Manalto - I have an art and design background, so I am the nut at the paint store who "feels" too much about color. I try to keep my interactions with staff there brief, as most I have encountered do not have the same level of anxiety and consternation I do about color subtleties. I do all of my teeth gnashing at home about the color then go to the store to buy it with my mind made up, swatch in hand. My new local paint store let me take their complete paint swatch book home for as long as I need to - they knew this will keep me away for MONTHS !
Here are a couple of photos of a famous house in Toronto that has a very complex and subtle paint scheme. It looks fantastic in person. The colors were all carefully considered and work well together. Different photos capture the colors so that certain areas look more blue or green. Whoever planned and executed this paint scheme was brilliant:
This is a yellow brick house, also from the same area that has a weathered blue/gray/teal color that looks good with the yellow brick, too:
Help Willa Choose Paint Colors
Re: Help Willa Choose Paint Colors
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Re: Help Willa Choose Paint Colors
My background (publishing and photography) makes me a PITA when it comes to color also. One thing I've noticed about successful complex Victorian color schemes is that contrast tends to be low. Just my $.02.
My suggestion to talk to paint store consultants, considering your background (or perhaps because of it), still stands. I don't mean ask the pimply-faced teenager (was that harsh? I was a pimply-faced teenager once, too) but affluent towns or neighborhoods tend to get people with good color sense and perspective, which is nice; the additional factor is that they've seen a lot of paint go up onto houses and have some understanding born of experience. The goal is to get you to shift your perspective a little. When I do this, I find that it helps a lot; I rarelydo what they say, but the interaction was valuable nonetheless. Just hearing yourself verbalize your thought processes regarding the situation is helpful, and it's different than typing them.
My suggestion to talk to paint store consultants, considering your background (or perhaps because of it), still stands. I don't mean ask the pimply-faced teenager (was that harsh? I was a pimply-faced teenager once, too) but affluent towns or neighborhoods tend to get people with good color sense and perspective, which is nice; the additional factor is that they've seen a lot of paint go up onto houses and have some understanding born of experience. The goal is to get you to shift your perspective a little. When I do this, I find that it helps a lot; I rarelydo what they say, but the interaction was valuable nonetheless. Just hearing yourself verbalize your thought processes regarding the situation is helpful, and it's different than typing them.
- Gothichome
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Re: Help Willa Choose Paint Colors
Willa, what you have posted in the way of examples from TO , and the rendering done by Lily (nice work Lily) is exactly what I would expect for your home. No matter what you pick for colours, the detailing is what makes it stand out.
Re: Help Willa Choose Paint Colors
Here are some similar local houses on Realtor.ca with painted trim, and different approaches:
The dark navy-teal works well with the yellow brick , but to my eye I think it would look better with the painted areas reversed - ie dark trim around the windows and doors, and the verge/barge board being dark.
Oh, those awful fake shutters that are everywhere. The dark trim should have also been used on the first story, especially for the (too skinny) posts that support the porch. Being painted the light, almost brick color makes them look weak. Throw out those shutters and paint dark around the windows, too.
The taupe and buff paint look really blah next to the yellow brick, and those potch posts need to be dark. Even if they added a third medium color like olive, it would liven this up. I am really not liking the window trim being almost brick color.
This house looks so much more lively than its taupe and brown neighbour to the right. It's hard to judge the colors as realtors typically fiddle with them somewhat. I think the trim around the windows would look better in a darker color, and there needs to be more teal on the main floor porch as a horizontal, like by the many spindles or the board that runs across to pull it together more. The decorative shingle color looks too orange to me ? I see at least 4 colors in this low res pic, so they get an A for trying.
Seeing these have helped me to better understand what I think visually works and what doesn't on a house this style. What do other people see/think ?
The dark navy-teal works well with the yellow brick , but to my eye I think it would look better with the painted areas reversed - ie dark trim around the windows and doors, and the verge/barge board being dark.
Oh, those awful fake shutters that are everywhere. The dark trim should have also been used on the first story, especially for the (too skinny) posts that support the porch. Being painted the light, almost brick color makes them look weak. Throw out those shutters and paint dark around the windows, too.
The taupe and buff paint look really blah next to the yellow brick, and those potch posts need to be dark. Even if they added a third medium color like olive, it would liven this up. I am really not liking the window trim being almost brick color.
This house looks so much more lively than its taupe and brown neighbour to the right. It's hard to judge the colors as realtors typically fiddle with them somewhat. I think the trim around the windows would look better in a darker color, and there needs to be more teal on the main floor porch as a horizontal, like by the many spindles or the board that runs across to pull it together more. The decorative shingle color looks too orange to me ? I see at least 4 colors in this low res pic, so they get an A for trying.
Seeing these have helped me to better understand what I think visually works and what doesn't on a house this style. What do other people see/think ?
- Lily left the valley
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Re: Help Willa Choose Paint Colors
I'll PM you shortly after I write this with my addy.Willa wrote:Lily left the valley wrote: If you don't know how to check it, and you have Windows, on an image that's stored on your computer, you can right click it and choose "Properties".
I am on an old, old Mac, so much of what you are telling me goes right over my head.
My computer claims the house images I posted are 872KB and 393KB Jpegs. I don't know if some image compression happens when pics are posted in the forum or --- ??? ----
If you PM me with your email address I can email you the pics that way, which might mean you get files you can work with, if you want to have some house coloring laughs ? I am not technologically saavy at all.
My very own first personal computer was a Mac in the box. Miss that ol' workhorse.
When you start using higher resolution images (like 700 dpi), the file sizes jump to much larger even if the dimension size is the same because there's more detail. I'll email you an example once we get the e-mail exchange going so you can see the differences in file size and detail when you zoom in.
Think of a canvas with a blended watercolor wash versus one with colored pin heads pushed through it, with each pin being one color, but when viewed it forms an image similar to the wash. They both show the same image, just in different methods.
The pin canvas is heavier (larger file size in bytes), but also each point of color is clearly defined by a hard edge, so the computer has an easier time deciding where to replace that color when asked because it sees each as a clearly defined pixel. With the watercolor wash, the blend is too subtle soaked into the interwoven canvas threads, and the computer can't decide where the edges start or stop when asked to do a "fill". It's also like a coloring book where the outlines aren't completely closed. You can guess where the color should stop, but AI still isn't always good at guessing.
I'll also post some reflections and questions on those lovely images you pulled much later, so you probably won't see those postings til tomorrow. They really help me get a better sense of your preferences. Thank you for those.
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.
Re: Help Willa Choose Paint Colors
Lily left the valley wrote:I'll also post some reflections and questions on those lovely images you pulled much later, so you probably won't see those postings til tomorrow. They really help me get a better sense of your preferences. Thank you for those.
I sent you pics at the address you provided via PM. Let me know if they don't show up or there are other weird issues.
Thanks so much for taking on this color burden.
- Lily left the valley
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Re: Help Willa Choose Paint Colors
GREAT NEWS!Willa wrote:Lily left the valley wrote:I'll also post some reflections and questions on those lovely images you pulled much later, so you probably won't see those postings til tomorrow. They really help me get a better sense of your preferences. Thank you for those.
I sent you pics at the address you provided via PM. Let me know if they don't show up or there are other weird issues.
Thanks so much for taking on this color burden.
I found where they stashed the tool I was looking for. The only downside is there's an odd issue with the tool if you go from one extreme of hue saturation to another, such as my trying to replace the color of the barge board. I found a site that has some tips about a workaround, so we'll see how that goes.
I should have a much better version done some time later today (Tuesday, in case you're reading this late night). As I mentioned in my e-mail, Sean is off work today, and we've got a few things lined up to do.
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.
Re: Help Willa Choose Paint Colors
Even if you traced the roof line and windows then filled in approximate areas with color that would be a start, like a rough sketch. There's so many fussy surfaces !
The realtor pics have also really helped to articulate approaches that work, and don't work, so I may need to readjust some of my original thoughts about what colors go where.
The realtor pics have also really helped to articulate approaches that work, and don't work, so I may need to readjust some of my original thoughts about what colors go where.
- Corsetière
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Re: Help Willa Choose Paint Colors
I'm super excited to see what you settle on. I like where you're headed with it.
Re: Help Willa Choose Paint Colors
Corsetière wrote:I'm super excited to see what you settle on. I like where you're headed with it.
Throw some new color combos into the ring.
I have my hang-ups and welcome some fresh ideas to get out of my color rut.