Hiring an interior decorator just to choose paint colors?

[Anonymous]

Planning to re-paint basically the whole interior of our house, but I'm not confident in my ability to pick out great colors. Has anyone hired an interior decorator just to help pick out paint colors, and if so, any recommendations or advice?

[Anonymous]

I used Colleen at red bird designs. Reasonable, didn't try to convince me to Reno completely, great choices. I highly recommend!

[Anonymous]

You can walk into any paint store (Sherwin-Williams, etc.) and they have brochures of coordinated color groups with photographs of what rooms look like in those colors. A decorator seems a little overkill to me.

[Anonymous]

I have a great painter that I use that is wonderful at doing color choices. She does color consults.

[Anonymous]

I'm an interior designer and yes, you can definitely do this. I don't do residential anymore but when I did, I did a lot of color consultations. What they will probably do is do it by their hourly fee or just give you a flat rate. Not weird at all.

[Anonymous]

Not weird, smart.

[Anonymous]

I've had excellent color consultations at paint stores, and also terrible ones. OTOH Gene Delgado 202 722-7363 is GREAT with colors.

[Anonymous]

I think it's a great idea and feel that doing the same has helped me save money from costly mistakes over the years. Although the paint stores have paint strips, consultants, etc., having someone come to your home and actually see your layout, light sources, wood tones of your furniture, etc. makes a positive difference.

[Anonymous]

I also used Colleen Mitchell at Redbird Redesign (Silver Spring). Her prices are reasonable and she is terrific with paint colors. [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Very smart. Painting is a big investment (either time, money, or both) and hard to change once it is done. Definitely do it.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for all the great feedback - if anyone else has recommendations on how to find the right decorator/consultant, I'd love to hear them. Much appreciated!

[Anonymous]

Many paint stores have in-house color consultants and typically you pay them by buying a gift card to the store. We did this through Sherwin Williams and were pleased.

[Anonymous]

Yes! We hired a color consultant from Sherwin-Williams and it was awesome. We still have the folder with all the paint recommendations, although we only ended up painting some of the rooms. (Not her fault.)

[Anonymous]

Goodness, no.

I bought a Benjamin Moore palette of colors, strolled around my house holding it up to all the walls in various light conditions, agonized for days, and finally made choices I am really happy with.

[Anonymous]

I used the daughter of the owners of color wheel in McLean. She had just enrolled in an interior design program and was looking to build her portfolio. She had very little certification credentials but years of on the job experience. But without the degree and in trying to build her portfolio she was very inexpensive. But amazingly good. Her parents taught her well.