Color Conversations with Cristina

Color does more than convey a mood or set off a room. Color is a language that continually evolves with the cultures that contribute the shades and tones of meaning each of us sees. Artist and Color Consultant, Cristina Acosta, shares her insights and expertise about the colors in your life – your home – your business.

Afraid of Color? Is it Chromophobia or a Fear of Expensive Mistakes?

Though white isn’t a “color” on the color wheel, it certainly is a paint color, and one that many people love. But if the only reason you have white walls is because you’re afraid of color, you may have a touch of chromophobia or “fear of colors”. Or maybe you just have a fear of making expensive mistakes with paint color. That’s more often the case.

Hiring a Paint Color Consultant

Most people have a lot of questions around hiring a color expert. Just because somebody “loves” color or happens to be standing in a paint store, don’t presume expertise. Remember, anybody can call themselves a color consultant. Do your due diligence and find out about the color consultant’s education and experience.

Choosing Colors Can be Like Chasing a Rainbow

Color communicates. Any color expert, designer or artist will agree with that statement. But ask those creative types what exactly a color is communicating and the answers you get may have surprisingly little in common. Here’s why: Color is a language that continually evolves with the cultures that contribute the shades and tones of meaning each of us sees. And, each individual brings their personal biases and perceptions to the mix, further complicating things. Consequently, the meaning of a color is a moving target.

Modern Metallics Meld Traditional Surfaces with Contemporary Design

Mixing metallics into your home design can give a small space a stylish vibe. Put the metallic accents on existing cabinetry and your small space can remain clear and uncluttered – both practically and visually. And when those metallics come in a coppery pink tone, the result is gorgeous! Metallic finishes can play up modern architecture like this master bath at the same time they link traditional materials like marble with the contemporary shapes of the home design.
The perfect wall paint color brings together the variety of surfaces with a unified color. With that in mind, choosing the color that works with every color in the bathroom is very important. Helping my clients choose the best color for the room meant first determining a few basic concepts.

See Clearly When the Clutter is Gone

If winter weather is keeping you home more than usual, you may find yourself looking around your house and mentally remodeling or repainting. Before you do anything drastic (and expensive), began with clearing the clutter in closets, cupboards and storage spaces.

Matching Pantone Colors to House Paint Colors – Is a Color Match as Good as Buying the Real Thing?

When color consulting clients look at paint color samples the most common question I get from them (after they choose their colors) is this: Do I have to buy “this” brand of paint to get the color I want, or can I buy something cheaper? The answer isn’t simple. There are at least 3 parts to how a latex house paint color looks: Base tint, pigment and sheen. House paint isn’t just white paint with colors added. Depending upon the color, the paint store selling the brand uses a particular (there can be several choices) tinted base color to which they then add measured amounts of their color pigments.

Choosing Room Colors

Creating a paint color scheme blending good color design with the architecture of your home is like putting together a 3-D puzzle. One part of that puzzle changes and everything changes. And change can be complicated. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by color, you’re not alone. Putting together entire interior design color schemes can be a lot to think about. But, mixing colors around your home gets a little simpler if you think about those color combinations as a master color plan.

Nature’s Lovers are Colors – Purple and Green Together

Landscape artists often refer to the color combination of violet/purple and green as “Nature’s Lovers”. Not only do purple and green look good together on an artist’s canvas, they can look amazing together in your home. From soft gray violet to deep amethyst purples, painting your walls your favorite shade of purple will go with more colors than you might think.

Blanca, a New Meaning for the Color White

Mother Nature was giving us a lesson in whites along with a reminder that the borders we humans put around our cities, states, territories and countries are invisible to her. During those moments I spent looking at the subtly colored layers of white snow, white became my new “green”.

Color and Design Concepts: The Balance of Repetition and Variation (and a Snake)

Good design snakes our attention. Interesting design of all types, including home interior design is about moving the eye, mind and body throughout the work. Whether that work is architectural, a photograph, painting or product, when the viewer is engaged, the work is a success. That doesn’t mean that good design appeals equally to everyone. That’s not possible. Despite that, there are general concepts or tools that designers and artists of all types use. One of those tools is the balance of design repetition to variation.

Lighting and Your Eyesight – Tips and Sources

Light reflected from a surface into our eyes (then sorted out by our brain) is what we perceive as color. Without the proper indoor light fixtures and lighting design, color perception is compromised. Here are some tips and links to get you started on your home lighting design plan

Improving Interior Lighting Might Save You a New Pair of Glasses

Brightening your home can brighten your life. In fact, improved lighting can even save you a trip to the eye-doctor. The shorter days of winter require brighter interior lighting to ward off tired eyes and if you’re over 30, you may need to amp up the light in your home just to do the same tasks you did when you were younger.

Even though you’ve gotten a bit older, it’s not necessarily true that you need stronger glasses (though a doctor has the last word). Sometimes, the lighting in your home is the problem.

Designing in Pairs – What to Do When You and Your Loved Ones Fight About Paint Colors

Don’t fall into the trap of first choosing paint and decor colors for both of you and then bring the paint color choices to him for his approval – you’ll only end up in a power struggle. Giving the partner who doesn’t do any of the work veto power over the other’s color choices is a sure-fire way to get into another fight or end in a frustrating standstill.

Best Ever You Paint and Color Expert

Best Ever You magazine has invited Cristina Acosta to be their Paint and Color Expert. The editor, Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino along with her team has put together an anomaly in the current publishing business climate; a successful and growing magazine. Kudos to the staff at Best Ever You!

Why do Americans Have a Fascination with White Ceilings?

Painting your ceiling white is not necessary or even always a good idea. White paint will not always make your room look larger, cleaner and more fashionable. Sometimes it will, but sometimes it’s a big mistake. Mostly, people paint their ceilings white because they don’t know what else to do. I’m not exactly sure when white ceilings became the fashion, though I suspect the country’s fascination with white paint began in 1893 at the Chicago World’s Fair. The famed White City made of white stucco and brightly lit with the new-fangled street lights must have been an entrancing alternative to the dark countryside and dimly lit city streets filled with dark tenement buildings.

keep looking »

  • Color Consulting Portfolio Slideshow – Hire Cristina as Your Color Specialist

  • Categories