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.

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.

When the Color Yellow isn’t Sunny

One of the unexpected changes that can happen to the aging eye includes the color yellow. For some people the lens of the eye becomes increasingly dense and more yellow with age. With that change, contrast sensitivity declines and dark colors can be difficult to distinguish from each other.
The yellowing effect may not be affecting you personally, but if you are a retailer or manufacturer selling products, how your products are being perceived by the older customer with this condition affects your sales.

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.

Seeing Color Through the Eyes of Neuroscience

Visualize “fire engine red” and the color red rushes to mind with or without a vision of the wheels. Seeing color is such a natural condition that we often don’t question why we see colors and we presume that everybody sees the same colors. Though most of us do see the same colors, some people can’t.

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”.

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.

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  • Pittsburgh Paint Voice of Color Featured Designer

    CP_tiny-Portrait1 Pittsburgh Paint's, Voice of Color program, invited me to be a featured designer. Thanks VOC! This isn't a paid position, so I still specify paint colors using all of the big national brands. Voice of Color logo
  • Featured Color and Paint Expert for Best Ever You Magazine

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  • Cristina Acosta is a member of the Board of Visitors for the University of Oregon college of Architecture and Allied Arts

    University of Oregon Architecture and Allied Arts Foundation
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