“Hmm. I like Samoan Sand, but Malaysian Mist has that nice sheen.”
“Or I could go for something completely different, like Far East Fuchsia. What do you think?”
You hold a bottle and an unpainted toe up to the light.
“Definitely, Far East Fuchsia,” your trusty pedicurist replies.
Choosing just the right colour, whether it's covering one-square-inch of toenail or 500-square-feet of wall space, is a challenge, primarily because there are just so many colours to choose from. Where do you start?
Steven Sabados and Chris Hyndman, interior designers and co-hosts of Designer Guys on HGTV, make it easy. “Mood, match, sample,” is the mantra they've created to make the process of selecting just the right wall colour an easy one. “Just keep saying that to yourself-mood, match, sample. It's that easy.” Well okay then, here goes.
Mood
The first order of business when choosing colour is to stop thinking and start daydreaming. Before you do anything, determine the mood you hope to strike in the room.
All colours can be categorized as either warm or cool and by determining which of these overall moods you wish to create, you can effectively edit your options by half. Warm colours are any that incorporate hints of red or yellow, while cool colours have blue or violet undertones.
Next, says Steven, “find a family of colours you are drawn to, choosing from either pastel tones, earth tones or jewel tones. Within each of those shade ranges there will be warm and cool choices.”
