Paint color consultation for Naperville homes

Open floor plans make room-by-room color choices tricky, because a kitchen, family room and hallway are all seen at once. We look at the fixed elements first, such as floors, cabinets, countertops and fireplace stone, then build a palette of a main wall color, one or two accents and a trim color that work together from every sightline. Large samples go up in the rooms where they will live, and you see them in daylight and lamplight before deciding. The result is a written plan you can paint from now or in stages.

An exterior scheme has to work with everything you are not changing: the roof, brick or stone, windows and the neighboring houses. We sample body, trim and accent colors on the house itself, usually on two sides that get different light, because a color that looks gray in the shade can turn blue or green in full sun. If your subdivision has an approved color list, we work from it. The final scheme lists every color, the sheen for each surface and where each one goes.

Some projects only need one decision made well: the color for painted kitchen cabinets, a navy vanity, a dark accent wall or a nursery. We sample on a door or a large board so you see the color at full size against your counters and hardware, and we suggest the sheen that will hold up to the use the surface gets. Single-room consultations are short and often happen at the same visit as the painting estimate, so the decision does not hold up the work.