This week’s blog post features a special guest from Benjamin Moore Paints. Over the years I’ve formed a close business relationship with the design consultants at Benjamin Moore. They have consistently exceeded themselves in helping my clients choose the right colours for their homes, and have made my clients very happy.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the impact colour can have on the palette of your home and your life, I’ve asked Michelle Campbell from Benjamin Moore to be my guest blogger so she can illustrate some of the finer points. Michelle has a very strong background in design and decorating: she studied design at Westervelt College in London, Ontario; has worked extensively with contractors and owns her own painting business, making her an excellent source on the subject of choosing colour for a home. Over to you Michelle!

Thank you Eric. I’m sure we all know at least one person who agonized so much over finding the right colour for a particular room that they ended up painting the same room 3 or 4 times with different hues in the space of one month - only to be mildly satisfied with the final result. In this regard, getting help from a professional design consultant has many benefits: it can not only save you time and effort, it can have a striking effect on your home.

Professionals have a trained eye so they can see different undertones in paint colour (so the warm yellow you want for the kitchen may have a cold undertone, which is what you may not want) and they know how a colour can change from daytime to nighttime. Professionals are also well versed in accessory colours that can be used as a compliment or an accent.

Colour has such a big influence on our lives: yellow can inspire happiness or creativity; oranges can have a warming effect and give you energy; blues are calming while neutrals are clean, refreshing and give a natural, earthy feel to a room.

So the first step in the process of choosing colour for any room in your home is to consider the influences of the colours you love. Think of what you’re attracted to in nature or in your own clothing since it’s important to be surrounded by colours you really like. Once you’ve narrowed down your selection, a professional can then help you choose complimentary colours for additional rooms, creating a flow of colour throughout your home.

The flow of colour is much more important than many people realize. Unfortunately, most people choose paint colours for each room of their home on a one-off basis, and end up with hues that clash as they move from room to room. On the other hand, a professional can help create a canvas of colour that progesses smoothly and naturally throughout the home and the lasting effect is a home that is not only rich in colour, but is comfortable and inviting.

If you’ve been considering making any changes to the colour palette in your home, you can always get started by visiting the Benjamin Moore website. It has a lot of helpful information, but one of my favourite tools is The Personal Colour Viewer which is a colour visualization program that allows you to apply any colour you like to various room images so you can get a preview of what the colour will look like.

Have fun!