# Matching oak



## Belinda3058 (Oct 21, 2012)

I have been challenged with a new project from a friend. His house was built in the late 90's. He has oak trim a white fireplace greyish counter tops and PINK carpet and walls. Hardwood honey colored in some areas. Kitchen tile has pink, white, abit of green an purple. his windows have powder blue micro blinds. His budget is limited he is a single dad. Does not want to replace carpet. Any suggestions on paint color


----------



## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Paint color for which rooms? Any chance you could do a quick floorplan sketch to show the flow of things? Some pictures would help in this instance. Are all the elements and the colors associated with them staying or can carpeting and blinds be switched out?

A couple possibilities for you in the meantime. Color Impact, from Tiger Color, is one of the core color exploration tools I use in my color consulting work. I think you can try it for 30 days. It is a great way to explore color wheel relationships, shades and values, color schemes, color blends, etc. It helps to make sure you calibrate your monitor to 6500K (the industry standard for viewing and sharing info about color) and make sure you have a free pixel grabber handy. I like the one PicPick---a great set of screen tools that is freeware. 

The virtual painting programs for companies like Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore are great tools. I use the Ben Moore one most and there are both free online or downloadable versions (but you have to download and install Adobe Air, which is free, for the machine level program). You can pick rooms with features similar to the ones challenging yours or upload you own photos, mask them, and then paint with any colors in the collections with a mouse click. 

The other free program I use is www.easyrgb.com. Type in the RGB code of any pixel, make a major paint company color collection, and it will kick out the four closest paint chip names and numbers.


----------



## Belinda3058 (Oct 21, 2012)

*Matching oak and pink*



sdsester said:


> Paint color for which rooms? Any chance you could do a quick floorplan sketch to show the flow of things? Some pictures would help in this instance. Are all the elements and the colors associated with them staying or can carpeting and blinds be switched out?
> 
> A couple possibilities for you in the meantime. Color Impact, from Tiger Color, is one of the core color exploration tools I use in my color consulting work. I think you can try it for 30 days. It is a great way to explore color wheel relationships, shades and values, color schemes, color blends, etc. It helps to make sure you calibrate your monitor to 6500K (the industry standard for viewing and sharing info about color) and make sure you have a free pixel grabber handy. I like the one PicPick---a great set of screen tools that is freeware.
> 
> ...



Thank you very much for your reply, I am attaching a picture and as you can see it is going to be a challenge, The budget is limited and he really needs a new couch, so carpet and blinds stay, I want to try to neutralize the pink as much as possible.


----------



## creeper (Mar 11, 2011)

Grey ..would be an easy choice for me. Maybe a different shade for the fireplace wall. You can find some really great or some really dull shades.


----------



## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

In basic color theory, colors across from each other on a color wheel cancel each other out. Pink is but red and greens would be the compliment. Maybe a nice sage or grayish green like Jan suggests. Should blend with the oak. I will toss things in a color wheel in a bit and see what I come up with.


----------



## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

I couldn't grab a pixel with a color of the blinds and the pixel grabber was kicking back more of a lavender than pink for the carpeting so I tweaked it. The pixel I used for the woodwork looks alright.

Anyhow, here are some swatches and a blend showing transition from the color in the woodwork to a grey-green compliment of the pink. Hopefully the blinds can be put on the wish list for replacement. 

Hope this helps as a starting point. As mentioned elsewhere. If any of the colors in the blend or swatches are appealing use a pixel grabber to get their rgb codes. Then go to easyrgb.com, pick a paint manufacturer and color collection, the system will kick out the four closest paint chip names and numbers.


----------



## Belinda3058 (Oct 21, 2012)

Thank you so much for your info,,,this gives me a great start


----------



## Blondesense (Sep 23, 2008)

People often think that grey is totally neutral, but it's not. Most greys will have an undertone. They may lean toward green or blue or warm tones and you may not realize this until its up on the wall and clashing with the carpet. 

If you go with a grey, I'd spend the money and have test cans mixed. If you don't want to test them on the walls, paint pieces of poster board or something so you can see your choices in different areas and under different light.


----------



## Belinda3058 (Oct 21, 2012)

I am leaning towards warmer colours, grey is to cold and was one of the colours I was asks not to consider by my friend. I am looking at the Charmeuse AF265 Family with sugar brown as accent. The blinds have to stay so i have to work around those. Carpet would be replaced before blinds. Not my choice. 

Love all the feedback Thank you


----------



## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Blondesense said:


> If you go with a grey, I'd spend the money and have test cans mixed. If you don't want to test them on the walls, paint pieces of poster board or something so you can see your choices in different areas and under different light.


Testing a quart or something of any color is not a bad idea. I can order large 8x8 swatches of color for clients from major companies at no charge. I suspect a real paint store could do the same. Many sell those little cans and pouches of sample color (if you are lucky enough to pick a swatch they come in) that let you paint out 2-3sf of a color. 

And definitely think about lighting conditions. Not only is the temperature of a light source important but look also at the color rendering index of a bulb.


----------



## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

quote=Belinda3058;1035628]I am leaning towards warmer colours, grey is to cold and was one of the colours I was asks not to consider by my friend. I am looking at the Charmeuse AF265 Family with sugar brown as accent. The blinds have to stay so i have to work around those. Carpet would be replaced before blinds. Not my choice. 

Love all the feedback Thank you[/quote]
Charmeuse looks to me to just be a slightly more dull an low energy version of the color on the walls now or am I missing something? It does not strike me as an especially warm color choice? It is still pinkish/lavenderish/grayish and I thought you wanted to get away from that? This is the chip my system found. Same as yours? Your monitor is set to 6500K?

charmeuse


----------



## Belinda3058 (Oct 21, 2012)

it looked more taupe to me then pink, backing up a bit, I am going to BM later today to get swatches, those will make a difference then just looking at it on my mac. I want warm and cozy, and to neutralize the pick as much as possible


----------



## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Belinda3058 said:


> it looked more taupe to me then pink, backing up a bit, I am going to BM later today to get swatches, those will make a difference then just looking at it on my mac. I want warm and cozy, and to neutralize the pick as much as possible


It is hard to judge subtle colors, even with a color corrected monitor. Hope things worked out at the paint store. If not, perhaps we can figure a way to get you large swatch samples.


----------

