Gain confidence in selecting colors and color schemes

If you’re worried about making the proper color selection for your decorating
project, never fear. There are plenty of resources that can help you gain the
confidence to select a color scheme that will make your room look
fabulous.
If you head to your neighborhood paint store, you’ll find plenty of
color tools to help you make the appropriate selection, from paint chips to
color cards that feature suggested color schemes. PPG Pittsburgh Paints offers a
helpful aid known as Harmony Color Chips, which help consumers select
complementary colors for all the decorating elements in a room—i.e., paint,
floor covering, furniture, fabric and window coverings. And Benjamin Moore has
teamed with Pottery Barn as a means of coordinating paint colors with room
accessories such as quilts, shams and bedside tables.
One frustrating thing
about selecting a color at a paint store is that often you are dealing with
teeny, tiny chips. Well, paint manufacturers have heard the consumer’s call for
larger samples and have super-sized their chips. As an example, Benjamin Moore
offers chips in an 18-by-18-inch format.Another way to gain color confidence is
to “test-drive” a color before you use it for a whole room. Companies such as
Benjamin Moore are offering 2-ounce sample jars that allow you to paint out a
section on the wall and then make the decision whether that color will really
look right in your room.
Technology also has come to the forefront to help
consumers make color selections for their room. Paint stores have computers with
electronic eyes that can measure and match colors, so you can bring in a fabric
swatch or throw pillow to ensure that your accessories will coordinate with your
paint colors. And if you want even more assurance, you can try out color
combinations online, using tools such as Benjamin Moore’s Personal Color Viewer, PPG Pittsburgh Paints’
Virtual Painter to paint a “virtual room.” If you are purchasing window
coverings, the Hunter Douglas "Imagine Design Center” will allow you to see the window
covering in a variety of colors, fabrics and materials and place them in room
settings that you customize online. A fun feature of some of these online tools
is that you can actually upload digital photos of your own room and give it a
virtual makeover.
Another online tool comes from PPG Pittsburgh Paints and is
known as the ColorSense Game. This takes you through a series of questions
that asks about your personality, style and five senses in order to arrive at a
color palette that is suited especially to you.
In the St. Louis area,
neighborhood paint and decorating stores as well as window covering specialty
stores will have the personnel on staff to provide further guidance in your
color selection. Click on the links below for dealer locators that will identify
the store nearest you.
Pittsburgh Paints
Benjamin Moore
Hunter Douglas

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