Color My World

Granite Gray

Colbalt Blue

  I am immersed in the world of color these days and I'm loving it.

Color is a subconscious language.  We are all effected by color, even when we don't realize it.  Each color has it's own influence and creates a physical, mental and emotional response within us and that's what makes the topic so interesting.

The are many approaches to choosing paint colors. When you decide to paint a room  in your home  a good approach is to fine a piece of art or fabric or some type of accessory that you can use to harmonize or contrast around for your new color scheme. But you always need to be mindful of adjoining rooms.  But for new construction I find that approach limiting.  For this project I am using the same approach that I used when we built our house back in Springfield, IL. 

My approach includes working with the total space first.  This means that I have subdivided the  condo into three color distribution components:
Dominant Tier:  wall, floor, ceiling;
Middle Tier:      cabinets, curtains, large furniture areas; 
Smaller Tier:     smaller spaces/accent areas

Choosing the color and sheen can be a daunting task.  My first decision is always about color temperature: cool(blue, green, purple) vs. warm(red, orange, yellow) color scheme.  Once you decide on the color temperature, the world of color explodes.  I've chosen a cool color scheme for the condo: vibrant blue and varying grays.

This is a 1100 square foot condo.  The main room is a big open space incorporating the kitchen, dining and entertaining areas. Paint colors for the dominant tier have been chosen, choosing paint colors for the middle and smaller tier are in process.

Most activities take place in the main area.  A traveling light to medium tone gray will be applied along the perimeter walls. The lightest part of the wall is in the kitchen area.  The kitchen has base cabinets only which I have painted a darker gray than the light gray wall.  To contrast gray and make the colors pop, I needed a dynamic item.  For this I chose to paint the 6' island in the rich vibrancy cobalt blue in a high gloss sheen. When all is done in the kitchen, industrial shelving units will take the place of the wall cabinets and artistic tile will add textural subtlety to the backsplash area of the countertop.  Other colors will be brought into play as we move through the furnishings and accent areas.

If you are thinking of painting your cabinets, I have two pointers for you.  The first is that it is better to spray the paint on in contrast to using a paint brush.  You will most likely have to thin your paint but it will go on smoother and you can work through the process faster.  Hand painting furniture is  labor intensive and it's a joy to do if you only are doing a few specialty items.  I have brush painted a lot of tables and book shelves etc.  However, when doing a kitchen, I think spray painting is the best way to go. I would also recommend a gloss or a high gloss sheen for the cabinets. 

The second bit of advice is that wall paint is not furniture paint, is not
cabinet paint.  Kitchen cabinets take a lot of  wear from the everyday opening and closing activity and a wall paint is not up to the task.  I use Dunn Edward's Aristoshield product.  It's a low-VOC  enamel formulated with a water-based urethane alkyd technology for an oil-like finish.  Basically, it puts a more protective finish on cabinet doors and drawers.

This project is ongoing and as soon as the cabinets are installed I will add a more completed post which will include the cabinet pictures to the topic.  Unitl then, if you have any questions regarding color or the specifics of painting cabinets, just email me.  I'll be happy to help.