Today’s economy makes it tough to repaint rooms as fashion changes or as a child ages and their tastes change. A simple way to get around this is to choose a light version of a gender appropriate color or a gender neutral color in about the 20% color concentration range. This is usually the second or possibly third color on a six color deck. Then, you can switch out accessories as the child ages.
Why light colors? Once we get into a 30% color, it is harder to match or coordinate colors because more colors may share that same value, or gray scale, but are made up of different hues (the true color of the paint. Take white for example. Almost every color goes with white because it is a 0% color. The value difference is so great, it looks good. Off whites, however, which are close in value, tend to stick out like a sore thumb.
Try this simple experiment. Choose a super light sky blue (10-15% color concentration). Place any 30% blue color next to it. Almost all of them will look as if they coordinate. Now move up the fan deck color card of the same sky blue to a 30% color. Only a few other blues will look good with it because the value is the same. The colors that each has in its makeup will start to be more apparent. One will look more lavender; one will look more green, etc. The differences in hue become more apparent because the values are so close.
A 20% color concentration primary blue will work very well with a boy’s room because many items geared toward males have blue in them. We also equate blue with sky and sea, which are popular themes with boys. However, neutral tans also work well because they work well with green colored themes like bugs and dinosaurs and transition nicely into sports and sports ball themes. Either way, by choosing the lighter versions of these colors, we increase the range of the coordinating palette and leave us plenty of options for varying the themes.
Girl’s colors tend to be a bit trickier. Here, we start to see a greater range of warm versus cool interaction. Simply put, warm colors have hues of red, yellow and orange. Cool colors have hues of purple, blue and green. When we hear the words “cool red” or “warm green”, it is usually used to describe a color that has an element of the other side of the spectrum. For instance, a burgundy red has elements of purple and black. It is a cool red. A tomato red usually has a touch of orange and is therefore a warm red. Similarly, teal is a very blue green (cool) while olive is a very warm mix of green and yellow.
When we choose girl’s colors, especially in the pinks and purples, navigating the warm/cool questions can be quite frustrating. I like to choose lighter shades and keep a sample in my wallet so I can whip it out and see if the bedding matches the walls. A good rule of thumb is to choose a warm palette or cool palette and stick with it.
These are safe suggestions for rooms that easily transition to the next phase of childhood. Want to jump right in to a fuchsia or an eggplant? Go for it! Kid’s rooms tend to be an area where people feel a little freer to experiment. Soon, I’ll talk about accessorizing and the psychology of colors…why we make the choices we do.
Why light colors? Once we get into a 30% color, it is harder to match or coordinate colors because more colors may share that same value, or gray scale, but are made up of different hues (the true color of the paint. Take white for example. Almost every color goes with white because it is a 0% color. The value difference is so great, it looks good. Off whites, however, which are close in value, tend to stick out like a sore thumb.
Try this simple experiment. Choose a super light sky blue (10-15% color concentration). Place any 30% blue color next to it. Almost all of them will look as if they coordinate. Now move up the fan deck color card of the same sky blue to a 30% color. Only a few other blues will look good with it because the value is the same. The colors that each has in its makeup will start to be more apparent. One will look more lavender; one will look more green, etc. The differences in hue become more apparent because the values are so close.
A 20% color concentration primary blue will work very well with a boy’s room because many items geared toward males have blue in them. We also equate blue with sky and sea, which are popular themes with boys. However, neutral tans also work well because they work well with green colored themes like bugs and dinosaurs and transition nicely into sports and sports ball themes. Either way, by choosing the lighter versions of these colors, we increase the range of the coordinating palette and leave us plenty of options for varying the themes.
Girl’s colors tend to be a bit trickier. Here, we start to see a greater range of warm versus cool interaction. Simply put, warm colors have hues of red, yellow and orange. Cool colors have hues of purple, blue and green. When we hear the words “cool red” or “warm green”, it is usually used to describe a color that has an element of the other side of the spectrum. For instance, a burgundy red has elements of purple and black. It is a cool red. A tomato red usually has a touch of orange and is therefore a warm red. Similarly, teal is a very blue green (cool) while olive is a very warm mix of green and yellow.
When we choose girl’s colors, especially in the pinks and purples, navigating the warm/cool questions can be quite frustrating. I like to choose lighter shades and keep a sample in my wallet so I can whip it out and see if the bedding matches the walls. A good rule of thumb is to choose a warm palette or cool palette and stick with it.
These are safe suggestions for rooms that easily transition to the next phase of childhood. Want to jump right in to a fuchsia or an eggplant? Go for it! Kid’s rooms tend to be an area where people feel a little freer to experiment. Soon, I’ll talk about accessorizing and the psychology of colors…why we make the choices we do.
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