as used in a photo.

You might have to step up or down in the amount of white or black that is added to your color. You might have to have it a little more or less saturated to give your room the SAME effect as what you see in pictures.

I have more suggestions. Yes, I'm full of them (or full of something) today.

You should be taking into account your furnishings, your flooring, your home accessories when choosing the paint. The paint is the LAST thing you add to accentuate or contrast with what you have. You CAN match paint to anything. You cannot always match textiles to paint.

Sooooo, how exactly do you carry around your sofa or comforter when you're shopping for paint? You pick up paint chips that match your sofa or comforter. If you can drag in one pillow sham from the bed or one sofa cushion to the paint store, you'll only need to do it once.

You pick out paint chips that match your furnishings. This allows you to carry your entire major home items in your pocketbook. Guys, you could probably take a snipping from the full-size paint chip, lay them on transparent tape and cover the back with transparent tape, and fold the connected snippets in your wallet.

Even if you don't live in a warehouse, pulling out your sofa paint chip under fluorescent light and putting it with another paint chip will give you a much better idea of how they will look. If they look like crap together in the store, they will probably look like crap under any lighting.

You know, I've run though this whole spiel a gazillion times, including at the paint stores. The customers say "How come the paint guy didn't say this?" and I think it's common sense.

But it's ONLY common sense if you think about it long enough and consider it. Like I've said to the auto mechanic the and computer guy, there is only one letter between those who know and those who don't know...the letter exchange is "D" and "H"...

Those who don't know:
"Huh, maybe it's supposed to do that"

Those who know:
"Duh, it's NEVER supposed to do that"

I don't remember what brand it is, but one paint store will NOT take returns anymore. You pick it out stupidly in the store in warehouse/fluorescent lighting conditions without testing it first at home, your fault.

Then you have to decide who is really at fault. Is it the retailers job to educate every single person on paint and lighting? There is tons of info online they provide to do just that.

Which then places the burden of responsibility on the consumer. But it's a fun burden. Especially over at BenMo.
Go here, all ye considering a new color:
http://tinyurl.com/l55bn

Tonight's homework is to read "Color and Light" which will take all of two minutes.
Same room, three different lighting conditions, three different perceived colors on the walls. It's all the same color as painted, but looks different. That's why you end up with poke-yer-dadgum-eyeball-out-yellow on your walls when your friend used the same color and has soft, subdued beige/yellow.

Explore paint sites. BenMo has a GREAT project/how-to area: http://tinyurl.com/e8tex

Click on Interior How-To Projects, and you'll find pages of swell ideas. Interesting wall patterns. Floor cloths.

Anyone here on Windows? Who also has a digital camera? And is wanting to repaint?

THE AUTHOR RESPONDS

i'll try to insert a ColorGroupTherapy here but may have to return this evening. for starters, i always say color is relative--influenced and changed from place to place by light, space, architecture, a blue rug as opposed to an orange one etc. Anthony Demma has a raspberry colored kitchen right next to this dining room so perhaps that throws a different cast over this room, esp under my primative photography.

the tiles, i could never say without actually seeing them. i'm thinking of complementary colors for some reason: for example, if the tiles are an orangey base, a blue paint would make the pair very active, as they are opposite colors on a chart. i use this trick to harmonize, bury things or make them stand out all the time. i actually have a potential posting on exactly this, old looking tiles, but the photograph is so bad i don't know if we can use. what we did is use RL gh162 Peach, a full apricot color which completely trumps the tiles, and feels like Paris in the 30s (or how i imagine it...)

those pale mint greens are tricky and i make people make me use them. look to the BMoore classic deck, the new colors are more saturated and were put out to compete w/ Ralph L. also i use golden apple (next to sweet pear) all the time.

color washing i don't know, other than i do sometimes enjoy the effect of a transparent paint before its top coat. i think you still haven't found correct color.

years ago, i heard that there was a high-end paint, $100 /gallon, that had a teensie little drop of every color in the rainbow, so your paint would always look different from every angle etc. Horsefeathers, i think it has to do w/ the light changing during the day. also, i find some colors change more than others, while red tends to hold its place. never did find that paint.

15 color chips--throw ten of them out immediately. sometimes i think there are only 50 color in the whole world, and the rest are for a decorator trying to match the exact shade in a Toile-de-Jouy. You're thinking too much, use your gut more. also, for the person who painted bathroom green 4x--ultimately, maybe green isn't the right thing. but agian, see benjamin moore classic colors, or the new RL.

thank you, re floor. you actually can't see the floor boards at all in real life, that's just the photograph. also, each color has it's own faux marbling patern, which you can't see at all here.

MARK C, thanks for the response re: color washing. I agree with you that I haven't found the right color yet.

You know, these greeny-golds seem to be cropping up everywhere lately, and they are soooo lovely, but I think in my case, it just ain't gonna work out in my room.

The hunt continues.

Thanks again.

mylubbock -- Since you like the tone of Sweet Pear but want it in a tangerine, I'd go to a Benjamin Moore store and check out the orange chips that are in the same section as Sweet Pear. Paint manufacturers often have a consistent style across their color chart, so if you like the subtlety or the lighting variations for one color, you're more likely to like it for other colors in the same line. (That's how I ended up as a crazed Valspar fan when we lived on the other coast.)

That's if no one just names a color as a starting point...

Excellent advice. I clearly have a lot of looking and thinking to do. (I am very interested in the color + lighting discussions as our house has a lot of natural light during the day, and then at night the lighting is haphazard.)

Thanks for everyone's help. I look forward to more Color Therapy posts.

Cross referencing some posts, new one at AT-SF:
http://sanfrancisco.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/061506/at-on/at-oncolor-inconstancy-009892

Old one I sent in back in March:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/books-guides-resources/colorchartsorg-003826

Note that Windows users can calibrate their monitors using the Color By Number system from Colorcharts.org

Mark, just wanted to let you know that before you even posted your advice to me, that's exactly what i did. i am now down to 7, one of which i think is too dark but my roommate disagrees. and one of which i'm pretty sure is too intense but i'm giving it another chance.

Mark C, are you talking about C2 paint? I have a couple of rooms painted with this brand of paint and I love them... though I wouldn't say that they look different from every angle. But the colors are very rich. And they have big swatches you can buy and hang on the wall for a preview. I was looking for a terra cotta that wouldn't be too orange, too peach, too coral, and I found one (Sweet Potato). So I'm a fan.

Light affects Color.
And
Color affects Light.

Here's a picture on AT-LA showing how color affects light:
http://la.apartmenttherapy.com/la/seating-dining-sidechair/snille-chair-at-ikea-008683

The light coming in the window isn't pink. The wall isn't pink either. It's the light bouncing off the pink chairs onto the walls. That's an OBVIOUS way of noticing that color affects light.

What about less dramatic thoughts? The light coming in my bedroom at dawn is orange, not from the sun, but from bouncing off the yellow and orange walls of the building (and the rays being more "golden"). Shortly after that, the light coming in is green, when the sun's angle has changed and is then hitting the grass in the courtyard. I mean, these are the way the light that shows up on the wall of my bed area appears...not just a hint, but truly orange shades or green shades.

If direct sun hits the big plant in my living area, the room gets a greenish glow, and what was once apricot is now a shade of green.

During those times of day, there's NOTHING I can do on the incoming colored light, I can't tear down the building, and I can't remove the grass. I could remove my indoor plants, but I won't.

What's outside YOUR window(s)? What is permanently altering the color coming in your home? Some colors may NEVER show up "right" because you'll always have brick red or asphalt and concrete greys or green park light coming in your home.

I have NO IDEA if Mark does this or if anyone does this, but a color consultation would be swell. For an expert, like Mark, to pay a visit to a home, go through the home and see the lighting and what is affected by what where.

Especially since Mark works in/with the area (the sun isn't rising or setting differently two blocks away, it's just the buildings may be different) and KNOWS what colors work in the area, he'd be a good one to call.

It would be SOOOO much easier to pick a color if Mark came out, said he's used three different shades successfully in fifteen west-facing rooms. Then you only have to pick out of three.

Two of which might be ruled out by flooring or furnishings.

That might not be for everyone, but by golly, think of the time/energy savings in comparison. He can come out and spend an hour or half hour, vs you making several trips to and from the paint store, trying endless swatches, taping up paint chips, and STILL not getting "the right color" for your room.

I have to agree with absolutely everything Andree has written about color here. Well put, Andree.

As for your horsefeathers comment Mark C., I think you are referring to full spectrum paint. There are a number of manufacturers -- Donald Kaufman, Citron, and several others whose names I forget; I don't think that any of them use every single pigment available, but may use between 8 and 16 pigments whereas regular paint generally uses 3 to 4.

Having been through art school and having spent a lot of time mixing colors and playing with colors, I fully subscribe to the claim that full spectrum paints are more lively and have more depth than regular paints.

I first cottoned on to full spectrum paint when I went to the Calvin Klein store on Madison. I wasn't taken by what was in the store so much as the store itself. I walked around, and the walls (which seemed white to me at the time, but are actually ivory or almost cream) were literally glowing and shimmering. It was an unbelieveable experience (yes, it was a sunny day, and there is a huge skylight); almost a religious one. I researched it, and learned the space was designed by John Pawson and that Donald Kaufman mixed a custom color for the walls. (Irony of ironies, I later learned that Trappist monks in Bohemia hired Pawson to design their monastery http://www.godspy.com/culture/Novy-Dvur-and-the-Stylish-Austerity-of-John-Pawson-by-Deyan-Sudjic.cfm , in part because of the Calvin Klein store, albeit not as the result of a personal visit).

So I got myself the packs of Donald Kaufman swatches, and checked them out on our walls (they are larger than usual), and eventually painted most rooms with them. Most of our walls are shades of Kaufman white (he is a master at mixing white, and has done commissions for many major galleries and museums) , although I used his deepest green on one wall in the living room, oxblood red in the entrance, and a yellowish green (in the same vein as the one above) in the guest room. We've had overwhelming positive feedback on it, and we love the colors.

The walls absolutely change with the changing lighting conditions -- for example, under incandescent light, the green wall becomes a warm brownish green, and under morning light it is a deeper forest green. The color has amazing depth, which I have never seen in another paint.

We have a couple of rooms painted with leftover paint from our last apartment (my husband didn't want to waste the stuff), and the difference is remarkable. First, the colors were picked for different conditions, and they don't work in our current space. Second, the colors are pretty flat and really don't change much; in low lighting conditions, they just become greyer versions of themselves.

Full spectrum paints don't provide every color (there aren't true brights, like a french blue or a bold fuschia), but I think that they are definately something worth checking out.

gosh, just read about donald kaufman online, and am intrigued. perhaps I stand corrected. it's only availble in NJ and i don't have a car, but Fine Paints of Europe is available at Janovic ($100/gallon, natch) and is a full spectrum paint as well. will look into. Always an open mind.

This is the one I'd seen online before, the Ellen Kennon brand of full spectrum paint.
http://www.ellenkennon.com

There are a few pictures, but I'd still rather see them in person. Darned if I can find the price there though.

Mark, if you do try out some of these brands (especially ones like Ellen that has packets or sample jars), give us your report!!!

I just sent in a link to another paint to AT-SF, called Devine Color:
http://www.devinecolor.com/

They have sample packets too. Might be kind of fun to try some different things. And as a professional, you can give us feedback on them. Perhaps incorporating some of the paints into certain aspect of your murals? A smidgen of this here and a touch of that there might make a lot of difference?

MONIKA if you live in new york i would genuinely be interested in seeing your full spectrum painted walls. my instinct is that it is best suited to minimalists on a park avenue budget, but i'd like to see it in person.

bluearms@earthlink.net

went to ellen kennon, i can't tell the difference from a photo, i think it needs to be seen in person

I meant to put in the text from another area for Devine Color, which would help explain the other part of my post. The "Light affects Color" portion.

"The concept of Devine Color was the innovative creation of artist and color consultant, Gretchen Schauffler. A Puerto Rico native and acclaimed artist, Schauffler realized the gray light of the Pacific Northwest left even the warmest of colors looking limp. Schauffler believed there was a way to warm the colors and enhance the ambience in any room."

From: http://www.millerpaint.com/estore/About.htm#paint

And the part about "dawn's golden light"...which is the sun coming through more atmosphere...er...coming through it at an angle. When the sun is setting is the best light for skin tone. The sky is glowing, the skin is glowing, probably why romantic people spend a lot of time watching the sun set. Everything is gilded. Even black asphalt is washed with gold.

Mark, that paint would be far too expensive for me to use in a big space. BUT...I did my little apartment kitchen with a less than a quart of paint. Just the walls. What, four quarts to a gallon? Twenty-five dollars in paint for a small kitchen? That doesn't sound too bad. And if it was as lively as Monika says, it could make the world of difference to countless numbers of small kitchens and bathrooms.

I have no window in either kitchen or bath, so the neat paint would be lost on my space. There is no light to change the color. The only two paints that would really show up are both BenMo. One is "glow in the dark" and the other is a glitter top coat.

I think either would horrify everyone here. I'd be banned just for suggesting such a thing. Although, I did suggest the BenMo glitter paint for a young girls room for the ceiling, and from what the woman said, it came out very nice and her daughter is happy as a clam with her starry sky.

Mark C. - my heart is in New York, but my walls (and the rest of me) are in Ottawa...

At the very least, you can check out the walls at the Calvin Klein store (best on a sunny day); I kid you not, it was magical, and had me hooked right away.

I bought my paint chips further up Madison at that architecture and design bookstore; they probably still sell them. In any case, Donald Kaufman has written at least 2 books on colour, and they probably have them in stock, so worth checking out. What is so amazing about them is how huropeis colours are used in more traditional, as opposed to minimal, spaces. I too thought that the aknowledged master of white would be a minimalist... However, as I am sure Andree would caution, although the books give you a sense of the colour schemes, they are not a precise representation of the actual colours or paints.

We got our Kaufman colours from Fine Paints of Europe (Elliot is amazing!), which is the company responsible for the paint in the CK store (he specifies it for most of his clients). The Kaufman product from Jersey is actually in a Benjamin Moore base.

huropeis = his (sleeping cat typing!)

monika, you can't possibly still be checking this post, but i spoke w/ elliot, bought two FPE color decks, and hope to report more soon. will be using this outrageous coral color in the next few days. even on the deck you can tell how complex they are.

Andree,

You're right, colors look different from the monitor to the printer to the sample chip to what's in the actual can. This is because of several different factors. First, color on the computer monitor is affected by how the monitor is calibrated, as well as the screen's resolution. You must match the calibration of the monitor to that of the printer in order for what you see on the screen to print out anywhere close to the same.

Second, each of these media uses a different type of color system, so there's no way to perfectly match the results of another system. The computer monitor uses RGB colors, basically combining zillions of little dots in only those three colors to create the many colors you see. Printed color may use several different systems, but one of the most common is CMYK, or a mix of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.

Finally, paints are mixed using endless combinations of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, plus white and black. The types of pigments used are different from those of inks, so again, you'll see color differences.

When you pick up paint chip samples for most paint lines, what you are getting is merely a printed version of the color, in ink, so you can see that there's no way it will exactly match the actual paint color.

HTH.

Wendy

>> My perception is that some paint brands change color in different lights more than others, btw. Am I nuts?
No, you're not nuts at all, Wende. That's exactly what happens.

What's going on is a function of a couple of different things. First of all, different brands of paint use different types of pigments to create their colors. Some are naturally occurring, while others are synthetic. Some are higher quality (usually the natural ones), while others are lower quality. The rest of the paint content is binder and base, and the quality (and quantity) of those varies considerably as well. Higher quality paints use better quality pigments, as well as much more actual pigment in each can than binder, and this will dramatically affect the color achieved. Cheaper paints contain a lot of clay and the like, which helps provide better coverage at lower cost, but it muddies colors and flattens them, so you will never, ever achieve the same quality of color with a cheaper paint as you can with a higher quality one.

Most colors are created by mixing some combination of the colors on the color wheel, namely red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, plus black and white. The fewer of these hues that are contained in the can, the "flatter" the color will look, and the less it will vary with the light.

When you get into what are called "full spectrum" paints, that means that more colors from the opposite sides of the color wheel from the base color are used in the formulation, and since each color reflects light differently, changing light will look different. Colors that are mixed using black to darken them will be flatter than those mixed only with the other hues, also. Colors that utilize even small amounts of *all* the colors in the color wheel will be the richest of all.

You can get any number of shades of basic grey from just mixing black and white, for example, but they are all going to be flat. You get really "alive" greys (or browns) when you mix them from one color and its "complement", or the color directly opposite it on the color wheel, such as yellow and violet, orange and blue, or red and green. Bringing in other hues will enrich the color and shift it in whatever direction you want to, and adding white will make it lighter. You can even create many different shades of black with appropriate color mixing which will all be richer than plain old flat black.

What we see as a color is really a complex interaction of pigments and light. I never could keep the technical details of this straight and I'm too tired to look it up at the moment, but suffice it to say that essentially, what we see is a function of what light is reflected or absorbed on a given surface, and light quality and color varies with things like geography, compass direction, weather conditions, and time of day. You're not really seeing something physical so much as a *reflection*, or whatever is left over after other hues are *absorbed* by the light. Color and light are inseparable.

Thus, the color you see on the walls is due to a mixture of characteristics, and more of one color will be absorbed or reflected at different times of day or at different angles, etc. than others. If all you have in the can is one pigment, or that pigment plus some white or black, then you'll see less variation. If all 6 hues are used, you'll see changes throughout the day and with the weather, etc., because different colors will be reflected or absorbed as the light changes.

There are several lines of premixed full spectrum paints available, the Donald Kaufman line being the best known. An even better one is C2.

You can create the same effect with any line or type of paint, though, if you're good at color mixing, or if you've got a paint store or color specialist handy who is. It takes an understanding of color theory to do so efficiently, though, and lots of practice.

Information on the basics and more detailed explanations of this phenomenon can be found in Donald Kaufman's book _Color: Natural Palettes for Painted Rooms_.

Wendy

Oops, scratch the indigo in my post to Andree. That's part of the spectrum of light, but isn't part of the color wheel that's used for making paints.

Wendy