Wonder what a Designer does, for real? What follows is a typical consultation:

(Below is an email to a client. They want to go to gray paint in their master bedroom, and have just purchased bedding in gray tones. Existing paint color in hallway and master bed/bath is Carrington Beige-the middle color above. All the colors are labeled. Click on them to see which is which. Client started with 2 Restoration Hardware colors.)

“My initial opinion of the Restoration Hardware colors you were attracted to, was that the darker one was too blue (which is true, but not at ‘off’ as I thought), and the lighter color just needed a slight correction to work.

Well, to my surprise, the darker color was closer to something you could use. I am amazed how much purple is in the lighter color. No worries, I just used these 2 colors as a starting point. It was really helpful to get a couple of colors you were attracted to. But, I’m real glad you aren’t using them for your room.

Also surprising, if I ‘take the blue out’ of the darker color, we end up with SW7674 Peppercorn. Which, as it sounds, is almost black. It’s actually quite pretty. I’ve seen some amazing black walls, and they are very ‘In’ right now. The next paragraph addresses black, if you’re open to that. If not, skip that paragraph.

Because your Master Bedroom furniture is dark, we can’t use peppercorn on the headboard wall. (My first location choice, it’d look great reflected in the mirror. But, not right in this circumstance.) So, how do we do black in YOUR bedroom? If we correct the lighter color to quite light SW6197 Aloof Gray (Which skew’s barely green, but still looks great with the bedding and the hall color), we can do Peppercorn on the 2 side walls. I know it sounds a little nuts, but the window wall would be subdued because of the future drapes, and the opposite wall because of the (future) neutral chairs in front of it. Also, those are the non-vaulted walls, so less dark paint. The dark on the left side would also make that side of the room visually ‘heaver’ and help balance the room. (All perceptions.)


If you’re inclined to go the safe route, (Please don’t think this is somehow less pulled together than a bolder/dark color. The palette you’re drawn to is completely personal preference. My job is to offer colors that will be amazing, no matter which direction you choose.) here is the direction: I like SW 7016 Mindful Gray (the more neutral of the light colors I’ve chosen) for your all-over wall color. It’s just a little lighter than the RH color, and no purple-y thing going on. Because of your dark furniture, the darkest paint color needs to be light enough for the headboard to ‘pop’. If I remember, your furniture has a little bit of red undertones in the dark stain. This is good. For your headboard wall, I chose SW 0077 Classic French Gray. This one is not nearly as dark as the Restoration Hardware color, and tends to be more friendly with the green family than blue/purple (like the RH color). You’d use Mindful Gray for all bedroom walls except the headboard wall in this scenario.


FYI- In my opinion, these 4 colors don’t mix and match with each other to a better result than as stated above. Human nature is to shuffle the colors, so I’m just answering that question in advance of you asking it! ;)


As for the Master Bath color: If you go for the bolder look (Aloof/Peppercorn), go back to the Carrington Beige in the bath. It’ll look better with the red tone in the cabinet stain than the Aloof Gray. If you choose the Mindful/Classic French, continue the Mindful gray in the bathroom. That’s my opinion on the bathroom from here in Oregon. Hang the swatches, and make your final determination after seeing it in all the forms of light that impact that bathroom. Sometimes the lighting trumps the best laid plans, so you have to be ready to make adjustments for the best possible results. You will have to make that final decision on-site. The 2 views I’d concentrate on is: how does the bathroom color looks from the master bedroom area (largely a reflection in the mirror, and the shadowed wall on the left), and how it looks once you’re inside the room.  I think the mirror will greenify any color in the bath. But, once in the room, the green of the mirror will be less an issue. This is why I am not as sure about the bath color from my vantage point 300 miles away. The color you go with should not get weird in any of these circumstances, or in any lighting situation present in the room.

Alrighty, I await your questions.

Exciting!!!

-Kathy

PS: That was a 1 hour consultation. $55.00”

Top