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Interior color for men means one thing: paint

By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF
Published November 10, 2006

Men. Color. Decorating.

When it comes to choosing between Yosemite Sand or Utah Sky for the kitchen walls, it's a new frontier out there, cowboy.

And women aren't doing all the choosing.

A new survey by the Comfort Council, a group of interior design and lifestyle experts who provide tips on their Web site, www.live comfortably.com, found distinct differences between the way men and women view and use color for decorating purposes.

The survey found that 72 percent of men say that paint color is their primary way of incorporating color into a room. That compares to 48 percent of women surveyed.

Women are much more likely to bring color into a room through bedding or accessories.

According to the survey, only 1 percent of the men polled think about adding color to a room through a comforter set, say, a duvet or Egyptian cotton sheets.

And only 1.6 percent of men think in terms of pillows and accessories when beefing up their color scheme.

That's no surprise, says Debbie Zimmer, a color expert, Comfort Council member and a regular on HDTV and the DIY network.

Men feel comfortable hanging out at home improvement or paint stores, she says.

They're incredibly confident about choosing colors these days. And they're also the ones most likely to paint the house.

"We know that painting is the No. 1 do-it-yourself project, and men are more willing to pull out their paintbrushes and rollers to do it," Zimmer says.

When it comes to pulling color into a room through snappy throw pillows or a designer bedding set, men are far less inclined than women to spend hours trolling the aisles of Home Goods.

"They're much more comfortable at a home store choosing between red, blue or green paint than coordinating a room ensemble," she says with a laugh.

Overall, Americans are much more comfortable with color than they were 50 years ago. Accent walls and brightly colored appliances, both large and small, are much more common today than they were in the years after World War II, Zimmer explains.

"Color really began to grow in the home back in the 1960s," Zimmer says. "Think of the pink and black bathroom tile, the harvest gold and orange shag carpet."

Other survey findings: - 81 percent of all recipients - male and female - found blue to be the most relaxing color, followed by green 72 percent and white (48 percent). - 48 percent ranked blue and green as the most popular colors for bedrooms. - Brown, black and white are the most popular colors for kitchens and living rooms. - Most respondents associated red with stress, followed by orange.

"You have to be very careful with orange, and shades of purple. Both can be tricky," says Zimmer, who is also a color and decorating expert for the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute.

The Comfort Council, though created by Hollander Home Fashions, an established bedding manufacturer, remains an objective advisory board.

"Our goal," says spokesman Sarah Decamp, "is to educate consumers on how to make their homes more comfortable, inviting and stress free."

All the way down, it seems, to that soothing green and blue paint in the bedroom.

Elizabeth Bettendorf can be reached at ebettendorf@hotmail.com

[Last modified November 9, 2006, 11:11:43]