Let's Talk (paint) Color

Tobi Saunders, owner of 1837 Color & Design, is a trained Architect and Color Consultant. At her company she specifies exterior color and materials for production builders around the county. Tobi shares her unique journey from architect to color strategist, specializing in production building communities. She reveals the complex process of creating cohesive color palettes for entire neighborhoods while balancing economics, regi...

When you think of Scandinavian design the look of a colorless winter day comes to mind - think pale grey, white and perhaps washed out blue.  But this is a modern-day invention. Dagny Thurmann-Moe, the founder of Koi Colour & Design Studio designs exteriors, interiors, products, and CMF strategies for brands seeking a stronger identity through color, materials, and finishes. Dagny is known for challenging the idea of “timeless”...

"Mexico is not beige!" is a defining quote from one of Mexico's hottest new designers. Maye Ruiz is an interior designer, creative director of Maye Estudio, and one of the designers selected for the AD100 México & Latin America list, which recognizes the most influential designers and architects in the region. Her work stands out for its bold exploration of color, materiality, and visual storytelling, creating sp...

If you've never walked into an interior which caused your jaw to drop then you haven't witnessed the overwhelming effect a built environment can have. There are few of these places extant and even fewer here in the United States. I'm lucky to live just a few miles from one - the hilltop home of the Hudson River School painter Frederic Church, Olana. Perched on a mountaintop overlooking the Hudson River, it's sit...

Imagine the tagline for a new paint company "Paint your walls with rock instead of plastic." If that doesn't pique your interest I don't know what would. Meet Maya Crowne and Price Latimer, the entrepreneurs who conceived of a safe, plastic free interior house paint made from natural materials with minerals for pigmentation. It's a fascinating story about two women who never dreamed they would become paint ...

Think about the skills needed to create a paint color which matches a cat's fur coat. Now think about those needed to  transform the look of a big city transit hub. That describes the color chops of Architectural Color Consultant, Eve Ashcraft. She came to NYC after attending RISD and with her unique color skills became the creator of Martha Stewart's original paint line as well as the color-guru of Moynihan Train Hall in...

What do Barbra Streisand, The LA Dodgers and Larry David have in common with one of America's most revered companies? Did you guess? They were all born in Brooklyn! In 1883 The Moore Brothers released their first coatings product and the paint world hasn't been the same since.  Benjamin Moore's products and colors are perceived as the pinnacle of good taste and quality.  Their color lines have expanded over the years...

While this episode began as an interview based on a book about kitchens, it became something much more -  A treatise about how we live in our homes, how to make a kitchen your own in ways which acknowledge who you are, how you live and what you love.  Sophie Donelson is a former Editor-in- Chief of House Beautiful Magazine. She is a design journalist, speaker, and strategist whose work celebrates the connection between people and t...

Think about  jazz, communism,  Dracula and wallpaper. Any commonalities? Tune into this episode to hear how they all converge.  My guest is Stefan Ormenisan, the founder and creative director of one of the most unique lifestyle brands, Mind the Gap. Conceived in Transylvania and sold all over the world, MTG offers wallpapers and textile patterns spun from tales of folklore and global cultures. Their products are a color lover'...

Ever walk into an art museum and find yourself just as mesmerized and transported by the color of the exhibition walls as you were by the art? Well, that wouldn't have been the ultimate goal of the exhibit designers but it does speak to the power of wall paint color, even in a museum setting.  My guest in this episode is Kathleen Morris, the Director of Collections and Exhibitions at The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA...

Think there's nothing more to a color than whether it's blue, red or green? If so, hold onto your hat.  On this, the first episode of our new interview based format, Architectural Color Consultant Amy Krane introduces our listeners to trained Color Consultant and Interior Designer,  Ellen Divers, who has spent the better part of the last decade studying how humans perceive color. Her findings  will change the way you choo...

There are so many functional and aesthetic factors to consider when designing color for non-residential interiors. Your color choices must support a range of branding, comfort, productivity, and /or way finding goals, to name a few. Tens, hundreds or thousands of people may be users of this space and the color decision makers can be a plurality of people. Done well you can soothe an anxious patient, inspire a creative maker or focu...

Join Amy Woolf & Amy Krane ( and our dogs) begin an engaging conversation which will span multiple episodes about bringing color into your decor. We never stray too far from wall color which rears its head in almost every facet of the conversation. Should your wall and decor color tie into the architectural style of your home? Should you repeat an interior color on the exterior? How about how different should each room be? We c...

Sometimes neglected, your basement might get the least love in your house but it doesn't have to be that way. Paint color is the final touch but before that we need to think about the fundamentals when designing this room. What are you going to be doing down there? What's your floor and lighting all about? Are you thinking about finally finishing your basement? We walk you through it all the way to the finish line with pa...

Specifying exterior color for multi- family dwellings is a wholly different animal than for single family homes. The ownership, the goals, the sheer size of the complexes offer a completely different set of challenges. When done right the outcome can be stunning, increasing property values and the joy of home ownership. Proper color application for built environments enhances the human experience. Join Amy and Amy as they discuss t...

In this episode we return to the important subject of exterior house color but examine it on a more granular level with an eye towards the different architectural styles prevalent in the United States. How was the earliest house paint created and how did that influence the types of colors available to use? What types of color palettes were the norm for different architectural styles historically and has that evolved over the centur...