Color Your World

Color can impact mood, appetite, temperature, blood pressure and much more. People respond to color consciously and unconsciously, on both an emotional and a psychological level. It should come as no surprise that the rainbow of colors in all of the kitchen and bath products you specify can also be a key element of your business success.

Color can be inexpensive, easy to use and highly valued by your client. In fact, your ability to introduce color into your clients’ spaces in special ways can increase your value in their eyes, leading to more ­– and more profitable – jobs.

Why has color become so important? Over the past 30 years, changes in the kitchen’s location within a residential home, changes in clients’ approach to living in their home and changes in who defines beauty have led our industry to find personal style at the top of the want list: a time where the room you create for each client should be uniquely theirs.

Color used as a means of client self-expression is far more important today than in years past. Indeed, color has grown in importance in the consumer’s eye because a change has occurred in the accepted definition of “beauty.” Style preferences are far more personal today than in the past.

Introducing Color

Kitchen design professionals can introduce color into their projects in several key ways, including:

• In the finishes of the cabinetry.
  
• In the paint colors used to cover major walls, trim and ceiling surfaces.
  
• In the surface materials specified for floors, countertops and backsplashes.
  
• In the appliance presentation – step beyond stainless steel!

There are four steps I suggest designers take to increase their color knowledge.

• Step 1: Learn the basics of the science of color.
  
• Step 2: Understand the power of color.
  
• Step 3: Experience color – or – find an experienced color partner!
  
• Step 4: Experiment on yourself before experimenting on a client’s project.

To begin, you need to learn the basics of the science of color. Learning about good design allows you to increase your design abilities. A good source of information for this is the NKBA Professional Resource Library volume Design Principles. Both NKBA members and non-members can purchase this volume by contacting NKBA Customer Service at 908-852-0033 or by visiting www.nkba.org. As the author of this volume, I worked hard to include many color photographs of kitchens and baths that demonstrate the elements and principles of design. It is an easy read – and is an excellent foundation for your design and color studies.

I also recommend attending seminars on color usage. Recently, I attended an NKBA Texas Tri-Chapter meeting in Galveston, and had the pleasure of listening to Denise Turner, ASID, CID, CMG, a consultant specializing in color. Her comments about the attributes of color provided some interesting food for thought.

“The impression we create in our environment depends not only on our color selection, but also on the color’s saturation, temperature, lightness and movement,” she noted.

“Saturation is the color’s value. Orange, for example, can range from a dark pumpkin hue to a pale peach. Combining a color with white creates a pale ‘tint.’ Combining a color with black creates a dark ‘shade.’

“Temperature refers to a color’s feel. Temperature reflects the context in which we find it in the natural world. For example, yellow suggests sunshine, warmth and optimism, while blue makes us think of water and has a cooling effect. Colors are described as ‘warm’ or ‘cool.’ Red, orange and yellow are heating rays and they produce heat; blue, violet and green are cooling rays. As an experiment, try placing a thermometer in a colored glass of water. Red rays generate the most heat and blue rays the least.

“When selecting interior colors, you need to know as much about the properties of color as possible. If your climate is warm most of the year, you will benefit with cool hues for your interiors and vice versa.