Homeowners turn to color consultants to influence mood within homes, which can include boosting productivity.
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Scanning 3,000 paint chips arrayed like cascading mini waterfalls on a hardware store’s color display can induce paint paralysis. Drift of Mist, a soft gray by Sherwin-Williams, might pair well with Farrow & Ball’s Stiffkey Blue, an ink-colored navy.
Or would Behr’s Polar Bear be better, given its warm-peach undertone?
Preventing Costly Paint Mistakes
Enter the interior color consultant—experts adept at color theory, why undertones matter and how varied light can shift a color from blue to gray.
Color consultants usually provide homeowners with palettes of from three to seven colors.
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“Emotional design” is a big part of the paint services market, valued at $63 billion in 2024 and projected to reach $93 billion by 2032, according to Verified Market Research. Homeowners hire pros to employ color to influence a home’s mood and even boost productivity.
The specialized profession includes in-home and virtual consultations, the latter often offered by paint companies. Some homeowners treat the services as insurance against making costly color mistakes. Hiring a professional can be more cost-effective than buying five gallons of the wrong paint and hiring a crew to paint the color twice.
“The result is not just beautiful, but sensorial, cohesive, and future-ready,” said Sarah Goesling, owner and principal of Illinois-based Goesling Group. Color of the Year trends may last a year, but the right color combination has longevity, added Goesling, who is joined by Rebecca Goesling, director of design. “Paint has largely been an afterthought, but it has an opportunity to make a huge impact in someone’s home.”
The Goesling Group tracks color shifts across social, technological, economic, environmental and even political factors. For example, in a recent Hinsdale, Illinois project, Goesling incorporated cultural influences from the homeowners’ previous residence in Santa Fe. Blended with Midcentury modern influences, the final palette included clay, mustard, sandy creams, dusty blues and rich greens.
What Do Color Consultants Do?
Color consultants do far more than finding optimal hue pairings; they’re experts at lighting dynamics that alter how colors look during various hours of the day and night.
Choosing color chips at a hardware store can be a vexing process.
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“Light is the DNA of color,” said Daniel Vasilevski, owner of Sydney-based Pro Electrical. “Lighting determines if your gray reads warm or cold. I’ve seen homeowners choose a ‘perfect neutral gray’ in the showroom and watch it turn blue or purple under their LED down lights at home.”
On that note, Vasilevski said picking colors at a hardware store is inherently problematic. A store’s overhead fluorescent bulbs differ dramatically from a home’s warmer light. “The color you see in the store will not be the color you see on your wall,” he said.
The lighting in hardware stores differs greatly from homes, making color selections problematic.
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Color consultants know that undertones matter—a lot. With off-whites, a pure white paint’s undertone can blush hints of blue, green, pink and other colors. Those subtle tones either complement or clash with finishes, furniture and adjacent colors.
Color consultants create a whole-room flow, sometimes choosing colors that shift from room to room, so spaces don’t read as isolated islands.
The Color Consultation Process
Professionals start with an in-home assessment, noting various room sizes and direction of natural light. They’ll examine fixed elements like tile, hardwood, countertops, decor and art. Consultants interview homeowners about how they use spaces. Do they host high-energy parties? Or is their home used more like a sanctuary? If they have children, do they need durable, easy-to-clean finishes?
Based on this information, the consultant presents a curated palette, usually from three to seven colors that comprises a main wall color plus trim and ceiling options. The consultant also recommends finishes (flat, matte, satin, semi-gloss and high sheen).
Strategic color choices are weighed against a home’s finishes.
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Next, the homeowner or consultant team paints sample areas to observe how hues shift under changing light. After that, adjustments are made and the colors go up.
The Color Consultant Cost Breakdown
The Color Concierge offers in-home consultations in the Denver area for interior and exterior paint, as well as virtual services. For interiors of one to 10 rooms, prices range from $299 to $449. For exterior: $399 to $799. There are also interior/exterior options.
For online paint color consults, the company examines digital photos of homes, taken with natural light. Prices range from $149 to $229. The service includes a photo review of paint color tests, and adjustments.
Some homeowners choose online paint color consultations, which might not factor in changing lighting conditions
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The Color Concierge offers a free “8 Easy Ways to Pick Paint Colors” guide that includes tips—how to select the right colors to complement art, and how to choose colors that pair with hard finishes, among others.
Virtual Vs. In-Person: Understanding The Limitations
Most paint brands offer both in-home and virtual consultations. Dunn-Edwards offers free in-store consultations. In-home visits are priced at $179 for interiors and $229 for exteriors.
Also offered by Dunn-Edwards: online consultations. Packages include a free 30-minute color consultation phone call, a kitchen/bathroom cabinet “refresh color consultation” ($50), a one-room interior consultation ($69), multiple rooms ($99), a whole home consultation ($149), and a “front door refresh” consult ($50).
The Paint People offer a streamlined process called the “Palette Pyramid” consisting of one main color, support colors and finishing colors. Customers can choose from 3, 6, and 12 color palettes. Homeowners first email the company about what colors they gravitate towards, preferred moods, and existing elements in homes that could affect choices. Designers create a palette that includes color codes along with a video explanation.
The catch with virtual consultations? A professional never sees your home’s actual light.
“A consultant on a video call can’t measure your lux levels, can’t see how afternoon sun washes out your west-facing wall or how your LED strips create color shift,” Vasilevski said. “Your monitor has an RGB color backlight. Paint reflects light in terms of physical pigment. Those are two completely different systems and they don’t match up.”
Still, virtual consultations can be a starting point if you’re willing to experiment with shades offered, testing them under changing lighting conditions to get the right fit. While AI-powered color-matching apps offer another DIY option, professional consultants—even those you might consult via Zoom—bring expertise that technology can’t yet fully duplicate.
