If you’ve been looking for ways to boost your sales of interior paint, take a long, hard look at your color display. According to consumer psychologists and paint industry insiders, color — yes, color — has the potential to be the most powerful weapon in your selling arsenal.Think about your own experience and you’ll understand how often color enters into a purchasing decision.

The truth is, color is an important driver of purchasing behavior. In fact, studies have shown that 60% of all buying decisions are based on color alone.

So, don’t view the color display as simply another fixture in your store.If you know how to make it work for you, it can be your most valuable ally in making paint sales…and in boosting purchases to a higher ticket value.

Understanding the Power of Color
What is it about color that is so influential? Part of the answer is found deep in our psyches, because much of our color preference is emotional.

As with most things that have emotional content, our response to color is the product of many factors, some of which are learned and others, intuitive. In the former category are our own past experiences, which can have a strong bearing on color preferences. Likewise, we are influenced by the likes and dislikes of our peers, by regional attitudes, and
by current trends and styles.

Color “intuition,” on the other hand, varies with sex, age, even educational level. And beyond those general factors are the intensely personal reactions that every individual has to certain colors, be they positive or negative.

Psychological Responses to Color
While it isn’t possible to know everything about an individual’s preferences when he or she walks into your store, a working knowledge of the psychology
of color can be useful in making recommendations that will appeal to most of your customers.

Color psychology is a research-oriented science that analyzes the way people react to various colors. Years of testing have shown that certain colors tend to evoke specific — and often, strong — responses.

According to color psychology, colors can be generally characterized as either “warm” or “cool.” This distinction is important, because warm colors work
better in some rooms and settings, and cool colors work better in others.

The red, orange and yellow color families are regarded as “warm” because they are reminiscent of warm or hot things, like a flame or bright sunshine. Consequently, they make us feel warm in a psychological sense. Here are some specifics:

RED is a particularly powerful color. In fact, it has a physiological impact on most people, actually increasing blood pressure and heart rate. Red produces feelings of intimacy and energy, passion and sexuality. It also tends to stimulate appetite, which explains why it is used so often in restaurants and why it may be a good choice for a formal dining room.

ORANGE affects people in a slightly different way. While it also lends a feeling of warmth to a room, the warmth is not so much passionate as it is friendly and welcoming. As a result, oranges work well in living rooms and family rooms; certain oranges are also good choices for children’s rooms.Like orange, yellow is warm and welcoming, but it is the most visible, attention-getting color.

Consequently, YELLOW can be a good choice for poorly lit foyers or dark hallways. Elderly people who live in yellow rooms report that they feel happier than those who are surrounded by other colors. However, bright yellow can have an agitating affect, which may produce anxiety in older people, infants or the very young.

A “cool” color palette would include such colors as blue, green and violet, and their intermediates. These colors are regarded as cool because we respond to them much as we do to a pastoral landscape or an ocean view — with a sense of peace, calm and relaxation.

BLUE makes us feel calm and tranquil, so it is an ideal choice for use in the bedrooms of both adults and children. On the other hand, blue works as an appetite suppressant (perhaps because there are very few naturally blue foods), so it may not be the best option for a dining room.

GREEN is psychologically relaxing and easy on the eye. It is nature’s dominant color and perhaps the most versatile color for interior paint. Light greens are ideal for bedrooms and living rooms; mid-tones are good for kitchens and dining rooms (think of the many green foods). Because they are calming, greens are also often used in hospitals, workplaces and schools.

VIOLET is one of the trickier colors, psychologically speaking. Many adults dislike purples, for example, while they may be drawn to certain colors in the rose family. Most young children, on the other hand, respond favorably to violet, so this color can be used successfully in children’s bedrooms and play areas.

This monochromatic living room (left) becomes more warm and welcoming when a peach wall color is introduced (right).

Dimensional “Magic”
Psychological response is just one manifestation of the power of color. Another is the ability of color to almost magically alter the perceived dimensions of a room or living space. More often than not, customers will complain about a room or space being too small, rather than too large. It’s a problem that can often be successfully addressed with color.

To make a room seem larger, your customers should use a light color and consider a monochromatic color scheme. Using light hues from one color family (several light tints of green, for example) will create an optical illusion of sorts, and visually expand a room.

Likewise, if a ceiling is too low, suggest that your customer paint it a bright white. This will tend to “raise” the ceiling by making the room feel less confining. Or, steal a trick from the clothingindustry by suggesting that walls be painted with vertical stripes to give a feeling of greater height. Striped walls can be especially pleasant and playful in a child’s room.

Sometimes, the opposite problem exists: a room or space is too big. Here, again, paint can help solve the problem. Applying dark wall and ceiling paint will make the space look smaller, and “lower” the ceiling.

If the color change alone won’t sufficiently “shrink” the space, suggest that the customer create horizontal “visual breaks” in the wall surface. This can be done in several ways: by painting the upper half of the wall one color and the bottom another, and perhaps adding a chair rail between them; or by creating a “paneled” effect by adding squares of molding, and painting the area inside the squares in a different shade than the wall color.

1	Suggest that customers bring to the store fabric swatches, accent pieces and other “prompts” when selecting paint colors.
2	Invite customers to take paint color samples home, so they can see the colors in the light where they will be used.
3	If the customer is still undecided, suggest that he or she purchase a small amount of paint, apply it to a piece of wallboard and view this larger sample where the color will be used.
4	Advise customers to view each color in isolation, either by folding or cutting the samples apart.
5	To fully appreciate a color, have customers look at it when it is sunny and cloudy, and at night, under artificial lighting.
6	To properly evaluate colors, recommend that customers tape paint color samples to the surfaces where they will be used. (Colors will look different on a horizontal surface like a ceiling, compared to a vertical surface like a wall.)

Putting Theory into Practice
Once you’ve conquered the basics of color theory, you’ll be armed to better service all your customers…and to sell more paint. Ideally, you will feel comfortable getting into discussions with anyone who is involved in paint and color selection — contractors, designers, homeowners and do-it-yourselfers.

Here are some questions to ask:

A dialogue on these questions will enable you to offer customers your best professional advice.

Color Schemes
With customers who are only looking to select an attractive wall color, it will be simple enough to apply your knowledge of color theory. But many customers will want to enhance their rooms with a complete color scheme (a scheme is the use of three or more harmonious colors).

Naturally, it is more complicated to create a color scheme than to select a single paint color, but there is a silver (make that a gold) lining: You’ll sell a lot more paint to those looking for a complete color scheme.

The proper way to create a color scheme is to pick the “anchor” color first. This is the dominant color in the room, typically the wall color, upon which all other decorative aspects will hinge. Do your best to ensure that the anchor color is psychologically appropriate for the room.

If your customer is in doubt and asks for your advice, the safest course is to recommend a neutral anchor color — beige or off-white, for example.
The balance of the color scheme can be secondary or accent colors. The latter are often bold “punch” colors that match hues in upholstery, drapes, rugs or furnishings.

Postscript
When it comes to color, it is certainly true that “Knowledge is Power,” because the more you know about color, the more power you will have to satisfy the needs, wants and desires of your customers. And, in doing so, your sales of interior paints will surely increase. Check out our Design Center link (at left) or go directly to our Digital Color Wheel.

This article merely scratches the surface of what is a very far-reaching and fascinating subject. Hopefully, it will inspire you to learn more about the power of color as a decorating tool. There are many books on the subject, and many organizations that specialize in color theory and its implications for sales of all types of products, including paints.We encourage you to learn as much as you can about color…and to put the power of color to work in your store.

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