Color Consultant or Interior Designer: What Do I Need?
Choosing the right person for your design needs is crucial to achieving the best outcome to fit your budget. Fortunately, architectural color consultants and interior designers are distinct disciplines, but how do you decide which one is right for you?
Color consultants
It may not surprise you to learn that color consultants focus purely on the use of color in interiors and exteriors. They advise on anything from color palettes for paint and wall coverings to furnishings, artwork, tiles, and accessories. Anything, really, that contributes to an overall color scheme.
Their superpower is a deep understanding of color, its associations, and the psychological and physiological impact it has on our behavior and how we feel. They also have highly developed skills in reading light and shade. These color pros help you curate sophisticated color narratives that improve flow, atmosphere, and generate a cohesive look throughout. They also advise you on finishes, color placement, and paint brands.
Interior designers
By rethinking the bones of your space, interior designers address specific design challenges that ultimately elevate your experience, making life more seamless and beautiful. They help you plan, design, and create interiors from the ground up. Everything from structural changes to custom furniture. The process takes time, especially if you’re constructing, and they’ll likely project-manage other trades to ensure the project remains on track.
Color: Your home, your canvas
If you need help choosing the right paints for your home—avoiding costly mistakes—a color consultant is for you. As with interior design, it’s a highly collaborative, often emotional, process that relies heavily on getting to know you, how you live, what you love, and, of course, what colors you like and why.
Color consultants are perfect if you’re:
Overhauling your space, especially after a major life event (more about this here).
Moving into a new home and overwhelmed by sterile white walls.
Keen to explore paints that actively support a healthy living environment.
Interested in learning about how harmonious color promotes wellbeing.
Searching for art-quality pigments and finishes that deliver on performance.
Struggling to choose fabrics and furniture to style with confidence.
Key benefits: Working with a color consultant is often more affordable than hiring a full-service interior designer. The creative process and results are speedier, too. Also, the right colors can add value to your home, investment property, and rental by increasing market appeal.