Ideal Color Consulting

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White Center, WA
Ideal Color Consulting

I offer color consulting services for interior and exterior paint and finishes. I'm based in Shoreline, Washington.

Have a look here for color-related inspiration and fun.

03/06/2026

Here is one of my most often featured botanical subjects--the smoke bush. With so many variations of foliage color, rounded leaves, and interesting veining, smoke bush (genus Cotinus) always has something to show me.

In this case, the off-white accent is delivered by the dried stems of a bedstraw (Galium aparine) plant. This is a common annual plant around here, with twining growth and a velcro-like power of stickiness. Its multitude of little round seeds also grab onto anyone passing by, and distribute themselves with annoying efficiency. It has a number of common names, reflecting its pervasive qualities. For all that it can be irksome, it added the perfect spark of contrast to my kaleidoscopic image.

03/04/2026

A deep thundercloud of greyed tones--plum, dark sea green, and slatey blue--shot through with sparking cream-color lightning.

This is something like the "dirty pastels" concept I covered a few weeks ago, only this time, we're going dark. We get more color (and personality) than a neutral grey, but more subdued than strong jewel tones. Properly balanced, it is the best of both worlds. Applied carelessly, it can just be dark and murky.

Some spaces and uses are well-suited to deep colors, where colors like these can be enveloping and elegant. With proper lighting, deep color walls can set off artworks and furnishings wonderfully.
Our cloudy coastal weather, however, can create a craving for more light, and pale or bright colors. Think carefully about your particular light needs before diving into this opulent concept.

02/11/2026

In case the cameo by the Space Needle didn’t give a strong enough hint, this is the International Fountain at Seattle Center.

This image combines two light-reflective materials—metal and water.

The domed fountain of brushed steel shimmers on this bright day, reflecting the cool blue of the sky, the warmer green-grey of the surrounding cement, and buttery sunshine. The brick paver accent brings rosy warmth. The diffractive water jets soften the edges, while popping in some bright white accents.

��Part of what interested me in this image is the combination of neutral tones.

Plenty of my clients are working to integrate a variety of existing finishes, which don’t always strictly “match”. It can be challenging to coordinate around a mis-matched grouping of different grays, or off-whites with different undertones. Tearing everything out and starting over is rarely an option. What can you do? ��I can help you look at what can be changed, what can be minimized, and what can be made cohesive with the right décor elements. Finding harmonious and achievable solutions is possible!

01/29/2026

This combination seems somehow shimmery and metallic: Sparking silver, moody pewter, bright platinum, a gleam of copper, and patina-touched bronze.
Although the colors viewed separately are all fairly muted, the contrasts between them create a sparkle.

01/07/2026

The powers of "negative space"...
Sometimes the parts left over after the "important" bits are removed prove the most interesting. The spaces let us see through to what's beyond in juxtapositions of the unexpected. The "blank" areas form spaces with their own aesthetic imprint, their own meaning.

I was setting up to play a new (and materially complicated) game. After punching out a myriad of beautifully printed cardboard game tokens, the remaining cardboard stock, with various colors of marginal ink and the rhythm of circles, was an irresistible subject for a kaleidoscopic image. The metallic and pastel-color paper left a peek through at the earthy, grainy wood of the table surface. My fellow players were very patient with me stopping to take photos of the detritus...my friends know me so well.

01/01/2026

A few color and style forecasters have been discussing a trend of muted pastel colors--that is, pale colors desaturated with a bit of gray or brown.
This past autumn, a New York Times article described the concept as "dirty pastels," an antidote to grey and white, but more "sophisticated" than "saccharine" pastels. Their examples were mostly mid-value rather than pale, and the designs featured one focal color at a time.
Pantone labels their version of this palette "Powdered Pastels," and describes them as "nuanced" and "understated."
Sherwin Williams, as part of their Color Anthology collections for 2026, includes a group of "Frosted Tints."

Some of us might be having flashbacks to childhood party outfits, or to country-blue-and-dusty-rose kitchens we have known. Don't let your preconceptions quash your creativity! With any color, fine tuning the saturation and value, as well as using unique combinations, can be a game changer.

12/11/2025

I admit it, I am a craft supply hoarder. Especially anything colorful.
I recently visited my favorite locally-owned small-business bead store, Beadworld.
I only needed to find a few specific metal findings. I managed to emerge only an hour or so later, with only a few items beyond my specific target.

One reason that beads are especially hard to resist--they come in so many colors! combinations and variations of colors; iridescent, translucent, pearlized, opaque, glossy, faceted, matte; the same bead in fifteen color variations or individually hand-formed one-offs.
It stimulates my appetite for creating beautiful things...or at least for hanging a hank of something wonderful in my window where I can look at it all the time.
The people who organize bead stores are typically people after my own heart--arranging the splendid surfeit in a matrix of color relationships.
I'm sharing this little slice of blue-green heaven with you today.

If you are a craft hoarder, I encourage you to excavate your stash and make something that will bring you joy. Or just run your fingers over your precious supplies and cackle.

12/10/2025

This row of small trees, crowded into a scant strip of soil between building and sidewalk, pruned fiercely, is a classic example of struggling urban plants.
Like many such examples, it is still giving its green, its oxygen, and a stubborn beauty. Even with its feathery leaves cut up out of reach, its bark shows rich color and dimensional texture.
I admit, I'm not sure of my identification on this plant. If any of my botany and horticulture friends want to make a suggestion, I'd love to hear it. I only know that I am struck with admiration for this determined living power.

$Tigerish. That's my first association with these bold striped patterns which work into fractally delicate detail. How ...$

11/19/2025

Tigerish.
That's my first association with these bold striped patterns which work into fractally delicate detail.
How can the recombinations of relatively simple pigments result in such majestic variety? Because mammals really have only black, white, and orangey-brown pigments to work with to create so many different pelts and patterns.

Mind you, I'm not saying that this is an animal image--it could be vegetable or mineral. Or some other kingdom of matter--fungi, protists, cosmic radiation--whatever you might imagine.

11/17/2025

We had a decent crop of grapes this year (for us, that means a few bunches). The dry, sunny weather brought them to sweet, plump perfection.
They are much smaller and rounder than commercially-grown grapes, and they looked so pretty when we brought them in. The red-peach-gold variegation of the fruit, the velvety bloom, and color and texture of the stems adding a sparkling filigree. A feast for the senses!

11/13/2025

A bit of jeweled rose gold filigree...
An Art Deco interpretation of an ancient Egyptian broad collar...
A headdress for a slavic princess...

Autumn always excites my interest in the warm sections of the color spectrum, especially these hard-to-pin-down tones. Ruddy-coppery-gold. Hazy burgundy. Coral-terracotta-sunset-blush.
Glowing embers of imagination that reignite when I see trees full of startling, transforming leaves. They'll be banked again as our wet winter rolls in, and kept for next year.

Address

White Center, WA

Website

http://IdealColorConsulting.com/

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