It's a good idea, although there is a forum called 'Paint'.
I have linked it below. Maybe folks could direct their paint color questions there?

Here is a link that might be useful: Paint Forum

In principle , it's a good idea. But I think color and paint colors are an integral part of decorating so a new forum would crossover on topics. This forum is well liked and known, I think a new one would not take off.

There is a paint forum, for everything concerning paint, which includes color.
I never go there so I don't know how busy it is.

You can contact IVillage with your suggestion, at the bottom of the main page,
contact us.

This idea has been thrown about before. iVillage moves like a glacier though. I don't think there's any real interest. There are other places where one can talk about color and nothing else.

If you are thinking of a place to post pics of colors, there are a number of threads in the gallery related to certain colors, ie greens, golds, reds, etc.

Amy, can you tell me where those places are? Hopefully not the HGTV forum. There is a very helpful person there named Casey, but there is very little traffic there, and lots of times you get no or little response to your posts.

I would like to see GardenWeb host the photos of the Decorating Gallery forum. Photos from older threads in the Gallery sometimes don't show up because people close out or over-use their photo hosting sites or move the photos.

I think the Paint forum is best used as a technical board - a "how to" rather than a "what color" forum.

I've been wanting to suggest that all the paint color questions go to the Paint Forum for some time now myself. I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend, but when I come to the "Home Decorating Forum" I don't want to have to read through the subjects of "help me with choosing a paint color for my walls" to get to the ones about home decor. I'm sure many just didn't know there was a Paint Forum. I guess if there weren't so many threads about paint it wouldn't bother me at all since we do have loads of talented ladies and gents filled with oodles of information the frequent the "Home Decorating Forum".

And yes, paint has a lot to do with home decor, but there is a forum just for that were those that know all the names, tone, shades, hue, lighting affecting color and all that info hang out. Maybe it's not as busy as it is here, but it is there. If you aren't getting any help there then post a link here in a thread about the rest of your room. Like maybe....."Any one wanting to help with the paint color for this room please check out my thread on the Paint Forum linked below. Thanks!"

Justgottabeme, I have found that whenever someone asks a paint color question in the Paint forum, the people over there always direct them to the Home Decorating forum. The Paint forum seems to be a techical "how-to" forum more than a discussion forum. That's why I think there should be just a "Color" forum. That way all color related stuff could be centralized in one place, and the people wanting to read about decorating wouldn't have to wade through the wall color posts and vice versa.

The home dec forum moves so slow that I don't see the harm. I wish we had more questions/posts. Actually, I love the paint questions here. I don't want to have to go to many different forums to get my decorating fix.

Long, long ago in a land far away............

......there USED to be very active forums at Better Homes and Gardens, one Decorating, one Color. Many of us here and on another long time decorating board 'met' there and entered the internet decorating world on those forums. At that time, posting pics required HTML knowledge and much was lost in translation for those who couldn't get the hang of it. But what would often happen was the same person would ask some Color questions then some Decorating questions and the members would run back and forth between boards to respond to both - often it was just easier to address it as a whole package.

I'm not sure they are subjects that should be separate.

Right or wrong, paint is where I START my home decor. I like having all the paint and color questions and photos here. It seems logical to me.

I see the 'what color' questions to be a HUGE part of decorating for so many on this board. I don't go to the paint forum because it is a little more technical. HGTV board has a colors forum, but it is a lot like the 'what color' questions in home dec. Almost an offshoot of the decorating forum.

Jock, that is the board I was thinking of. Casey is here, too -- Sombreuil Mongrel, I believe.

I personally prefer this board because I like the mix of themes. Yes, color is my first love, but I find an entire board with nothing but "What color should I...?" questions to be pretty boring. I learn so much about so many things here, all of which inform my thinking about color.

DLM's comments about the jumping back and forth really makes sense, too. We do a tiny bit of that here, between Home Dec and Kitchens for instance, and it can be awkward.

I also think that over time, we "get to know" a person's style by looking at their threads about things other than color and that may help with their color questions.

Themes come and go in waves. There are times when I feel like all I see here is Craigslist posts. I am sure the color questions feel overwhelming at times. But, because I am on the lookout for color threads, I can tell you that we get dry spells, too.

Amy, the Casey31652 on the HGTV boards is a woman, and the Casey that you mentioned above is a man. :-)

Oh, that's pretty funny! Thanks for clearing that up. When I started to see SM sign as Casey, I just put the two names together and made an assumption! I don't hang on the other board at all, so I don't have a sense of her posting style.

Paint color and decorating go hand in hand, why change something that works for the majority?

Justgottabeme, I have found that whenever someone asks a paint color question in the Paint forum, the people over there always direct them to the Home Decorating forum.

Indeed they do. Probably because the Paint Forum can move slowly and they are trying to be helpful in directing unknowing members to the forum with more traffic. Still, it does defeat the purpose of having separate forums -- not sure there is an answer or a solution that would make everyone happy to be honest. And as lukkiirish says, paint & color on Home Dec seems to work for the majority.

As far as interest in color as a topic, there is interest. Off line from the forums, there is an active underground network of private messages and emails that fly back and forth - mostly in spurts and stops.

Believe it or not, when color topics are posted here, folks are hesistent to post back with follow-up questions or comments. That happens for several reasons:

 Sometimes they feel like their questions are dumb and everyone else knows the answer but them.
 Sometimes it's because they want a direct back and forth without noise of other thoughts in between because they are trying to fully understand and need to focus without interruption.
 Sometimes the color threads take wild turns and the train of color thought they want to discuss in more detail is at the top of the thread and going back to it doesn't flow with the way the new direction the thread is taking.
 Or, similarly, someone will see some detail in a color thread that they want to discuss in depth, but feel it's too off topic. If they interject, then someone will zing 'em for going off topic or hijacking.

Color can be a touchy subject to discuss on public forums and it might be a little more complicated than people realize.

Other resources for color information do exist, but it's not really discussion formats. Design blogs, for example. Many of them are actually elaborate advertisements for the blogger -- that's why they put the time and effort into the blog. It is difficult to make money *off* a blog but that's not the objective in most cases any way. The objective is to build a fan base of people who will leave comments of admiration and awe that will then, hopefully, motivate people to hire and pay them. The intent behind some color blogs is not to be public service format where people are asked to show up and chat about their color dilemmas and deepest color thoughts -- "discussion" really is not welcomed. You're there on the blog to read about one color point of view and one color point of view only -- take it or leave it.

If GW had a comprehensive search feature that worked, it would help a lot because no matter what forum you were on, kitchen, paint, home dec, you could search for color related topics and see what everyone is talking about across the entire forum. But. They don't.

funcolors wrote:
Color can be a touchy subject to discuss on public forums and it might be a little more complicated than people realize.
That is exactly why I feel there should be a special forum just for color. I thought that's what the paint forum was for. I didn't realize that it was more about technical information. Since I've not visited it, my guess is that means it's more about how to than what color? That's a shame since to me those two go more hand in hand. But that's just me.

Not that color isn't important, it's very important, but when you get to the point of naming certain paint colors, that's more technical in my opinion. Especially online where colors can be different from one monitor to the other. Even if the picture is taken in bad lighting or with the wrong setting the view all will see can be way off track. Their "perfect" suggestion could be awful in real life. Plus there are too many brands and colors out there that may not be available to everyone where they live. I always pick up hands full of chips each place I go that sells paint so when I do need paint and I can get out my chips and check them against whatever I want to match at different times of the day. If that doesn't work then why not do a color match from fabric or something they're using in their room? I believe they can go up or down a few shades too, can't they?

To me, painting a room goes along with decorating, so I like having both on this site. I feel like it's easy to just skip over the posts that don't interest me.

Laurie

Of all things decor I'm another one that gravitates straight to color. I'm also in the camp that color plays an important role in the grand scheme of decorating. We theoretically could have a different "Color" forum, but inevitably the questions would arise "what color is your [insert decor item here; bedding, upholstered furniture, tile, window treatments, etc. ]. By brining other relevant decor items into the Color only question, it would bring many strictly Color posts full circle, right back to a Home Dec type post.

Just my humble musings on another cold Saturday morning. ;)

As the original poster, I did not mean to ruffle anyone's feathers. I am simply a color junkie, and I wanted to find a way to get even more color discussion going. I could sit for hours and look at pictures of people's wall colors and discuss the intricacies of different manufacturer's palettes, etc. As sad as it is, I am getting to the point where I can almost name paint colors on people's walls and get the exact color at least 50% of the time. I love reading "funcolors" posts which are so amazing and informative. I need help!!!

I didn't realize that it was more about technical information.

It's really not. It's just as flexible and open to all kinds of paint and color posts as the Home Dec forum. I don't think it's ever suggested to any poster to post on the Home Dec forum for any other reason than to get more input -- it's not like "you shouldn't be posting your 'what color' question here on the Paint Forum so go away so we can talk about the best paint brush".

I don't think anyone's feathers got ruffled, JW. :) The topic comes up every now and then and it's good to let people know what's currently available and how the forums seem to be flowing at the moment.

I wanted to find a way to get even more color discussion going.

I think there are a lot of people who would like to discuss more aspects of color - from the indubitable to the metaphysical and everything in between.

Unfortunately, color discussions can only go so far here on this forum as well as the Paint Forum. There's a reason for that. I won't go into it, but it's why so many discussions about paint and color fracture off the forum and are continued offline.

I like the "color" posts. It's decorating, too--doesn't it all begin with color anyway? If someone isn't into that kind of post, it's simple--don't open the thread. However, I wouldn't mind an additional "color / paint forum", but how many of you whose opinions we respect will actually take the time to switch to another forum when we're finished browsing here?

When we were finishing our basement 3 years ago, I learned HOW to paint from the Paint Forum, but discussed colors here (and on the HGTV forum where Casey was helpful). We're starting a new house, and I WILL have some "color" questions and don't know where else to ask except for you people with your lovely homes for ideas/thoughts, etc!

I'm sorry that my future color posts will irk somebody, but just don't read it--ya know? On the kitchen forum, I don't open most of the discussions that I know nothing about (like, "tell me about such-and-such steam oven for my new kitchen" or whatever). Doesn't bother me that it's there when maybe it'd best be answered in the Appliance forum.

Just my .02

Fun, I'm geniunely interested---

what do you mean by this statement: "Unfortunately, color discussions can only go so far here on this forum as well as the Paint Forum. There's a reason for that. I won't go into it, but it's why so many discussions about paint and color fracture off the forum and are continued offline"

I would love to be privy to MORE of your knowledge!!! I would love to just sit with you and talk about colors all day, in fact!

Hey, I think that a "colors" sub-category could be added to this or the paint forum, like "gallery" & "conversations" Right?
But you're right about the laissez-faire management here; the lighting forum still sez "New!" and it's been around for like 2 yrs.
Casey, the helpful(?) guy.

Moving discussions on paint color away from the Home Decorating forum would be like removing discussions on shoes from a fashion forum. Home decorating includes paint, fashion includes shoes.

The Paint forum is much like the Furniture forum. The threads are more technical in nature.

I am one of the people on the Paint forum who replies to people who want color help, suggesting a cross-post to the Decorating Forum. I try to include a phrase like "in addition to responses received here."

"It's more than just picking the color. Find out how to achieve a professional look and discuss everything from choosing the correct paint, stripping, prepping as well as tools and techniques."

This is the quote from the top of the Paint forum. Kind of self-expanatory, if you ask me.

Like graywings, I've shooed posters over here when they've asked color questions. I stopped doing it after that practice was criticised. There's a post from Feb 7, asking about Relaxed Khaki (pretty popular color), that hasn't recieved one response.

I'm voting for color ?s on HomeDec. :)

what do you mean by this statement:

I've been funcolors for over six years and have been extraordinarily transparent and straight-up from day one --- there are no secrets, nothing special to be privy to. It's pretty simple. Respectful, vivacious, intelligent debate and you can count me in. When the debate degrades to a point where professional decorum goes down the toilet or all CAPS are used in ANGRY DIATRIBES OF CYBER SHOUTING, I'm out. Using caps for more than one or two words is the same as yelling at people in person and it is poor form. If one has to shout in order to make a point, then they obviously don't have anything to say that's worth the slightest acknowledgment.

If someone is interested in what I have to say about a paint or color thread that's been tainted by a lack of online manners, then they are usually smart enough to figure out how and where to find me.

Well it seems that we have some confusion here. I've read in this thread that the paint forum is more technical so it sends folks here and also that they don't send folks here. Since I don't visit the pf I've no clue who's right, but as long as those who visit the Garden Web are getting the help they need, then I guess it's all good. That's what the forum is all about really.
I do want to add that I hope I didn't sound overly upset about the paint posts. It's mainly that my eye aren't the best when scanning through all the subjects. I've trouble focusing, always have had, but with all that comes with older eyes it bothers me even more lately.
I know we discuss all sorts of things here that have their own forums, but also deal with decorating. I visit a couple other forums, but this is my favorite and it's certainly the liveliest of them. Considering most of us decorate/re-decorate a room at a time, it's not like paint is the only concern, so I have to agree, it really does make more sense to keep them here if that's where the OP feels most comfortable.
And that's all folks.

Fun,

Please don't take any offense, none intended. I just don't want to miss out on any of your knowledge. I guess you're saying sometimes the threads get heated? I've haven't seen much of that on GW, except for a couple of the "full spectrum" threads over on the Paint forum.

I usually only poke my head into the much-newer Paint forum when I'm actually painting and want some advice on trim painting or brands for good coverage on cabinets or which brush to buy. That's because the majority of the threads there deal with these subjects. I've been 'guilty' quite often of suggesting that the Home Decorating forum might get more attention for someone that is trying to find the perfect blue-green or dark red or whatever. I do that because I hate to see someone discouraged with few responses when there's a more active forum and a lot of interested posters.
DLM2000 is right about the old "Color" forum at BHG. It was much like what I thought "Paint" was going to be over here when several kept urging GW to start a "Paint" forum. Color was busy, fun, exciting, and sent all of us to the paint stores to get fandecks and chips. A little later, when a few people started a board where they could post photos, it got to be even more popular. You could go to the other board and actually 'see' the color being discussed painted on someone's walls. So cool. By contrast, "Decorating" was not quite as active and had a lot of anonymous posters trying to put down other's ideas and styles. It should have been great like Home Decorating is here, but it was more of a crap shoot--sometimes interesting and helpful, sometimes just full of mean trolls.

I would certainly try out a Color forum here if one got started. But I am of the camp that thinks the two subjects belong together and don't see any particular reason to split this board into two pieces. I scan down the threads looking for paint posts and drape posts and craigslist post and don't mind skimming past all the stuff that doesn't really interest me. It doesn't seem too hard to do...

If any really wanted to have a board for paint choices, they could just start posting their questions and comments on "Paint" since that's why it got started in the first place.

Red

Heated? Yeah kind of.

What's the saying, no one can offend you unless you let them? I don't take offense easily, I'm a sturdy girl. No worries, JW. The old full spectrum threads are mild compared to what has been deleted from the forum over the years -- trust me. What's funny is I'd change very little in those older threads - I don't regret any of it.

Paint and color threads can turn toxic rather quickly. When it happens, threads end abruptly. Occasionally they will continue off line -- as I said before it goes in spurts and stops.

There is also a tribe of lurkers here who have never posted on the forum and never will. Many have gmail and hotmail type of email addresses. I've known some for years and I still have no clue who they really are. I suspect from how and what they write that many are professionals in one field or another tagged to color. I only know their generic email address. Fine with me.

The online community archetype is fragile and fascinating. It's not like blogosphere and social media where most of the 'conversation' is one-way -- and everyone is on their best behavior because social media is transparent. Even though I don't, people can still hide behind anonymity here. Online communities are no place for the faint of heart and unless you have at least a few people who hate you, I mean really hate everything you say and do, then you aren't doing enough or doing it right. If you're in it to be heard and bring change, you have to make big waves because real change doesn't come from ripples.

With the topic of paint and color, the surf can get rough. Can end up on a full throttle ride because everyone is an expert on their own color experiences and visual inputs. Some days the ride is a smooth one, some days it's not.

The forums might be better organized and easier to navigate if there was a separate Colors Forum but unless there's a moderator to move wayward threads to where they 'belong', I don't see how color threads would ever stay separate -- it would drift back into the model we have now. Sometimes color hits the paint forum some times it hits Home Dec. Whaddya gonna do but try to get along.