Finding the Perfect Colour

It wasn’t long after Kelly and I started writing & sharing with DesignTies (January 2009) that I discovered Maria Killam’s blog Colour Me Happy. Ever since then, her colourful world has been a wonderful influence on me and the development of my own design skills. You see… I’m one of the lucky people who have actually been trained by Maria in colour consultation. I took a full college term course under her tutelage which was – I believe - a precursor to her True Colour Expert courses (which I highly recommend!). Perhaps that means that I’m a True Colour Expert, too!!

I’m crazy about Maria!

Before I took her course however, I had Maria come over to our home to help us chose a wall colour for our kitchen and living room. Working with a colour consultant – especially one as talented and professional as Maria – was a fantastic experience!

Well… it’s taken forever… but Brian and I finally painted our living room in the colour Maria suggested! What colour? Benjamin Moore’s “Powell Buff, HC-35”.

We love it!

Take a look at the before…

I had originally chosen to paint our living room in Benjamin Moore’s “Richmond Grey, HC-96”. I thought that with the word “grey” in the name it would mean there’d be more… well… GREY in this shade of green. Instead, what I got was almost a soft lime green!

After having taken Maria’s course I now know WHY the colour reads so green in my home… it’s because the room faces east and light that comes from the east is green. If you’re curious; light from the south is yellow, light from the west is orange and light from the north is grey. Of course while influenced by this directional light, the light overall here in the Pacific Northwest is greyish and so it plays a significant role in the tone of colour we should use on our walls. See… I learned something! :-)

But light wasn’t Maria’s primary concern when she saw the room. For her it was the colour of the fixed element of the room: the slate stone tile in our fireplace. And “Richmond Grey” did NOT work with the tile, no matter what direction the light was coming from! Take a look at what Maria says when choosing colour that works with a stone fireplace.

Then… take a look at how great Powell Buff looks with our slate tile!

We feel that the new wall colour is SUCH an improvement! The Powell Buff will be a wonderful backdrop to the art I’m planning for over the fireplace… and throughout the room. It will also be a lovely neutral to support many fabric options for reupholstering the chair you see above, and for a new sofa we hope to purchase very soon!

Thanks Maria… for your perfect colour advice AND for my fantastic “Colour Expert” training!!

Looking to fill your life with perfect colour? Get in touch to make arrangements for a consultation.