How to choose the right colour

How many colours are there? Well according to the colour spectrum there are primary colours, secondary colours, tertiary colours…. well its endless isn’t it

The colour wheel
Most colour wheels are based on 3 primary colours…..3! Try telling that to Dulux and the other paint manufacturers. Then there are 3 secondary colours, 6 intermediates that are formed by mixing a primary with a secondary these are known as tertiary colours to create a total of 12 main divisions. then add some more intermediates and you get 24 named colours. This is known as the trichromatic model of colour.
So that’s 24 colours, which include black and white, more than enough for the great painters and artists throughout history, Van Gogh’s sunflowers, Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa……. they didn’t need Farrow and Ball’s ‘Dead Salmon’ or Benjamin Moore’s Snugglepuss!! When most people think of a Dead Salmon they think about the sad gross fish skin stuck to the bottom of the pan that was left soaking in the sink, but it is actually a lovely colour.

How to chose the right colour
There are over 1700 colours on the Deluxe website, add this to the 132 farrow and Ball have and the 100’s that crown do how does one choose the right colour?? Simply enough, in my experience you don’t! You never quite choose the right colour, in one part of the room, the dark shaded corner it looks lovely, nice and subtle, but that same colour in the bright sunlight by the window its too bright!! The best way to choose a colour is to see it in a friends home, see it with pictures and furniture in an actual lived in room. However this isn’t always possible and of course it seldom is, then make sure you get samples and put decent size patches around the room. In those dark shaded areas, on the corners when the contract changes on adjacent walls and on the window reveals where it receives the most natural light.

Beware asking a mans advice on colours
When it comes to asking advice on a colour, beware on asking a man! Its a scientific fact that 1 in 12 men are colour blind and only 1 in 200 women. The most common colour vision problem is known as red-green colour deficiency. This makes it hard to tell the difference between reds, oranges, yellows, browns and greens, so beware the man who wants to paint you walls red, your ceiling yellow and the woodwork and mixture of brown green and orange!

In Summary
​Whatever colour you choose, make sure its the colour ‘YOU’ like, the colour ‘YOU’ want don’t be guided by the name of a paint or by others. Who knows maybe you’ll start the trend of having red walls, a yellow ceiling and the woodwork and mixture of brown green and orange!! Just like my house, oh BTW I am one of the many colour blind painters and decorators!