Nothing in this world in 100% certain, well yea I know – death and taxes but you can also add color to that list as well.
After I meet with my clients I always provide a color portfolio for them. It’s nothing fancy but it’s probably the most crucial part of my color consults. It’s a colorful pocket folder with all the necessary paperwork and color information, photographs for color placement AND color swatches to hang on the wall. By the way, the color samples are also great to bring with you when you shop for decor, it ensures that you’ll be staying in the right color palette. We somehow remember colors differently from what we actually have. This little packet is a tremendous help – if you use it.
I recently received an email from a client saying that she changed several of the colors that I chose for her AS THE PAINTER WAS PAINTING! Hello?? That’s was little too close for comfort. Changing your colors when the painter is in your home is not the time to decide that you don’t like your color. Also, keep in mind that a painter is a painter and has a handful of go-to-colors that they use over and over again. Will they be right for your home? Will they just be too generic? Oh that gets me nervous.
I provide large paint samples – 8×10 if you’re using Sherwin Williams and 5×9 if you went with Benjamin Moore colors. Are they huge? Well they are much larger than just looking at the 1×1 color chip that is in the paint deck. Also, as I suggest ALWAYS SAMPLE OUT YOUR COLOR BEFOR YOU COMMIT TO PAINTING. When your painter is in your living room with brush in hand it’s not the time to say “umm, mind stopping? I don’t think that color works for me.”
It’s always better to be late than never of course but talk about last minute! The larger color samples are really a great help when deciding on your final colors for the home. You tape the color sheet to that wall and look at it for a few days in all kinds of lighting, day and night. At that point, you should have a really good idea if you like the color or not.
Still not sure? Go to the store and purchase a quart (not a fan of those small paint samples, they are just not big enough) and paint out a section on your wall. Make sure you use two full coats and then see how you like the color.
I love how 99% of my clients trust my color choices 100% and usually don’t get to the sampling out stage but it’s always recommend that you do that just to be 110% sure.
Trust in the professionals that you hire and it’s ok to change your mind about a color if your gut is telling you that – just run it by me just so I’m 110% happy with the color change too 🙂
Decorating by Donna • Intuitive Color Expert 
Donna you are spot on once again. It surely is much better and cost effective to have the colors chosen before the painter is to paint the designated areas. As in my career as a painting contractor (retired) often times I would have to charge for T & M (time and material) costs to the builder/interior designer and/or home owner when ever the decisions were not made prior to the job at hand. A painting contractor needs to be paid for his time and is much more effective to have a color expert help with these decisions thus making it very cost effective for everyone involved, especially to the home owner……………
If a Painter has to stop and go back and forth to the paint store to purchase quarts and samples and not only apply and reapply sampled colors, not only is it expensive for materials it’s also more expensive to supply the labor to paint swatches on the walls which in today’s economy and market someone has to pay for that labor and it is becoming an additional cost just as the “free estimates” are becoming a rarity also. After all you still have to pay service calls from plumbers, AC companies, electricians etc.
Good points Arthur. I don’t even work with painters anymore. I feel that their job is to paint and not choose color for the client – especially if there was a Designer already working with them. The stepping on of toes – it’s a tough line between painter and Designer. And actually, if I were the client, I’d just go back to the Designer, who was already paid for the job, and just have her/him choose other colors. If the client doesn’t speak up in the weeks that they had to review their colors than they are taking a huge chance using the advice of a paint contractor – unless they were lucky enough to have you of course Arthur! 🙂
Thanks Donna I appreciate the shot of confidence. I have to lean both ways in response to this as many of us “Old Dogs” know what works and what doesn’t because we have been doing it for so long. However one s who are professionally trained in color would get my vote of course as it surely makes my job much easier and quicker having not to go through the sampling process as much. Many times in high end construction this is already done on the “Finishing Schedule” drawn out by the Interior Designers and Architects alike and then then with the painters help of product recommendation for the over all performance and quality of the paints user experience (Paint Specs) as I ‘m sure you know. As a painting contractor I have had my share of it no doubt, however when you are discussing the “Finishing Schedule” of some of these over 30,000 sq/ft behemouths and there is no room for mistakes, especially when you are calling out on materials such as decorative finishes and venetian plasters which can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and sometimes millions. (Been there Done that)
Whichever way you chose Art, will be awesome because you are so very talented.
I certainly would charge for that too. By the time the painter gets to your home, your colors should be set otherwise yes, there should be an up upcharge.
Yes Donna some very good points indeed. We sure don’t want to step on toes as some home owners will hire interior designers who already have their subs in place. Some will already have some basic colors they like to work with and others will not and just pass on the costs to the home owner. I suppose the point I am trying to make is that most painting contractors are not color specialists and should not be used for such. It does in my opinion cost the home owner much more than if they were just to hire someone such as yourself who are specialists and get the help they need. To ask a painter to do such a thing combined with the cost of paint and everything else that goes along with it can get more expensive than just to hire a color consultant. Especially when paint is at 20 dollars a quart these days. I have seen contractors change orders that exceed the actual costs of painting the room itself.
Great post. Also it is often unfair to judge a colour on the wall after just a couple of passes with the roller. Sometimes you have to paint the entire room to appreciate the overall look.
and that’s a great point that I forgot to mention. Paint looks darker when it’s wet. You really have to trust your color and paint professionals – each has a job to do and together, they will give your home the results you paid for. If the client intervenes and it works out, then lady luck was on your side.