Milestone: Colour Selection (Overview)

In early May, we met with Ventura's colour consultant for an hour-long colour selection/consultation. I am glad Ventura offered this service free of charge and prior to Pre-Start. I would have hated to choose our colours during Pre-Start because it would have added another hour to what ended up being a very long meeting.

Choosing your colours can be mind-blowing, especially if the builder's terminology is unfamiliar. I knew what a gutter and a fascia were, but I was unsure when it came to “portico infill” and the difference between "project render" as opposed to "main render".

Tip: If you are unsure of the terminology used during your consultation, ask your consultant to label them for you.

The different areas of a Rendezvous' front elevation.

Once you have gotten your head around the different names for each part of your house, so that you are able to visualise what it looks like, you are then free to address the actual colours.

When we built our apartment, we had a choice of four pre-established colour boards. It was easy to point to one of the boards and say “that one.” We selected a “modern” board with white walls, silver cupboards, grey carpet, and a beautiful black granite bench top.

We have decided to stick with the general white, silver/grey, and black colour scheme that we used for the apartment. This scheme is quite versatile. It allows us to brighten the place up using different coloured artwork, pillows, and rugs, which we can change depending on our moods or the season.

Choosing the correct colours for your home is very important, if you get it wrong, fixing it can become a very expensive exercise. There are numerous websites on interior decorating and the theory of colour. Personally, I find these websites offer more information than is needed. For me, it was a case of information overload.

Odds are while you are looking for inspiration when designing your house, you will start to get an idea of what colours you like and how they work together.

A friend of mine, Brad, offered some good advice: When looking at display homes, remember to look at the interior and exterior colour schemes. Generally, the salesperson will be able to tell you what colours they been used, or in the very least find out for you in exchange for your email address.

What advice have you been given?