Picking the right shade is key when choosing color
Every month on the newsstand you see the word COLOR on the front cover of almost every shelter magazine. The captions read: The Color of the Season, The New It Color, Perfect Colors for Every Room ...
If you read each article, you start to like and dislike every color you've ever used, and you might even question your sanity. Is there such a thing as the right color? Well, the answer is pretty simple. Whatever color you like is the right color for you. However, the hue, value and intensity are things that can be tempered to make it the very best color for your room. The combination of these three terms is what we commonly refer to as "the shade."
Color is the most effective tool an interior designer has at hand. It is the single element of a room that can change your perception of your interior decor. It is the most expressive of the elements and tools you have at hand.
Color can have a psychological effect. It can certainly determine whether you feel a room has a bright and lively mood, or whether a room is perceived as dark and muted. Color's sidekick is light. The type and quantity of light that enters a room can affect the way a color is perceived. For example, if you look around your room, you will likely find parts of the walls that have a brighter appearance, especially those that are exposed to light entering from a window. The same color on other parts of the wall or near the corners of a room might appear darker and low key.
It is important to note that the colors that you like on a strip from a paint store may not be the best suited for your room. The same applies if you go to a friend's house and love the color on their dining room walls. You ask them for the name and number of the color, only to find out the color does not look the same in your home. Most of the time this is due to the way light hits the sample or the color on the wall.
The hue is the same as the color name. For example, if your hue is blue, the name might be midnight blue, royal blue or cerulean blue.
Value refers to the amount of lightness or darkness of a color or hue. For example, by adding black or white pigment to a color you can achieve a lighter or darker version of any of the aforementioned colors.
Intensity is the amount of pure color pigment that saturates a hue. For example, any color can appear brighter or duller depending on the amount of pigment in the paint. Generally, the more pigment in the paint the brighter the color appears.
Colors can vary a great deal depending on all these variables. The best system to test the color is still to buy a small quart of paint and put it on a piece of your wall. If after several days you love it, you have found your perfect color!
• Joseph Pubillones is the owner of Joseph Pubillones Interiors, an award-winning interior design firm based in Palm Beach, Florida.
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