Color Theory

Years ago I toyed with a notion, or rather a theory of mine that people just tune in to certain colors whether they know it or not. At the time I was dating a fellow who didn’t like how his house was painted. A couple years earlier a friend of his came over with paint one day and painted it a sort of pink color. When the topic came up, he never actually named the color but rather the uncomfortable feeling he had in the room. I decided I would repaint the room for him a color he liked.

As we would visit Lowe’s, ACE or Home Depot I’d drag him to the paint color swatches to see what he liked. He would always protest that he’s colorblind. I got in the habit of asking him what shade seemed the most comfortable to him rather than what his favorite color was. Amazingly, though he protested time and again that he couldn’t tell shades apart, when it came to comfort, whether it was Behr, Sherwin Williams, Valspar, Miller or any other brand, he nailed the EXACT same subtle shade of blue/white each time. So that was the shade I painted his living and dining room.

Back in March when I first moved in, my friend Karen announced the need to repaint my living room. She asked me to choose a color and she would do the painting–an amazing and wonderful gift! I chose “Baking Stone” from the Valspar line.

Today I began applying  my chosen wall color in the addition. It’s Miller paint shade called “white lightning” As I rolled it on the walls it occurred to me. Yup, it’s the same shade as the Baking Stone color.

I think there’s real merit when repainting a house to ask yourself what color seems most comfortable rather than which is your favorite.