Tag Archives: color matching

The Little Old Man Who Blended In

Posted on

Happy Old ManOK, years ago, I was working at the Lakewood RepcoLite and a lady came in with her husband. She pulled him–nearly dragged him–to the color chip rack and started holding up color chips to his face.

Well, this isn’t something we usually see and so I watched for a second, trying to figure out what was going on. One after another, she’d hold up a chip and then look at it, squint, turn her head from side to side and then toss the chip aside in disgust. Over and over.

I watched for a few seconds, still completely confused about what was happening, and then I walked over and asked if I could help.

Well, the little old man kind of put his head down like he was embarrassed, and his wife launched into a long explanation. And slowly, as I listened, things started to make sense. On a very limited scale–but still, at least I understood what was happening.

See, apparently, this poor little old man had just had his study at home remodelled and repainted. And unfortunately, the new paint blended in perfectly with . . . him. Yes. I’m not making any of this up. The paint blended in so well with the little old man that his wife told me she could never tell if he was sitting at his desk or not. He simply blended away into the wall color.

Well, I listened to her and then looked at the little old man. I think he was doing his best to blend in with the color behind him right then.

But the woman wasn’t done yet. She carried on with her story and concluded by telling me that she needed to find a color that accented him–a color that complimented and coordinated with her husband without blending in with him. And then, she dropped the big pressure bomb on me. She said, “That’s why I came to RepcoLite. Because I want the right color.”

Well, suddenly at that point, I was thrust into a much more complicated scenario than I’d previously realized. I had to find a color that would look great with a little old man. I had to stand in the store and hold color chips up to his little, wrinkled, humiliated face. Do you know how embarrassing that is? How awkward?  For both of us?

But regardless of all of that, I persevered. I asked questions I couldn’t believe I was asking. I asked him what color clothes he usually wears. I leaned in close and tried to determine his eye color. I wanted to ask if he was always this pale or if it was because he was just nervous. But before I could ask, his wife told me. “He’s not always this pale. He’s just nervous.” Then she hit his arm and told him to stop being nervous and start coloring up to his normal tone. “Or else,” she continued “we’re going to have the same problem as before–the color won’t be right.”

Well, we worked on it for a while and finally, I ended up just custom matching a color. We sent them on their way and I waited. I didn’t have long to wait. About a day or so later, I got a phone call from the woman. She was ecstatic. She told he that her husband was sitting at his desk right now–and that she could see him sitting there from the other room. All because the color of the wall behind him was perfect. It brought out the color of his eyes without blending too perfectly with his skin. She thanked me profusely and hung up happy.

And all that to answer some common questions folks have: namely, how do I get the right color? How do I know what is the right color? What can I bring in for a color match?

The answer to all of these questions is simple. You get the right color by coming to RepcoLite. You know what the right color is by talking with our color experts and letting them help you. And, in answer to “what can I bring in for a color match?” . . . well, I’d like to ask you to surprise us. We’ve matched cups of dirt, a handfull of leaves, flower petals, dining room chairs, magazine photos, sectionals from public restrooms, toilet seats and one embarassed little old man. See if you can come up with something crazier–we love the challenge and it always makes for a great story.

So You’re Keeping Your Couch: Decorating With “Leftovers”

Posted on

couch_testLeftovers. We all usually have them when we do some new decorating in our homes. Typically, it’s a rare occurrence when someone gets to decorate a room without such limitations. What I mean is this: normally, there’s always something that’s going to “carry over” into your new decorating. Not often are you completely removing and replacing everything: carpet, bedding, wall hangings, furniture. Usually, some of these items remain and these things, in a sense, tie your hands. They limit your creativity. They limit you. Or do they?

In reality, (and against what seems like common sense), these limitations usually make it easier for you to come up with a decorating scheme. And the reason is simple: when you’ve got no limitations, no boundaries, then that means that everything, every color, is fair game. And many times, this utter freedom results in a paralysis. There are so many colors we could choose that many folks have no idea where to start. Nothing is off the table and so, as a result, we’ve got thousands of options that leave us spinning our wheels.

However, when you’ve got limitations–when you have furniture you need to work around, or carpeting–you find yourself with a starting point. Suddenly, there aren’t 3,000 colors available to you. Instead, you’re down to a few hundred at most. This makes choosing much, much easier.

Here’s an example to prove the point:

Imagine two scenarios. In the first one, let’s say that you have a blank slate. You are remodeling a bedroom and you’re replacing everything. No color is off limits. You can pick and choose any combination you want. So you walk into RepcoLite and immediately you’re confronted with a display of over 3000 colors. However, before you pick even one of those colors, remember something: the colors need to match the bedspread you haven’t purchased yet. Also, they need to work with the furniture you don’t own yet. And the carpet you haven’t even shopped for. Now, of course, you could start with the carpet and the furniture, but remember that these things are going to have to end up working well with paint colors you really like.

Now, even with this brief look at the complete room-remodel project, we can see that while it’d be fun to start from scratch, it would also be complicated. It’s not hard to see why some people get so frustrated and tense when they find themselves in this position: every decision impacts another and nobody wants to make any mistakes. So, often, what happens is a form of paralysis. A slow, tense process of decor and furniture and color and carpet selections.

OK, now imagine the second scenario: you’re remodeling a living room. But in this case, you absolutely HAVE to keep the hand-decorated, crazy throw pillows that your Great Aunt Mill hand-stitched for you. They have such sentimental value that while everything else can change, these pillows need to be incorporated in the new room.

Now, in this situation, you’re limited . . . but watch how this limitation helps you almost instantly narrow your color possibilities. When you bring the pillow to RepcoLite, we’ll look at it and we’ll start pulling colors that will work. Likely, we’ll present you with some options similar to these:

Rather than find yourself staring at a seemingly endless array of colors and color combinations (as you have in scenario 1), this time, you find yourself faced with a smaller palette of colors. You have purples, blues, tans, yellows, reds and greens to work with. And not just ANY purple or ANY green–no, the color options are very specific if they’re going to match your Aunt Mill’s pillow.

From here, it’s just a matter of sorting through the colors available and selecting the ideal scheme to coordinate in your home. No frustration . . . no painstaking hours spent staring at 1000’s of colors. Quick. Easy. Beautiful.

So, all that to say, don’t be depressed when you find yourself limited by furniture and carpet and even throw pillows from Aunt Mill that are going to remain in your newly redecorated room. Don’t worry that these “holdovers” are going to complicate your decorating and color selection process. They won’t. If anything, they’ll make it easier!