How to Choose Paint Colors: Video 2 of 2
Following up the first part of this segment, Kimball continues to share tips on how to choose paint colors for your home. If you missed the first half, here’s How to Choose Paint Colors: Video 1 of 2.
San Francisco interior designer, Kimball Starr, is featured as the paint color expert for home interiors in a guest appearance on the nationally televised series of PBS “Creative Living with Sheryl Borden”. In this 2-part segment, the award winning San Francisco interior design expert, known for her playful and fearless use of color, shares tips on how to pick paint colors for your home interior.
In this second video, Kimball shows examples from her San Francisco decorated interiors demonstrating how to use subtle paint colors in a brightly lit living room, and how to use moody or vibrant colors in bedrooms.
Below is a transcript of the video:
♪[music]♪
– [announcer] With your host, Sheryl Borden.
– [Kimball] I’ll show you the adjoining bedroom, that’s down the hall, and how…
it all flows together.
– [Sheryl] Again, it’s going to flow together.
– That’s right. And it’s just the one bedroom, so it’s not a huge home. And, we
use colors of…
– Oh, yeah.
– … Butterscotch and Dark Chocolate. My client joked, if I keep using
those words, Butterscotch and Dark Chocolate, he’s gonna wanna sit in bed and eat
all day. [laughter] So… and then we have this lighter color that I like to use
for the ceiling. And, you don’t have to use a lighter color for the ceiling. There
are instances where you can actually use a darker color than the walls.
– That would bring, bring it down a little bit…
– Yeah, it dep-
– … not seem so high.
– That’s right. It depends, though. If it’s a really big space, dark colors
are great for hiding open, exposed duct work. Like, if you’re in a restaurant…
– Oh, oh. Uh-huh.
– Or if you were in a really industrial loft that you live in.
– Uh-huh.
– But most of us don’t live in spaces like that, so…
– Mm-hm.[laughter]
– … we don’t have 20 foot high ceilings.
– Yeah.
– So, yes, it is good to keep them lighter, but you can bring in a pop of
color, and it’s very interesting when you do that.
– And it’s, it’s interesting to me to see how these all flow together. I would
have seen these and these, but the fact that ya added the blue…
– Mm-hm.
– … keeps it from being, sorta boring.
– Right, because if you take this out, it’s just a bunch a tan.
– They’re all the same. Uh-huh. [laughter] Yeah.
– Just a bunch a tans.
– Uh-huh.
– So ya need this, and this-, this orange is a pretty vibrant.
– This is pretty. Uh-huh.
– So it’s a nice balance of various shades of warm tones, and your cool tones.
– Mm-hm.
– And then the red that was in the last picture with the dining chair gives a
little pop that you can bring with your furnishings.
– Yeah, it does. Uh-huh.
– So that’s how color flows through space. And then, this feel that we wanted to
accomplish, was a very light and airy…
– Oh it is. Looks, looks huge. Looks- And very open.
– Yeah, and very calming.
– Uh-huh.
– And there’s a lot of sunlight, so the last… pictures that we showed, there’s
not a ton a sunlight, so you can afford to do darker colors.
– Mm-hm.
– But when you have a lotta sunlight, it really lights up the color, and so you
really wanna stay with the lighter colors to match the natural light.
– It’s more subtle. I see. Mm-hm.
– So it feels more intuitive that way. So just a really soft sea green, mixed
with a really pretty buttercream.
– Mm-hm.
– And… we have another picture here. Moving on into a bedroom. This is a
pop of color, with bright yellow, but using a mauve, kind of a purpley-grey as
your background.
– Oh, mm-hm.
– So the wall colors are this. The ceiling color is this. But then, they painted
the…
– Table, uh-huh.
– … lacquer nightstands in a really bright daffodil yellow.
– That pulls out the yellow from the pillows and the lamp shades.
– That’s right.
– Uh-huh.
– Now if your’e a little-
– Ties it together.
– Yeah, exactly. And if you’re afraid a color, you know, this would still be
beautiful in a room.
– Oh, yeah. Mm-hm.
– And you could do… soft corals, or peaches if you wanted to.
– Oh. Uh-huh. Coral would be pretty, too.
– But this, if you’re really…
– Wild.
– … like that dose of color. [laughter] Well, and speaking of wild, if you’re
faint of heart, this last picture might be a little tough for…
– No, I like it, but I probably could never use it.
– … for some people.
– Uh-huh.
– So it’s a very bright orange bedroom.
– Mm-hm.
– And this is great. This is a guest bedroom.
– Oh.
– So this is great for… people that are just gonna be there for a couple nights.
I wouldn’t recommend a color like this for long-term, because it’s not soothing.
– Day in and day out.
– That’s right. It’s not a soothing color.
– Mm-hm.
– So here’s the bright orange. But if you wanted to tone it down… and you could
paint part of the walls in this khaki tone, which pulls out the color from-
– And what’s the ceiling? Is it in this one?
– That’s right.
– That’s-, okay.
– Mm-hm.
– I can see how that would do.
– That’s right.
– Really interesting. Color is fun. It really is fun in clothing, and it’s
really fun in home furnishings.
– Yes. And I definitely recommend, when you’re choosing paint, that you paint a
sample on your wall.
– Uh-huh.
– Like, a two-foot by two-foot sample. And look at it in the morning, daytime and
nighttime, because it’s gonna-
– When there’s light changes.
– That’s right.
– That’s a great idea.
– Or you can put it on a movable poster board if you don’t wanna paint 50
samples…
– Paint your wall [laughter]
– Right
– … across your room.
– Right, yeah. And move it, and because the light will hit it differently.
– That’s right.
– Well, great. Thank you so much. I appreciate you sharing this information
with us.
– Thank you so much, Sheryl.
Kimball Starr is an expert paint color consultant who has been featured on television and published in several hardcover design books. The award-winning San Francisco designer showcases work highlighting both subtle and bold interior paint colors that capture natural light and desired mood.
