Exactly. I agree that if you are specifically trying to match something, they need to have the sample.

I honestly don't know how anyone can successfully choose a paint color based on photos. I think when it does work out, it has to be purely coincidental.

The only person I would use would be Maria Killam. I've read her blog long enough and seen the before and afters to believe she can do it. I plan to use her when it comes to redo/paint my kitchen.

Sheeisback - I keep coming across her posts when I search for paint colors, so I'm glad to know she has a good track record.

no, never tried one

i was reading a lot though(including Maria's blog which I kinda studied:) but not only)..that was helpful enough, to get the main ideas of how to approach it all-putting together materials, paint, etc

I can't say I was very calm when choosing..and narrowing..and sampling..and deciding..yet it did work in the end.

Went much faster when I painted master bath in the previous home (preparing it for sale)-first, tackling a smaller space, not coming up with a pallette for the whole house; second, everything was in place but paint-you have your clues; third, I was simply much more confident. no freaking out. Took minutes of choosing the color as opposed to days.

I guess people who do it for living also saw lots of tiles and stones and maybe even have some samples of them...they have more experience. IF you do something for years gets easier. Probably.

They don't know your light though, that's what I see as the main challenge..

They probably ask for several photos done in different times of the day, etc.

There was a pretty recent thread here asking about on line color consulting. I looked, but couldn't find it. There were a number of responses from posters who have used an on line color consultant successfully. Perhaps someone else will be able to locate this thread and link it for you.

I found it! It was in the Home Decorating CONVERSATIONS.

Online Color consult - do they work?

I used Amy Woolf, who has been a frequent poster on gardenweb (amysrq). She has done three rooms for me and I could not be more happy with the results. I was a bit skeptical about doing this online, but I did not like the local people I spoke with. She had me send multiple pictures of the rooms, the floor layout so she could see how things flowed, asked about exposure of the rooms and any other variables that would affect the light. We had extensive conversations about my color likes/dislikes, and the look I was going for.

She did not "tell me" exactly what color to use. We discussed color families and she sent me several large samples that I could evaluate in my rooms, with my light, with existing rugs and furniture, etc. Once I received the samples, it was pretty easy for me to pick the ones that worked. But if I was having trouble, she would have been there to give me further guidance. She led me to choose color families in all three rooms that I would never have chosen on my own, and the results were amazing. The other benefit-- for three rooms I ended up buying exactly 4 sample pints total. Compared to the 6-8 per room I have bought in the past while trying to decide. So I'm a big fan.

BTW, I, personally, would never use Maria Killam. I don't like her taste, but to each his/her own. The good thing about online consultants is you can see their portfolios and decide whether their past work is to your liking.

sas I'd be very frank- personally wouldn't use Maria either)) I wouldn't click with her on almost anything really. And clicking is very important. but I still found many useful tips when reading..like, how to check materials together (in an order they'd be installed) etc.

I also read tons of other things on paint and colors..I was completely frantic about all that since the house was gutted..nothing to give you a clue(except for your house's' style, light, and personal preferences), you sorta build it yourself

was very interesting to read about your experience with Amy, sounds very cool and in-depth and how I imagined the process to be

FWIW, I don't care for Maria's taste either but I do think she knows what she's talking about with undertones and I like most of her finished work, though not my style, looks good and correct. I wouldn't hire her to decorate a full on room but I would for something specific like cabinet color or exterior paint.

bac717 - Thank you so much for finding the previous post!

Ok, I'll have to carefully look through Maria's portfolio to see if her taste vibes with mine. Thanks for the heads up on Amy, sas95.

I wouldn't want to rely on Maria or anyone for online color consulting.

I loved a quartz countertop I saw on line, so I ordered a sample. It was supposed to be muted greens with browns.

I opened it up, and promptly tossed it out. Looked like someone had just et colorful green peas and pumpkin... and had promptly regurgitated.

In person, or not at all. Maria gives a few good tips to consider on your own, but that's as far as it goes.

Well, I guess it was too much to hope for. I think I would be more open to trying it if I didn't need it to match my tile. I was hoping there was some way I wasn't think of that they could make it work.

I just reread DLM2000's comment on the other post and how Amy can tell what the color looks like next to one of the paint samples even if you're camera is off. Hmm, has me wondering again.

This is Twyla. She is amazing. http://colorviewconsulting.com/

When I was doing consultations full time, I did the same prep for online consultations as I did for onsite. Had to get most of the work done in advance because it's too much to do at appointment time. There's a max of 2 hrs on site and about 1 hr on line. At the 1 or 2 hr mark you start losing people because it's a lot of work. Even tho I managed the overwhelm and got all chaos under control before hand, there's still a lot of work to do. If I didn't do prep in advance, then I'd use up too much time assessing the scope of work, going over where they've been, what they've tried, and where they want to go. In other words, with every client there's a mental bandwidth budget and I had to spend our time together wisely.

Appointment time had to be about ideation and actionable items and it didn't matter if I was physically in your kitchen or if you were in your kitchen online Skyping with me.

Your smartphone, monitor, laptop, tablet, all use a VERY small color space called sRGB to display colors. What that means is the number of colors a device is physically able to display is a SUPER tiny fraction of the number of colors we can see in real life.

Therefore, when people claim that they are able to see "undertones", extraordinary color details and nuances, it is pure hyperbole. Fact of the matter is, it is impossible for average devices to display a wide gamut of color. A wide range of colors, alleged undertones, and detailed color aspects are just not there see.

They’re not there for ANYBODY to see – experienced designer, gifted eye, trained eye, or whatever.

Photos are good for getting a sense of light/dark value balance in a space, contents in the room, volume of space, and fenestration.

When you use spectral data like Twyla does, you look at the room, light, and contents from a different perspective. Every space will offer up clues about the quality of light you have to work with. Because it's color DNA, the process for interpreting those clues is the same whether you're on site or working virtually -- the process, the system for developing custom color strategies is the same.

Ultimately, the final color decisions have to be made by the homeowner. If I did my job defining and explaining the best options, then I didn't need to be standing in the same room in order for them to make them.

Hope that helps.

Thanks, Lori. Are you not still doing consultations? I can understand how the darkness and lightness can be interpreted in pictures, but I still don't understand how a color can be determined. If I take a picture of something I see as a warm tone, but my camera or monitor shows it as cool, how does the consultant figure out the exact color? I currently have BM Lenox Tan on my walls, so would she be able to figure out the color of my floors, because she is familiar with what Lenox Tan looks like and she can make the mental or visual adjustments?

On a 2nd note, is there a website where I can find the Hue/Chroma for BM or SW paints? I checked the Land of Color, but only saw Affinity ones listed.

I can understand how the darkness and lightness can be interpreted in pictures, but I still don't understand how a color can be determined.

It can't.

Because the devices used to capture and display the images are only capable of displaying a fraction of the colors we see IRL. To make matters worse, there's the issue of how well the camera used is able to capture color and how well the receiving device is calibrated; the receiving device might not even display the colors it can display very well.

If I take a picture of something I see as a warm tone, but my camera or monitor shows it as cool, how does the consultant figure out the exact color?

They can't.

And if they believe it is possible, then that's an indication they do not understand how color works at the most basic level and you should choose to work with someone else.

I currently have BM Lenox Tan on my walls, so would she be able to figure out the color of my floors, because she is familiar with what Lenox Tan looks like and she can make the mental or visual adjustments?

Just from a picture online - nope. But if you said you have Lenox Tan on the walls and at certain times of the day it looks greenish, then that's a big clue about the inherent light you have to work with. At which point Lenox Tan's hue family, value and chroma (color DNA) is a big clue and it becomes a benchmark to use in developing a color strategy that works.

On a 2nd note, is there a website where I can find the Hue/Chroma for BM or SW paints? I checked the Land of Color, but only saw Affinity ones listed.

That's correct. I only have notations for BenM Affinity collection and Off-White collection up at The LoC.

There is not a website where you can find color notations for BM and SW. Absolutely, positively do not use that encyclocoloropedia (or whatever it is) website because it's crap data. On the other hand, Dunn-Edwards does a great job sharing notations. To see what I mean Google "Dunn Edwards White LRV". We can only hope that some day soon other brands will follow their lead.

I do have hue, value, chroma, LRV for every brand, every color. I'll help you with notations for whatever colors you want. Make a new post over on the Paint forum. I pop in there almost daily, I'm not over here very often.

I'm not doing any more consultations this year. Maybe after the first of the year I'll jump back in. Haven't decided.

One more thing, I would believe a color consultant who claimed to have a gift of intuition, a knack for reading people and spaces from afar, and a highly developed color sense before I believed one that said they can assess color and light exclusively from a picture on their laptop or phone. . . . just saying.