Choosing the right paint colour is much easier than you think.
How do I know? Because outside of my better-informed colour community, the conversation around choosing colour too quickly tips into the mystical qualities of light and subjectivity. And I can tell you that in my 25 years of experience as a colour expert, these issues rarely hold water.
In this new series over on my YouTube channel I’m busting ALL the disempowering myths that are holding you and your home hostage when it comes to colour and decorating.
Help! The light changed my paint colour!
In the first episode, I’ll show you why, despite popular belief, it’s rarely, if ever, the case that the light changed your paint colour.
Not only is it rarely the case that the LIGHT actually changed your paint colour – and I can count on one hand how many times this has been true in my thousands of consultations – but it’s a dangerously disempowering belief making choosing paint colours seem so much more of a gamble than it really is.
Busting colour myths
In this new series over on my Youtube channel, I’m going to debunk the most commonly held myths around colour. I’ll show you a better, more rational, EASY and EMPOWERING way to choose colour!
I’m kicking off the series with the reasons the LIGHT probably did NOT change the colour. Because this is the most pervasive colour myth that comes up over and over.
Do paint colours interact with the light? Well yes they do. But if you know what questions to ask to get the colour right in the first place, the light will instantly be off the hook.
Let me show you a better way to choose colour
Let me show you with an example of a reader who got really critical of her paint colour and how the light hit it when that really wasn’t the issue at all.
Here’s her kitchen
And the same paint colour in her living room
Colour Myths: The light changed my paint colour!
Can you guess what the real issue is here in the room above? Pop over to this episode to find out!
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Thanks to reading Maria’s e-books and using her color wheel I knew right away what was off-putting about this room! I use these tools for decorating my own home and the results have been fabulous. Even for us non-professionals, Maria’s resources are invaluable for saving us from making costly mistakes. Thank you, Maria!
Great beginning of a new series! Thank you for all you give to your followers.
Love the video — however, in my opinion, the elephant in the room (so to speak!) is the brown wood floor. There’s no way any wall paint will look right unless it complements that floor, which runs through both the kitchen and the living room. The floor can be partially covered by a rug in the LR, but not in the kitchen. Stainless appliances (rather than the stark white) might help a lot, but the cabinet and wall colors must complement the (fixed) flooring. What’s the solution?
From the photo it appears that the wood flooring also has a pink beige undertone – like the sofa. The pink beige complex cream paint that Maria specified for the walls would also be harmonious with the flooring.
In the LR, yes. But what about the kitchen? The cabinets and appliances do not go with the flooring, either.
Her wood floors are just like jeans, the eye does not look to the hardwood floors to see if the colour relates. Maria
Her floors are like jeans, the end. Maria
Hey Maria,
This was a great video, the visuals are always so helpful!
My question for you is why did we focus on the sofa color instead of the cabinet or counter colors since they are in the same space? How do you prioritize the focus?
I have this same question. Currently renovating our house, the builder wants to know paint colors. I wasn’t planning on purchasing a new sofa and rug until the flooring is installed and refinished, and the cabinets and kitchen counters are installed. If the rule is to coordinate paint with the largest element in the room, then that’s the floor. I want to choose the paint color last, but my order of operations based on the builder’s need is taking priority.
I would buy a rug and sofa now this way you can specify the correct paint colour. Maria
Great question! I would like to know also.
Her cabinets were green so that’s not where the paint colour was a problem. If you’re annoyed that an adjoining hallway changes with the light then you need to keep decorating so that subtle shifts in the light don’t bother you. Or you could change the paint colour in the hallway entirely so it looks good at all times.Maria
Love your video, Maria!
I love everything you do and what you so generously share with your readers. May I gently and with best intentions suggest in your videos that your hands learn to remain still. The frenetic energy doesn’t relate to the important and valuable information you are sharing. Your personality is commanding and energetic enough without constant dancing hands. Save hand motions for emphasis to your wonderful points.