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rightdi_gw

Funcolors...I don't know you, but I need you! LOL

rightdi_gw
9 years ago

Hi everyone, especially Funcolors! Wow...I will blame you and eventually thank you for the last two sleepless nights! I have now read about undertones, overtones, why its important, why its not important, and most shockingly about LRV. What's so shocking about it? The fact that I didn't even know that existed!!!
We just bought a new house and we are trying to decide on all paint color, but specifically exterior!
You see, we just painted my existing house less than a year ago and we went with BM Jackson Tan! I love my house color, but want to try something completely different. We want to go lighter, but not too light, or too green, or pink at all! We' have narrowed it down (I think) to Balanced Beige or Bleeker Beige. We are going around the neighborhood and running up to houses we like with poster boards colored with these colors! We look crazy, almost got shot, I'm losing money and my mind! Help! Do you think any of these colors would be good exterior colors? Do you think either are too pink or green? I want light, but deep? Does that make sense?

Thank so much!!!
Diana

Comments (2)

  • PRO
    Lori A. Sawaya
    9 years ago

    Hue families, color notations and LRV is the tactical way to approach color.

    If you've read some of my stuff, you also know that I firmly believe that you cannot color by numbers alone. "Always remember that nobody accepts or rejects color because of
    numbers - it is the way it looks that counts." (Billmeyer 1970 and 1979)

    There is a balance of art and science with regards to color for the built environment; too much weight one way or another and it's like trying to juggle with one hand. Sure, you can do it but it's a heck of a lot easier with both.

    With that said...

    Do you think any of these colors would be good exterior colors?

    Yes. Which one is the best fit should be based on the fixed elements of the house: brick, mortar, stone, roof, etc. Which one looks right?

    Do you think either are too pink or green?

    Here are how the numbers stack up:

    Balanced Beige .44 Y / 7.25 / 1.49 ⢠LRV 46.0
    Bleeker Beige 1.36 Y / 7.61 / 1.89 ⢠LRV 54.0
    Jackson Tan 7.47 YR / 5.83 / 3.56 ⢠LRV 25.6
    (color notations from The LoC color lab)

    About pinkness: all the colors, the two new and one old, are snuggled up around the 10YR mark. (see color wheel below). Odds of Balanced B. or Bleeker B. showing a pink overtone is unlikely because they are too far away from the Red Hue Family.

    About greeness: With colors from the yellow hue family like Bleeker B. and Balanced B., the lower the last number, chroma, the better the odds that a color could have some greeness with which to respond to a quality of light that also has a green characteristic.

    The direction of your house comes into play. The south and west sides are least likely to have a green quality of light to sync up with any greeness qualities in a paint color.

    Looking at the numbers and we know that Balanced B. with a chroma of 1.49 would be more likely to show an edge of greeness than Bleeker B. with a chroma of 1.89.

    I want light, but deep? Does that make sense?

    Yes. I'm assuming you've read up on LRV and will get this next part.

    The second and last numbers in a color notation combined are called nuance. In other words, value + chroma = nuance. Nuance is not the same thing as LRV.

    To evaluate "light" look at the LRV number. The higher the number, the more light a color will reflect.

    To evaluate "deep" look at nuance, value + chroma together. Both axes.

    Chroma - "Deep" colors will have an amount of chroma in the 2, 4, 6 range.
    -AND-
    Value - Comparatively, the lower the value number, the "deeper" the color.

    Hope that helps... and doesn't keep you up tonight. ;)

  • rightdi_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank you so much Funcolors!! I am humbled by the time you took to give me a detailed response. Totally sheds a new light to my color selection. I am suffering from analysis paralysis!!! I was leaning towards balanced beige, but based on your feedback, I may do shaker beige which seems to have less red and green. I guess more neutral. Yikes! Lol. Thanks, again!!!!