Choosing Colors: An Expert Choice of the Best Colors to Use in Your Home

This is without a doubt the most helpful book around for those of us not naturally gifted when it comes to color. The author offers 700 quite interesting colors in 64 arresting combinations (palettes) to amzaing effect. The palettes are inspired by an extremely wide variety of historical contexts and offer something for all tastes. Moreover, many are quite unusual and surprising. Often, I've looked at a page and been taken aback by an unexpected combination of color that works to wonderful effect. Most helpfully, the author provides information matching most of the colors with commercial paints. Very few books are both beautiful AND practical. This is both. I've probably got about 100 design books in my library, but this is without any doubt the best of them.

I just received this book today and I can say is WOW! I'm practically on sensory overload. I have tabs marking several of the palettes that I like. Yes, it is a bit technical but oh, baby, give me a lesson in color. I'm very inspired to run out to the paint store and get started. I recognize that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but this book reaffirms that I like certain colors for a reason.

Wow! What a gorgeous and informative book. McCloud offers up commentary on how color is used in different cultures and throughout history, so when you're making color choices for your own home, you have a delightful sense of how your aesthetic impulses fit in a larger context. Wonderful.

I know when colors work in other people's homes but I'm hopeless when it comes to picking my own. This book is a juicy combination of history, advice and amazing color pallettes that work -- and has been greatly helpful to me in spiffing up my home for the cost of a few gallons of paint. Each color corresponds to an existing, buyable paint color and McCloud explains the color's personality and tendencies -- e.g., he points out the blues that look green in certain light, whether a color will be balancing or overpowering, etc. I especially like his restrained yet, um, colorful opinions on certain colors -- he slips in "this is the color of my kitchen" and expresses passion for some colors in subtle yet reassuring ways. I've taken his suggestions and have used them to teach myself about color, pulling a room together and picking the right paint the first time. Can't really recommend this book enough.

After my last child moved away to go off to college I moved into a smaller home and I was left with the task of designing my living space for me, my needs and my tastes, without having to plan things around the three children that I raised largely by myself. I had no idea where to start other than to start with colors. This book took me step by step through the process of choosing a color palette that worked for me. At times I felt as though it was over my head due to terms and phrasing that I was not familiar with. However, now I get rave reviews on my new home from everyone one who sees it, they always ask me, "Who did your place?", and I humbly tell them that I did on my own. Most women then ask, "How on earth did you ever come up with this color scheme?". This book will be my little secret. I recommend it to anyone, especially those who might be intimidated by choosing colors for themselves for the first time.