Hester Painting & Decorating Customers Are Choosing Home Color Palettes That Lift Their Moods
Chicago, IL (// PRWEB //) January 6, 2009 -- Even if the economy is dull and gloomy, designers and homeowners are creating rooms and home environments that are anything but as the trend for paint colors going into 2009 is bright and optimistic. Benjamin Moore's color experts even chose a zesty citron yellow as a top interior décor color of the year for 2009. The painters at Hester Painting & Decorating concur. "We notice the presence of color. Rather than safe neutrals, homeowners are selecting colors that make them feel good," said Jeff Hester, vice president of Hester Painting & Decorating in Skokie, Ill. "Yellows, pinks and lots of green."
The key to working with bright hues, according to licensed interior designer and Benjamin Moore's senior manager of color and design, Sonu Mathew, is to pair them with a deeper, grounded, sophisticated color. She suggests pairing an optimistic yellow with a steely gray, or a fuchsia pink with stone brown.
"It's about color in context. You live in an environment. The pairing of colors is very different than one color alone," said Mathew.
So is it possible to paint oneself into a better mood? Perhaps. "There are physiological and cultural attributes to colors. To paint yourself into a mood, you have to have the willingness to go there. Colors with more life, that are more vibrant, will elevate your mood," said Mathew.
Green, a trend that's been coming on for several years, remains strong for 2009. Some of the shades are going more gray or more yellow, but green is well-entrenched in paint color, as well as in the automotive and fashion industries. Hester sees green increasingly used as neutral and paired with almost any other color. According to Mathew, this may be because green is in the middle of the visible spectrum of light (think ROYGBIV) and is the easiest color for the human eye to process.
Black paint, once verboten, was popping up last year and is expected to make a strong showing in 2009. "The look is opulent. Especially in faux finishes such as Venetian plasters and our own version of an alligator skin," said Hester.
According to the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute, "Black as an accent color on trim or doors provides an interesting and unexpected frame," when paired with brights in 2009.
With the slow housing market, many homeowners are redecorating rather than moving and that can mean reinventing or working with what one already has. "We are doing quite a lot of cabinet and furniture refinishing, applying a fresh, new color to what's there," said Hester. "People are reinventing their homes with paint."
Whatever the color scheme, Hester emphasizes the importance of proper wall preparation. "Choosing the perfect colors for your home is an important part of the process, but so is preparation. Inspecting, scraping, patching, sanding and priming -- whether you do it yourself or hire experts -- is essential when you want a dramatic and professional result," explained Hester.
Founded forty years ago, Hester Painting & Decorating provides homes and high-profile commercial establishments with high-end decorating services. Widely regarded as a leader in the fields of painting, faux finishing, and exterior and interior maintenance, Hester Painting & Decorating utilizes an enormous repertoire of finishes and wall covering techniques to create unique environments for its clients.
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