The Problem With Selecting Colors

Selecting Colors


I like to select colors. I think I'm pretty good at it. I don't do it often enough to be great, but I think my results are pretty darn good.

Maybe if I selected colors all the time, I would know more about the politics of selecting colors and get good at that aspect, too. Because politics is the problem with selecting colors. 

After an interiors person returned from a color-review meeting in tears, I developed the following process to head off more unpleasant experiences. Honestly we haven’t gotten to use it often enough to know if it can be improved; so feel free to contribute your experience/advice in the comments. The world -needs- a solution to the “color problem”!

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THE COLOR PICKING PROCESS 

1. Establish who is in charge of color selection, the architect or someone else. 
2. If someone other than the architect, determine who. If the architect skip to Step 8.
3. Ask the color selecting person(s), what they will need - plans, color chips, etc. 
4. Exchange information about timeline - when the results will be ready and when the contractor plans to buy the paint, casework, doors, etc. Allow a few days for documenting the color scheme for the contractors.
5. Bug the color selecting person(s) three, two and one week from the deadline.
6. Receive the colors and determine if the Owner approves.
7. Skip to step 14.
8. Determine who will approve the color scheme. 
9. Hold a meeting with the color-approving-group to discuss what we see as the goals of the color scheme. No colors are shown at this point. The end result is minutes or a memo describing the approach to be taken. 
10. Prepare one color scheme that meets the approach that was approved. If the ARCHITECT wants or feels that more schemes are useful, only then do more than one scheme. 
11. Meet with the color-approving-group and ’sell’ your scheme on its merits as meeting the agreed upon approach. 
12. If there are problems with the scheme being approved, make sure you know exactly what the objection is. E.g., NOT `I don't like the wall color'; but make them say what they don't like about the wall color - too dark, too edgy, wrong color - nail it down.
13. Correct any objections and get approval. 
14. Document the color choices; and submit to the contractor.

You may have noticed that we don’t get involved if we aren’t assigned the role of selecting colors. I find it too painful. I would rather let the Owner screw up the colors, than participate. I won't think less of you if you want to put yourself through that torture. By all means put yourself on the the color-selecting-committee. I'll give you one piece of advice to minimize your time (because somehow you will now be working for the color-selecting-committee pro bono). Don’t prepare color boards. Instead make a CAD drawing of labelled boxes, e.g. “VCT”, “CARPET”, “WALL COLOR”... At the meetings, unroll a couple paper plots to lay out the colors loose to present each scheme. 

-- I just saved you a day’s worth of color-board-making.

Original post date: 10/29/2013