Why you can't find the perfect color?

9 years ago

You may be a tetrachromat!

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140905-the-women-with-super-human-vision

"I have always had polite disagreements with people about shades of colours," she says. When clothes shopping for instance, she often finds that apparently matching tops and skirts seem to be a different shade to her, clashing horribly Ã¯Â¿Â½ even though no one else seems to notice it. Her sensitivity can sometimes be baffling to those around: when helping to restore a house, she once rejected 32 paint samples before settling on the right shade. "The beiges were too yellow and not blue enough, not cool enough; some of the almonds were too orangey," she says Ã¯Â¿Â½ distinctions that were much to the confusion of her building contractor."

Comments (5)

voila
9 years ago
If you are a painter, you tend to notice many more colors in nature. I am sensitive to color, though I find it much easier, not harder, to pick out paint colors. In fact, I have never disliked my wall color, or had to repaint because of my choices. On the other hand, when trying to help someone else choose paint color (after asking me for help), I find that they do not seem to see the colors correctly. Said relative chose a color called "spa" for a bathroom that looked too gray-purple. After mentioning the off colors I saw, I could see she was determined to use the color, so never said another word against it. Guess what? With her white tile and aqua glass accents, and beige floor, it looks awful. When choosing paint colors, I study them for quite a while. My husbands chuckles at me, and then does all the painting for me.
User
9 years ago
Very interesting article, lazy gardens, thanks for posting it. This certainly
might explain why I had at least 14 different quarts of green paint when trying to find the perfect shade for our main living areas, and spent days looking for a white----sorting through paint chips and comparing the ratios of pigments, then trying them In the room for morning and afternoon light. Every time I pick a color it's the same thing all over again. Maybe that is why, having finally found the perfect green nine years ago, I am still 100% satisfied and cannot imagine changing it.

It may also explain why I patronize the smallest grocery stores I can find. I've always described larger stores as having too much "visual noise," to the utter confusion of DH, who likes the largest grocery store in town. It takes me twice as long to shop there, not only because there are so many choices, but because there is just too much color variation! Especially in the canned tomato aisle, it's really crazy how many shades of red are displayed on the labels! It always sounded crazy.....maybe it's science and genetics :-)
Related Professionals
Ogden Interior Designers & Decorators · Struthers Interior Designers & Decorators · Rosaryville Interior Designers & Decorators · Franklin Furniture & Accessories · Kearny Furniture & Accessories · San Francisco Furniture & Accessories · Fargo Furniture & Accessories · Fallbrook Furniture & Accessories · Zionsville Furniture & Accessories · New Bedford Custom Artists · Mill Valley Custom Artists · West University Place Lighting · Tukwila Lighting · East Bridgewater Window Treatments · Los Angeles Window Treatments
lazy_gardens
Original Author
9 years ago
KSWL ... Contact those people! They are still looking for people to study.
lucybcstx
9 years ago
Finally finding the perfect color . . .

I've been using BM Squire Hill Buff and Decorator White for the past fifteen years.

Sure makes it easy-peasy for the painters!

This post was edited by lucy-bcs-texas on Sun, Oct 19, 14 at 17:49
User
9 years ago
I just might, lazyGardens. Every time someone posts that **this color** or **that color** goes with everything I just shake my head in amazement, lol.