Sunday, November 14, 2010

Naming a Paint Colour-and putting the U back in it.

I have decided that spell check is just bossing me around too much, and I am putting the U back in colour.

A while back, I had a design job for some people that had this very unusual house.  I picked up some sample paints for them, and very badly wanted them to use this paint colour called Pigeon.
They were hesitant because they wanted a dark, man suit type gray, something I felt was much to harsh for the space.  They ended up using their paint colour choice and it did work quite well, however I have had this little pot of paint lying around now for a bit, and I am itching to use it somewhere in the house.

I have a weird thing where I can't use paint if I hate the name of it, so even the name of this one is good for me.  It has a very clever greenish under tone, very like that silvery greenish flash you get from a pigeon in the sunlight...hence the name. 
I was wondering if anyone else is influenced by the name of a colour.?
It must be an interesting job to be a Colour namer.  Think of how many you would have to come up with and where your inspiration would have to come from.  I would imagine that everywhere you go and everything you see becomes and influence and inspiration.  Take food.
Creme caramel, biscotti, rice pudding......all sound good.....there would be so many no no's......ham bone, cottage cheese or sirloin.  You just couldn't do it. 

Have you ever though of a good name for a paint colour.? What is the name of your favourite paint colour?


12 comments:

  1. There's a Benjamin Moore Paint coloUr called Marilyn's Dress that I dearly wanted to paint our living room in (two houses back). Unfortunately couldn't convince Brilliant Husband. Loved that name.

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  2. Hi Chania,

    I have to confess, I am so cheap I only buy the "Oops Paint" at Home Depot. It's five dollars a gallon so I can't resist. Don't pay much attention to the name though.

    Kelly
    Second Hand Chicks

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  3. I adore the F&B paint called Elephant's Breath - LOVE it!
    Sharon

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  4. My dining room is called Tide Pools....from Behr...(before paint store)

    It is a serene as it's name.

    What about street names? There is a street around here called Buttertubs. I could never live on that street. We owned a house on Candy Lane.

    Now we live on CranberryAve....but buttertubs?

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  5. I've just been looking through my Dulux Colour Guide Brochure. The colour names read like poetry - 'Dusted Damson' 'Lemon Tropics' 'Blue Reflection' 'Coffee Liqueur' etc so someone has obviously done a marketing exercise there! I think the name does influence me to a certain extent as long as the shade is right! I don't think I could buy a paint if it was called 'Tapioca' or 'Watery Cabbage'! It must be all to do with word association!

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  6. Glad you're putting the u back in colour! I use the u in every word I can.

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  7. hahah I just posted about my mistake of yellow in my family room. Want to know why? I was seduced by "Goat's Beard" by Martha....

    oy vey!

    xx

    z

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  8. Yayyyyyy Chania....THANK YOU for putting the 'U' back in C-O-L-O-U-R....That one drives me NUTS.... :o) !!!

    Can't say that I've ever been influenced by the name of a coloUr....I just line the sample cards up & if I haven't been able to pick one after 10 minutes I close my eyes, waves my hands around & take a stab....It's worked for the most part....hahahahaha....!

    Have a SPLENDID week Lovey....!

    Cheers from Oz,
    Tamarah :o)

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  9. You had me at U!! I'm definitely influenced by names. As someone that does alot of painting this happens to me regularly; I do keep myself in check to go with the colour not the colour that makes me feel I'm in the mediterranean sea. :)

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  10. Well, I've just gotten back from the movie theatRE and read your post. How much grief I received when I moved from Canada to US in 10th grade and had to learn to spell "correctly". On behalf of my teenage self thank you for the "U". There were all sorts of pronunciation issues as well, but why go there...

    I don't remember the name of the coloUr, but I painted my son's room when he was in Junior High (not Middle School as the Yanks call it) and he had picked out something that had a southwestern tinge to it. So we thought. We called it the "Salmon room" for years and some of my daughter's friends dared to call it "pink"! But he liked it and now that he has moved on to his adult life I have restored the room to "Antique White". Phew. P.S. I had to learn not to say "eh" too. Now I have been known to say "y'all". Ann

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  11. I love the name and color of Benjamin Moore's Sweet Dreams - a soft, light tiffany blue!

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  12. Hi Chania,
    I've been so very entertained by your blog and would love to visit your shop one day when I can make a trip across the GTA. Isn't it funny how a paint name can sway you, well that is if it really is a good name. I just used Boca Raton by BM on our back door and I don't know if dreams of an ocean side home somehow convinced me or if the colour truly just grew on me on it's own. I absolutely love it!

    Sandra

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I love to read each and every comment and are thrilled that you take the time to send one. Thank you so much. Chania