Many elements go into making a beautiful room - one of the most important is color. Certainly it is the one we can most easily control, often with profound results. Yet one of the greatest challenges in decorating is deciding which colors fit our own space, which ones will make the room feel just right. In Color Palettes, Suzanne Butterfield offers real help, showing 26 glorious interiors primarily colored with paints from the Donald Kaufman Color Collection, full-spectrum colors known for their extraordinary effects. The palettes for each story, shown as swatches, give readers ready-made color groupings they can adopt for their own homes or alter as they wish. A lucid text explains why each palette was chosen and how individual colors affect each other and the rooms in which they were used. Through specific examples, the reader will gain a solid grounding in how to approach coloring a space: how to make the architecture work in different ways through color, how finishes can change the entire feeling of a room. The importance of balancing warm and cool tones, of providing contrasts, of juxtaposing complements are all explained in simple, practical terms. A final chapter tells how to test paint colors and choose finishes.
Date Published 3/17/1998
Ratings
Rated By: A reader
From: Unavailable
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Comments: Lovely but not at all instructive I found this book to be quite lovely, much like flipping through an Architectural Digest Magazine. However, it didn't help me at all in determining appropriate paint colors for my home. The text was a bit arduous to get through and more descriptive than instructive. Overall I was disappointed because I got no help at all with specifics on selecting color palettes. With a title like "Color Palettes", one would expect otherwise.
Rated By: A reader
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Comments: I give COLOR PALETTES my highest recommendation! I can't say enough nice things about COLOR PALETTES (using the Donald Kaufman paint collection) and recommend it highly, along with it's companion book, COLOR: NATURAL PALETTES FOR PAINTED ROOMS, by Donald Kaufman. The two books give me all I need to know in order for me to choose colors for my home with confidence. As an artist, the theory behind Donald Kaufman's color palette is most illuminating, and I will be using what I am learning from these two books in my own work. Thanks, Mr. Kaufman and Ms. Butterfield, for putting together these beautiful and inspiring books. I hope you expand on your color theory in future books!!! I'll be first in line to buy them!
Rated By: A reader
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Comments: Very tasteful palettes for your house This book provides a number of different palettes ranging from "neutrals" to "intense" that one might use when painting an entire house. The palettes are appropriate for styles ranging from Colonial to Contemporary. I bought it for my sister-in-law and desparately want my own copy.
Rated By: A reader
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Comments: A fine coffee table book, but not much more. While this is a beautiful book visually, it provides little concrete guidance on how to choose colors for your own home. The text isn't well-organized, and is presented in rambling narrative chapters rather than in a reference book format.
Rated By: A reader
From: Unavailable
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Comments: Pretty but limited in its scope or value I admit that I don't know who Donald Kaufman is or what his color collection is, but the cover looked inviting, and I need color help, so I bought it. Mistake! It's a pretty book, but there's not much IN IT. The color choices are very, very, VERY limited. It seems that the creator of this "color collection" has a very narrow view of color choices and schemes-as in beige, beige, and beige. Will some amazon reader recommend a GOOD color book to me please?
Rated By: Carole
From: New York
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Comments: carole from new york This book presents a lot of very useful information about how colors work in different settings. It also helps you figure out the important things to think about, before starting a paint job. It not only gave me some great ideas, it encouraged me to look at my rooms in a whole new way.
Rated By: virginia h. cohen "ashlar7"
From: Redding, Ct
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Comments: A breakthrough in creative creative use of color Any serious interior designer who does not have this wonderful volume in his or her reference library is missing an important and invaluable design resource. Color Palettes is succinct and well written with wonderful color plates of imaginative yet subtle color palettes. It is a "must" for anyone who needs a creative approach to for his or her "high end" client. I am delighted that my own clients have not , as yet , had access to Color Palettes, as this book has made me look very good, indeed. Virginia H.Cohen ASID Interiors
Rated By: M. Pass
From: MN
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Comments: Boring Although the book is attractive, it only applies to people who like neutral schemes. Nothing wrong with that, but if you like COLOR, buy another book, NOT this one.
Rated By: Edwin Khoo
From: Malaysia
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Comments: Conceptual color eye-opener Although I am an Architect, I find choosing and using colors still confusing, though I roughly know red from green. I have read some color books and am still confused. When I picked up this book, I thought, "Oh, another color book. Won't help me much." On reading it, I found the DK concept, that colors should reflect the real richness of color mixes found in the natural world, to be an eye-opener. The book goes on to give examples with explanations. The concept is refreshing, but the examples and explanations is quite conceptual, and not as specific as I would have liked, on choosing the actual colors. Still, I find my eyes slowly opening more and more as I read and reread the book. I intend to get the other two related books.
Rated By: A reader
From: Unavailable
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Comments: worth every penny I bought 4 books on color, and this is my favorite. I just bought a new house, and I had to choose a color scheme for the entire house. This is the book that de-mystified colors for me, and helped me through the entire process. The best part of this book for me is the "Forward". I could read it again and again. Another valuable thing about this book is the emphasis throughout on the surrounding environment of each room, and how this environment impacts the color choice. Wow! Thanks to this book I considered the view from each window and doorway when I chose my colors. I came up with an entirely different scheme than I would have had I not read the book.
Rated By: rodboomboom
From: Dearborn, Michigan
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Comments: Beautiful book to match color combos up Decorating certainly begins and ends with the color palette one selects. We have found ourselves puzzled continually over wanting to add color, but afraid to venture out.
This book, although the Donald Kaufman Collection is expensive to obtain, allowed us to get enough palette combinations together which we could then match up with color samples from our local paintstore.
It worked out great1 We're now in color all over the house and planning more! Great idea generator with wild, bold colors placed together. Excellent concepts on the flow of color throughout the house!
Rated By: A reader
From: Unavailable
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Comments: Kaufman--the ultimate colorist and color corrector For those who wrote reviews complaining of boring or limited color palettes in this book, you are not understanding the concept behind pigment color and the underlying potential dangers. Paint stores mute colors with black instead of the complement. Traditional paint stores also use just a few pigments in each color. This "easy formuating" by paint stores and muting with black gives you muddied and problem colors. Kaufman mixes with 10-15 colors in his paint and they are magical to see in person. (All mail orderable from L.A. or New Jersey, you can order a trial pint, too).
Kaufman paints are as he says, full of depth mixed with many pigments (instead of the 3-4 in paint stores). The results are astounding and almost intimidating when you see the colors on your walls. Reflected light changes the paint color in a fascinating way every 15 minutes.
I painted last night a troublesome northern room with an early morning east and early morning southern exposure. They room has vaulted ceilings and shadows. Usually ALL colors greyout with cold, then green reflected color. Yesterday this room was painted with DKC #3 and this morning I woke up to a prism on my wall on the new Kaufman color. Was there a mirror or glass to reflect this? No, I never saw it with former colors on the wall. Kaufman demystifies why wall colors are flat and uninteresting and makes them live by infusing them with many pigments.
He also tells you that you can mix your own colors as well. Using white base paint and using universal tints. This way, as he directs, you can mute with the color's complementary color and NOT black and have intriguing walls. Just write down the recipe.
This book needed more statements telling people how to correct for troubling light exposures and troubling rooms. The public is thirsty for this. But, alas, perhaps his latest books covers this area, I haven't been able to find it in a bookstore yet. Alaways sold out.
My only wish is that Kaufman is not my best friend. I have plenty of questions for him about nuances of color!
Rated By: Alix Leonard
From: LA, CA
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Comments: Boring This is a fine book IF YOU LIKE BEIGE and variations thereof. If you want color in your home, then this is NOT the book for you.
Rated By: A reader
From: Unavailable
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Comments: A waste of money This is the most unhelpful book on color I've ever wasted money on. It did not help me come up with my own "atmospheric" palette, as I had hoped it would. I agree with the other reviewer who said the book is fine if all you want is variations of beige. If you want COLOR, then do NOT buy this book.
Rated By: Merilee Pinkerton
From: southern Missouri
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Comments: Just a commercial I didn't know that this book was all about beige until I received my copy. Wish I'd read some of these reviews sooner.I want COLOR in my home. I also learned too late thath this person is simply selling his own paints and claims that you can't achieve what he is promoting, design wise, unless you buy his expensive paint. I feel as if I paid good money for a commercial! This book is a waste.
Rated By: Mary Beth Pasteur
From: Vermont
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Comments: Depressing We got this book as a housewarming gift. I appreciated the thought but not the book. I moved into a "builder beige" house, and we're working to put color on the walls and in furniture and accessories little by little. You don't need a book to tell you how to decorate with the beige colors that this book promotes. I would be so depressed living with these "Donald Kauffman" colors.
Rated By: A reader
From: Unavailable
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Comments: Beautiful This book is a beautiful and practical guide to selecting a palette from Donald Kaufman's wonderful and luminous paint line. The previous reviewers' comments that the interiors are nothing but beige couldn't be further from the truth. Kaufman shows that walls painted deep red or apricot orange can actually read as a neutral -- which I guess to some people is the equivalent of "beige."
Rated By: Sandy Van Note
From: USA
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Comments: A dud The reviewers who love this book must be looking at a different book than the one I received. Or maybe those reviews were written by the author's mother! This book is so dull and the color choices are so limited that I don't see how the book's contents begin to match the title. Color palettes? It's all variations on beigy colors-everything the subdivision builder put in our new home and everything we are now trying to get rid of. Atmospheric interiors? If you like the atmosphere of a brown grocery bag, then you might like this book. Give me COLOR, please, and not variations on a safe, dated beige scheme that my mother would like.
Rated By: A reader
From: Unavailable
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Comments: Great book for color DK's color palatte is the best.
Rated By: A reader
From: Unavailable
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Comments: Sadly old looking This book is old looking and is not giving me the inspiration and help I was looking for. I'm trying to get away from my "builder beige" house so the idea of "atmospheric interiors" sounded great. Unfortunately, this author seems to think that "atmospheric interiors" ARE beige or variations thereof. Depressing, dated.
Rated By: Jill Simpson "decoratingauthor"
From: Larchmont, NY
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Comments: Colors that aren't boring but are livable The person who wrote the review saying she was trying to get away from builder beige may not understand what these colors look like in person. They are anything but typical and boring. Donald Kaufman understands how mix colors with enough depth and luminosity that a neutral feels beautiful and not blah. I think Suzanne Butterfield's book is prettier and explains his precepts even better than his own books. I have a DKC blue in my living room and a DKC green in my dining room and I love them. The paint companies would like you to think that you should try bolder colors, but they're hard to choose and they're not all beautiful colors you'd want to live with. The DKC (and also Martha Stewart) palettes are limited for a reason. Not every color out there will look good up on your walls.
Rated By: Ron
From: Irvine, CA
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Comments: Real color for real life This book is very good for those that realize normal colors exist. I can't decorate a home like a magazine because I live on earth. Color Palettes helps provide information on how to paint and decorate a home for those that can't afford $25k a room for bright reds and blues. It provides excellent suggestions and pictures for basic colors. I am very satisfied and highly recommend Color Palettes.
Rated By: Mary Beth Pasteur
From: Vermont
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Comments: "Atmospheric" ? Well, this book was a big waste of money. If you want to live with all the "atmosphere" of a brown paper bag, buy this. If you want to put color into your home, don't.
Rated By: "putagne"
From: Seattle, WA
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Comments: A source of practical knowledge and inspiration! This book is easy to read and offers simple, but thorough explanations on the basic principals of colour (i.e., warm tons versus cool tons, colour intensity versus hue etc). It also gives the reader an easy to follow guide on how to go about choosing colour and how to tackle a painting project for any sort of room. A delight to read and filled with beautiful photos that are sure to inspire a decorator of any income.
