What is the biggest color mistake homeowners make when painting dark spaces?

There is the common myth that painting a small, dark space white will make it look larger. That may work to a certain extent but is clearly the less interesting choice to make.

One of my favorite rooms to choose color for is the very small guest bathroom that is usually on the first floor somewhere fairly close to the kitchen. This room is no more than a sink and a commode and may not have windows if it’s in the interior space of the home.

In this small bathroom, I chose Armagnac SW 6354. I would have loved to use it as an overall color but the client was more comfortable with just having it on one wall. The orange undertone would have given this small bathroom a monochromatic look which can make a small room appear larger.

Why is this my favorite room to choose color for? Because this is the room where I have the opportunity to choose an off beat, amazing color.

Many homeowners say, “It’s a small space, let’s just make it beige.” Oh no! Let’s not.

“No matter what color you choose for these or any small spaces, white will not physically make the room any bigger so you might as well choose an amazing color.” 

What is that “they” say? Accentuate the positive eliminate the negative? Well in the case of choosing color for small spaces, I say introduce a beautiful, strong accent color and make the fact that it is small be it’s main feature. No negatives in this space just beautiful color.

To give the guest bath a little more wow factor, I usually take the color right up over the ceiling, eliminating the white and creating a really dramatic room. Is it still a dark room? Not necessarily. You’ll have to dress this room with correct lighting (up lighting works best and bounces off the ceiling) and of course the right decor to add contrast and interest to the room. I find that when these small, dark spaces are complete, they are so beautifully finished with the perfect color and accessories that suddenly the fact that it is a small space, somehow doesn’t matter anymore.

 Overall, what types of paint colors work best for lightening up a dark room?

Of course the saturated hues work best in any dark area. The cleaner the color (meaning the less black it contains) the lighter and brighter the paint color is.

Keeping in mind that blue and gray are neck in neck as far as popularity in the home. I’ll present a gray-blue to the client and again, keeping it as “clean” as possible should do the trick.

Reflection SW7661 is an excellent choice and combined with a bright white trim and ceiling, any dark room will magically brighten up.

Another (saturated) hue that will also brighten a dark room is gold but you have to be super careful with your choice here.

Many people will flock towards Blonde SW6128 because that seems to be one of the “go to colors” at the local paint stores. I’m not saying you can’t use gold in fact I highly recommend it. You just have to choose a “clean” gold such as Jonquil SW6674.

In this photo you see I chose a clean, saturated gold. I bet you’re scratching your head right now because we’re talking about dark rooms and here you see a room with ample windows.

This photograph was my living room when I lived in Pittsburgh years ago. The trick to this scenario was again lighting. Pittsburgh is notorious for the very gray days and sunny days such as the one you see here, were far and few between which is one reasons I took this picture. Getting back to color, to compensate for the lack of sunlight, I chose a “sunny” color. This is another trick to use when you’re working with dark areas of the home.

Which colors do you think work best in window-less powder rooms and bathrooms?

This really depends on the bathroom. Normally I like to choose a dark or “out of the box” color, which you’d think would be the last thing to do but it sure makes a hum drum room very stunning.

However, like I said it depends on the bathroom. Here is a very small, very dark and window-less bathroom. I would normally choose an exciting color but in this case, my client had very specific art and decor in the room which she wanted to feature. I felt that in this case, a dark color would distract from what was important to her.

So the fact that a bathroom is window-less is not really a factor for choosing color to lighten a dark room. For the most part, an overall distinctive color is typically what I’d choose.

What would I suggest? Here are some of the colors I’ve used lately and are just crazy beautiful. I love the “I would have never thought of that” response when I present my color choices to them which I love hearing from my clients:

• Hazel
• Dutch Cocoa (my favorite)
• Scanda
• Robust Orange
• Anjou Pear
• Underseas
• Alchemy
• Lucent Yellow
• Armagnac

* keep in mind that bathrooms that have white fixtures will add a nice contrast to any dramatic color.

What colors do you recommend for dark hallways?

Now this is completely opposite of what I just said.  Hallways are really not exciting by ANY means but super important in how the home completes.

If you have an open concept home like 90% of the homes I design for here in South Charlotte, North Carolina, you’ll see the upper hallway the second you walk in to the home.

This is where lighting plays a ginormous role in what color that hallway needs to be.

Most home owners will just paint the hallway the same color as the foyer. Common colors are usually Ivoire, Believable Buff, Netsuke, again the very popular “go to colors” but not very exciting and a tad dated at this point.

Mistake. Why? Because of lighting. The lighting is usually very bright in the foyers because of the light coming in from the front door, front door side panels, upper foyer window and the windows that are in the rooms to the left and right of the foyer. However, as you look up to the hallway, there are no windows or natural light sources so why would you paint the same color up there when the lighting is so different? You shouldn’t. Here’s what I do.

Let’s say your foyer is a gorgeous warm gray (greige) such as Natural Tan, which is what I recently chose for my client. If you take Natural Tan and put it into a dark hallway, it suddenly appears  to become five shades darker and would look similar to let’s say, Bittersweet Stem.

I almost always choose a light neutral for the hallway for two reasons. One, because hallways are so very dark and in this case, adding a dark color to this small space won’t work.

Secondly and most importantly, I like to choose a light neutral for the hallways because the hall is the main area of the home were all the other rooms (usually bedrooms) connect. There will be colors in all those bedroom and if you choose a “color” for the hallway, there is just no separation and your home will take on the dreaded “Quilt” look as I say or start looking like a bag of Skittles®. You need neutrals or resting colors and I prefer to call them in order for the colors in your home to stand out. My go to hallway color is Westhighland White.

Gray is such popular neutral right now.  What are the pros and cons of using gray in a north facing room?

I grew up on Long Island in a North facing room and it was horrible! I eventually painted my room peach don’t judge it was the 80’s – which helped out a lot.

As far as gray goes, which is almost viral here in South Charlotte, North Carolina, the warm grays are probably the best choices but I’m starting to see a trend towards light blue-grays. Everyone wants to jump on the gray trend but it has to be a good fit for both you and your home.

I personally don’t know if I’d use gray in a North facing room because of my memory as a child but that doesn’t mean you can’t. Of course no matter what gray you choose adding a crisp bright white ceiling and trim is a must. Keep your flooring options light and bright as well and of course the right decor to complete is vital.

The biggest disadvantage of using gray in an already light challenged room or North facing room is the persona that the color gray has. It’s not known to be bright and cheery and to me, battleships and sharks come to mind. It’s different for every person of course but some colors are just associated with certain images. You won’t know till you try it!

Closet design is a big trend these days.  Other than a neutral, what colors would you suggest for a dark closet?

You wouldn’t think that picking a color for a closet is a big deal but it is! I designed these two graphics to better explain why you should have a neutral in your closet.

Honestly, I would’t and haven’t suggested a color other than a neutral for a closet. For the most part, the closets my clients have are the typical, small dark closets that really don’t require a fantastic color.

For my clients who have the custom-built, walk in closets with proper lighting, perhaps a window and ample space where a “color” can be featured, I would still choose something fairly neutral without going crazy. Look at the graphics I have to show you why.

This graphic represents a neutral closet. The background is an off white or beige and the rectangles represent your clothes. We all have just about every color from lights to darks in our closets so having a neutral background will visually make the closet more appealing and the clothes easier to see. It’s really a small detail that will make a large impact in your closet.

Now this closet was painted the same coastal blue that’s been trending for quite some time. So many people have this color in their bedroom and have taken it into their closet but look what happens. It’s very unsettling to see all this color in a closet. The color of your clothes fight with the blue and it just becomes a mess. It’s like painting every room in your home a different and unrelated color. It doesn’t make sense and it’s just ugly! By the way – the color of the “clothes” are the same in both these graphics but see how different they look?

I would address a dark closet the say way I would for a hallway. Keep it light and neutral.

What’s the most important element about designing for dark spaces? LIGHTING, LIGHTING AND LIGHTING. If I had to put $1,000 on just one tip for you, it would be this.

“You can have the best color in the world but if your lighting is wrong, you’re doomed.”

I had a client that told me she already had 8 Designers help her with her color palette and not one was able to help her. That was a red flag for me but I wanted to help her and try to solve the mystery.

I went through my bag of tricks from using pure saturated color right down to suggesting what light bulbs and new lighting fixtures would be best for her home. Even I was not able to help her because she didn’t change out any of her lighting, not one bulb. Her color palette was gorgeous but it never had a chance to shine. It would have been magazine perfect if she followed my advice but she didn’t. You can lead a horse right?

So after all the money she spent on 9 Designers, painting her home, time off from work and endless months of aggravation, all she had to do was invest just a little in proper lighting and pennies for some light bulbs.

Have a dark space you need to brighten up? Invest in the best paint you can afford, hire the advice of a Color Expert and together, choose a color palette that will brighten your home.

As a Color Specialist in Charlotte, my question to you is:

“Will you be able to choose color for a large home that has an open floor plan and second question is, would you even want to?”

If you’re investing in luxury real estate in Charlotte, take it one step further and invest in hiring a Professional who specializes in just color, to help you with the color palette for your entire home.

I’ve been choosing color for these McMansions exclusively in South Charlotte since 2007 and love it! Where homeowners greet me with a nervous hand shake, I assure them that this is what I specialize in and that they are in good hands. As the color consultation unfolds, I can see the sigh of relief in their eyes as a Designer color palette transforms before their eyes.

Choosing color for large homes is more than just picking the top ten best colors from Benjamin Moore. I study the lighting, the decor and most importantly, listen to what the clients wants for their home.

The colors have to be related, share the same undertone and transition well from each open space in your home – otherwise your home will looked the the dreaded quilt.

So if you are looking for a large home in the Charlotte area and are worried about choosing  color for your home, search no  more. This is what I specialize in and have been designing for these home for years.

There is one huge tip that I’d like to offer you. If you need color for your home, hire a Color Expert such as myself. If you need drapery, help with your furniture choices, area rugs or backsplash design etc., hire an Interior Decorator but don’t hire an Interior Decorator to do both.There is a huge difference.

“Like everything else in life, there are specialists for just about everything from Doctors to Designers. Choose the right Designer for the project that you are working on for your home. Doing so will save time, money and aggravation but most importantly, result in the best investment for your home.”

If you’d like to set up an appointment for a color consultation, please email me at DecoratingbyDonna@mac.com or leave a message on my land-line at 704-243-6764. I’d love to talk to you about the best color choices for your home.

Come see a few of the beautiful design in DWR and a little about what Annie said about some facts and figures about Houzz and Interior Design.

Here are a few pictures of the beautiful colors and designs that I captured during the event.

Here are some of the stats from a survey that was taken from HOUZZ.

14 million people are using Houzz.com every month, another 7 million have download the iPad/iPhone or Android apps.

In Charlotte specifically -

• • 90% are homeowners, average age is 51, average household income $110K, average home value $346K
  • In the next two years, 85% of homeowners are planning to decorate or redecorate, 37% are planning to remodel or build an addition, 10% are planning to build a custom home  – 51% of whom are building “high end”.
  • Top project planned among Charlotte homeowners are bathrooms (25% planning) kitchens (20%) and landscapes (18%)
  • Also in the next two years, 54% are planning to hire a general contractor, 33% a kitchen & bath pro, 21% an interior designer, 21% a landscape pro, 17% an architect, and 13% a design build firm, among other home professionals
  • 40% of Charlotte area homeowners went over budget on their last renovation project, and 18% had no budget specified at all
  •  79% said improving the look/feel/flow/functionality was an important motivation behind their projects, far higher than the 49% citing increasing home value, however home value did increase as a motivator vs. last year.  Other important motivators? Storage & organization at 45%, energy efficient at 30% and incorporating new technologies, citied by 15%.
  • Biggest challenges for Houzzers when it comes to renovation & design? Finding the right products and defining their style – a marketing opportunity for all pros on Houzz.
  • Top hiring criteria? The pro’s reviews & recommendations, that he/she is an expert in their field, and that the pro has a personality the homeowner can work with.

Looking for design Professionals to help you with your projects? Go to Houzz of course. You can hear the entire webinar here.

Want to improve you Houzz profile and exposure? Here are some step by step tips to help you.

COLOR!

Every Dad has a room he calls his own whether it’s the den, living room, library, media room, man cave or even if he’s lucky enough to have a home office. Where ever Dad’s space is, offer him the gift of color by repainting his room.

What color does Dad like? Well I can tell you that there’s a 90% change it’s going to be some type of blue. So, here’s the top ten blue’s that Sherwin Williams has and I’m 100% sure Dad will like at least one of these.

So when Dad comes home from a busy day at work,

He just wants to relax!

So go to your nearest Sherwin Williams store and pick up the paint chips that I have listed here. Put them in a little box or envelope along with a Father’s Day card and surprise him with the gift of color! Tell him to pick his favorite blue and start painting! Every time he walks into his office, or den or living room – he’ll think of you and the special gift of color that you gave him!

These are the questions I ask my clients before I even pick up a paint deck. Why? Here’s the perfect example.

My client this week wanted “warm and cozy’ colors for her home – which is fine, but these are warm and cozy colors:

Do you like these colors? I do, they are warm and cozy and would turn a house into a home in a heart beat. Will the potential new homeowners like these colors? Maybe yes maybe no but when it comes to painting a 4,000+ square foot home, that’s a chance I wouldn’t want to take.

What if someone has light, white furniture and wants to keep their home crisp looking? These colors are out. What if someone wants cool colors for their home because they have a lot of soft blue decor? These colors are out. You may have just lost half if not all your sales because you chose the wrong colors for your home.

Here I took the same colors and just lightened them up – a lot! You can still have warm colors but just a hint of it. I removed the burgundy color because when you lighten that up, it turns pink.

Why will these colors work? Several reasons.

• They are light enough so you won’t really notice them on the wall
• They are neutral enough to go with most decor
• They transition softly from room to room
• They are versatile. They can look contemporary or traditional.

You can still have color in your home while you are there but if you’re moving, just lighten up those colors. Keep them soft and subtle and you’ll have no trouble selling your home when you have a universal color palette.

I was armed with my iPad 4 that happened to have a beautiful lime green cover  and I started snapping away in the Paint Department! My daughter was with me and she said, “Really Mom? You’re embarrassing me!” Not two minutes later I spotted her looking at the colors and the paint names. She even picked out one for her room. “Sorry kid, we’re hunting for color today not picking out a paint color for your room.” What? I’m not mean, she already had a gorgeous color in her room, it’s Guava Jam by Behr. Click on the link and you’ll see. Can I mention Behr in Lowe’s post? Oh well.

So it was very hard to try to pick just one color to look at because they were all so beautiful and bright! My transition glasses started turning dark from all the brightness

Of course I went for the purple which just happened to be Beaujolais which is a very tasty color, if you know what I mean. After wiping the drool from my lip, we continued on to the Decor Department of Lowe’s.  The Decor Department always gives me the creeps because of that horrible blind cutting machine. You know the one that sounds like it’s cutting a concrete slab in a blender? By the way, did I tell you I used to work at Lowe’s AND Home Depot way back in the day? Yes, in the Paint, Decor, Kitchen and Flooring Departments so I am officially an Expert in just about every department in Lowe’s and Home Depot – and have all those crazy pins too – here are just a few I kept:

Ok, brag time is over now back to color. So I’m in the Decor Department when I noticed the monster machine was not on so I proceed to the curtains.

Here I found some super cute and colorful curtains for a girls room. My daughter said, “Mom, what girl would put those curtains in her room?’ Oh my young Grasshopper child, you’d be surprised. And she shot me the look.

So not only did I find super cute curtains for a girls room but then my mind when back to the paint department to virtually coordinate a paint color to go with these curtains. Of course there’s Cosmic Berry which I believe is STILL the number one paint color for a girls room – or at least by now, in the top ten.

Conveniently located right across from the Decor Department is the Flooring Department. I was first bombarded with a deluge of beige! I held my chin up high and walked right through it. Once I found this carpet board, I was able to breathe again. All was back to normal.

Although it was refreshing to see an assortment of colors much like digging into a jar of jelly beans, I was wondering how often they made a sale on purple carpeting? Not too often as I recall from my carpet selling days … beige …beige …beige …beige was it. Look how pretty that Grape Jam color is? If you had a gray wall, this would be the carpet for you!

The flooring department also includes tile. Look what I found just steps away!!!! Yes, this was a great board to put on an end cap. Very awesome if you ask me, I mean really, look at my face! So fun oh and please don’t judge my outfit, after all, it was evening hours and I’m in Lowe’s. Nuff said.

Then came the ugliness. See the thumbs down? Yes, thumbs down on most of the area rugs hanging in this isle. Are they 100% wrong? No of course not but they are the very typical and safe colors and styles that you’ll see in  most homes. Think outside the box when it comes to choosing your decor. There are beautiful things lurking in Lowe’s you just have to find them – and I’m going to help you!

Having said that, look what I found! It’s a thumbs up! I found a runner that had some great color and a fairly cute pattern on it. This was a good sign.

But … here’s the BIG love! Look at this area rug! I couldn’t contain myself and had to love on it. Great color, perfect size for most of the living rooms or dining room or even a bedroom. There is so much you can do with your decor if you choose neutrals in an area rug. Now I’m not talking a boring solid beige that really does nothing for a home but colors that are trendy and a pattern that catches your eye. Buy this one and tell them Donna Frasca recommended it

So that was my adventure for a Tuesday night at the local Lowe’s. I have so many more great finds but will share them with you in my next post. If you need help decorating your home, let me know! If you’re local to South Charlotte then I can come to your home. If not, I have a great virtual service that is just the cats meow.

It seems that most people have some type of blue or green in their home that’s why these two pieces by Crate&Barrel are just perfect for a gift or to buy for yourself for your home.

Try to position this glass in or by a window so you can catch a glimpse inside as the light shines through.

Feeling like getting the look with paint color? Here you go!

FOR OTHER PAITN COLOR IDEAS: Keep in mind that when you visit your local paint store, shopping for color may be more than just looking for color for your walls.

The colors either in the paint fan decks or at the paint stores can and are great inspiration for many things. You can chose a color scheme for your bridal party, baby shower, anniversary, birthday or any event especially since Valspar now has the Pantone colors there.

Go take a look. The world of color is constantly changing.

• Sexy Pink by Glidden

• Bedroom Plum by Valspar

• La La Love by Valspar

• Soft Candlelight by Glidden

• Goodnight Kiss by Valspar

• First Kiss by Valspar

• Pillow Talk by Valspar

• Peach Kiss by Benjamin Moore

• Hugs and Kisses by Benjamin Moore

• Irresistible Kiss by Behr

• Pillow Fight by Behr

• LoveLight by Behr

I also work on so many fun projects from interior decorating and many commercial designs and of course virtual decorating which is a fairly new service that I offer and a very popular one.

This week I am working on a design for a restaurant located in Florida and just wanted to show you a quick peek. They wanted Caribbean Contemporary feel and they have a really small space to work with. I wanted to share some of my thoughts for this project without giving out too much information or details but sharing the feel of the design. I really should start sharing more of my design projects because some of them are just amazing! So much fun! Ok, here a bit of what I have so far for this project.