I had a question from a client the other day stating that she “heard” you should never mix pink and yellow together, specifically when talking about the fixed elements in the home such as tile, carpet, upholstery, etc….. She asked why that would that be so terrible when you see pinks and yellows in nature ALL THE TIME and it looks beautiful!
I couldn’t agree more! When you have a “clean”, true pink matched with an equally clean, pure yellow, the marriage is a thing of beauty! Mother Nature knows what she’s doing. We, on the other hand, need some help.
Here’s the deal: The problems arise when you ALTER the pink to a PINK BEIGE and pair it with a YELLOW BEIGE. That’s when it can get ugly quick! Note: There are many, many, did I say MANY “beige” tiles, carpets, textiles & flooring out there that have PINK undertones. The tile you are looking at may LOOK yellow & creamy on the display board at your local design center or on your computer screen, but you need to bring it home (or order a sample) and COMPARE it against your other fixed elements prior to committing the relationship! Hopefully that tile you pick will be a lovely compliment, but with so many sneaky pink beige undertones out there you won’t see the pink come out until you compare and compare some more! If you simply “hope”, or assure yourself that “it will be fine”. You may pay dearly in the end $$$.
Case in point: I had a client with a yellow beige Travertine countertop who wanted to compliment it with a tumbled Travertine 3X6 tile back splash. She ordered a sample from Wayfair, and when it came it, she called & said it was PERFECT! It was just the color and texture she wanted. I then instructed her to put it up next to her existing Travertine countertop. It wasn’t until she COMPARED the 2 together that the pink undertone on the back splash sample revealed itself in all of its’ pinkish hue!
Had she simply ordered this back splash tile without comparing and then had it installed, she would have been one unhappy camper. Like they say…..“ugly costs just as much as pretty”. I say ugly costs MORE because you have to rip out the ugly and buy again, or at least, put your project on hold until you get the right undertone nailed down.
Same holds true when choosing carpet, sofas, textiles and flooring! For instance, say you go to a carpet outlet, you pick out a safe, “neutral beige” carpet for your dining room. You then have it installed only to find out it had undertones of pink beige & it now looks DIRTY next to your yellow toned trim and cabinetry in the adjacent kitchen! Ouch, expensive mistake right? Remember the pink flooring tiles from the ’80’s? The ’90’s came along as did the “Tuscan” era, so that ’80’s pink tile gal got married to the yellow Travertine Tuscan boy and it got ugly fast! See below. You then start down the slippery slope of trying to make your “dirty & ugly” look better next to your new “clean & bright”.
So, just like when you were dating prior to marriage, I implore you to COMPARE, COMPARE & COMPARE before you commit to that happily-ever-after marriage! Don’t go for the tile on the first date! Go armed into your local design or home centers with samples under your arm, swatches of fabric & paint in your bag, and save yourself a lot of time and money by COMPARING prior to purchase. Or better yet? Hire a professional color design consultant at http://www.colorchoiceconsulting.com or contact me direct at 406-570-5333 for your on-site color design consultation and color with confidence!
COLOR CHOICE CONSULTING 