Choosing Colors, by Kevin McCloud, and My Current Color Palette Favorite

I just picked up Choosing Colors by color genius, Kevin McCloud ($16,47 at Amazon). He’s so inspirational and really knows his stuff.  His book explains color theory in an understandable way and suggests all kinds of ways to mix them up.

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Best of all, he gives you these little squares of black and gray so you can check out his colors against the best background. And, he has color numbers from the major paint companies, so you can scoot over to your paint store and get colors from his book in paint form. I like that.

Kevin wrote this amazing book titled Decorative Style about 20 years when faux finishes were really in. Sadly, it’s out of print, but if you can pick up a copy, it’s a good one to keep in your design arsenal.

A favorite color palette

I came up with this color palette, inspired by Kevin’s shell colors. I made the red a little brighter. Love this!

Anyone who knows me well, knows that red is my favorite color. I love bright colors and dark colors. I’m not usually a fan of pastels, but I’m softening to them.  Three of these colors are from Farrow & Ball’s most excellent paint colors. I haven’t used them in a room, but I have tried their sample pots. Truly beautiful. Those really got me turned on to pastels. The red is from Benjamin Moore. They have zillions of colors, and their Aura brand of paint is super-fine.

I created this palette with four colors, instead of the usual three. A four color palette gives you  more things to play with. You can use one for the wall, one for the trim, ceiling, rug, accessories, etc… Your room will have more depth and you can more easily carry the colors throughout the house.

Here’s a room I created using Benjamin Moore’s visualizer.

Their color previewer only allows three colors, so I chose one with some taupe in the furniture. I would do something with that ceiling, but you get the idea.

How would use these colors? I’ve used red on the ceiling to great effect. I’m not sure if black on the ceiling would work. Has anyone ever tried that?