ARC Painting has recently been painting north of Toronto in Richmond Hill, having taken on the repainting of a vaulted lobby, complete with 18′ tall pillars. Our painters have been working on ladders indoors, getting a head start for summer exterior work! The walls were a dated and worn colour, and called for a change.

We approached colour selection by first meeting with the clients to discuss the colour wheel (fan deck). The important thing is to give homeowners a starting point to find a great color, and we do this by a few methods: giving a brief tour of the different groupings; suggesting color trends and popular or appropriate choices for their style of home; and going over best practices, such as bright vs. neutral colurs, and coordination.

The next step is to use this knowledge and select some ‘finalist’ colours, which we recommend to obtain in sample pot form, so that the color can be seen right on your walls. This minimizes guesswork, and we think sample pots are absolutely worth the money for the added accuracy and piece of mind. There is nothing worse than finding out the colour you picked isn’t what you hoped for, after the painting is finished.

Our painters paint the 3 selected samples on the walls in 4 different areas, so that lighting could be managed better. Always make sure to let the paint dry before making judgments. Its also helpful to paint the sample area near some trim so you can see the contrast against it. When looking, you must try to block out the old wall colour, as the contrast between the two colours can affect visual perception. beyond the hue, you must think also of how the colour will look on a much larger scale. Will it be too bright? Is it dark or light?

In the end, the result was great because we took the necessary steps to choose an appropriate colour that satisfied the clients and their home, making for a successful Toronto painting project.