It’s great to write about your expertise but you certainly don’t want to give away all your secrets. For example, I get many emails each day saying “I just found your blog and I love the color you chose for that foyer. Can you tell me what color that is?” As much as I’d love to answer all the emails and reveal all the colors I use,  I just can’t do that and it’s for several reasons.

So how does one write about color all the time without really telling people what paint colors to use?

First of all, on the rare occasion I post an AFTER photograph from a client, I don’t reveal the color because THEY paid for that information. So it wouldn’t be fair to them.

Designed by Donna Frasca

If you look back on this blog you’ll actually see many color palettes such as this one, that aren’t any specific paint colors but are just colors I pulled from the inspiration piece.

Designed by Donna Frasca

That color doesn’ actually exist but there are colors in just about every paint deck that will come really, really close.

Another reason I don’t reveal the names of paint colors is because what you and I are seeing are probably two different colors due to monitor representation. Choosing a color you like from the computer is really not a good idea, it’s ok to get you into the right ball park but that’s about it.

Lighting plays another huge factor. If you see a color you like here what are the chances it’ll look good in your home, in your lighting? Another reason not to pick a color from a blog.

The same goes for colors you see in magazines. You’ll often see a gorgeous room scene such as the one here and love how it looks in the picture. The article in the magazine may tell you the name of the wall color they used, you go out and buy it, paint your wall and suddenly it looks totally different. Again, this is the result of magazine photography and how it alters the color of everything you see in it.

Room scene, CR Laine Furniture

This happened recently when I was at a color consultation. My client had a magazine clipping of a bedroom she liked. The article went on describing the decor in detail and mentioning the paint color as well. I chuckled to myself because I knew the name of the paint color and it looked nothing like in did in the article. Point made.

Once in a while I’ll mention some paint color names if it pertains to something I’m writing like this set of colors in a post called Great Color can be like a Fine Wine … Classic and Delicious. But that’s really far and few between.

So you see, you can write a really good and informative blog without giving away your secrets but it is nice to just tease a little bit and mention some awesome color combinations. (hint, hint – this one above is a gorgeous duo)

So keep reading my blog post and you’ll see that I do mention particular color combinations by name but good for you for catching it because I don’t do it often 🙂