Spice Up Your Space: Tips And Trends From Hirshfield’s Color Expert

Believe it or not, how we design our spaces can have a huge impact on how we feel, and winter can be a fantastic time to dig into some interior redecorating. Whether it be finally redoing your awful Pepto-Bismol pink bathroom, or adding an accent wall to liven up the living room, taking some time to truly curate your space is never a bad idea.

Hirshfield’s is a Minnesota-based paint and wallcovering company that has been in the business for over 125 years. They know their stuff when it comes to perfecting your home. Wendy Doornink, Hirshfield’s’ color services manager, has some pro insight for us as we take on some winter projects.

At the start, decide which room needs some TLC, and take a look around.

“The first thing you do is an assessment of your ‘fixed assets,’ we call them,” says Doornink. This means scanning the room and thinking about the colors that are not changing.

“Trim is gonna be a big influence, flooring, and maybe you’ve got that super awesome lime green sofa, something that isn’t in the décor,” Doornink says. We both laugh (I actually have one of these… Hey, it’s comfy…). “That will give you the majority of the colors that you’re working with.” She says to ask yourself, “What are you trying to achieve with that room? Do you want cozy? Do you want chic? Do you want a backdrop for art? Are the ceilings super high and you need to bring some energy back down into this area? Is it a style of home that’s really modern? Is it something that’s more mid-century? Is it super classic?”

When it comes to color trends, 2023 gave us bold and punchy, what we’re seeing coming into 2024 is a bit more pragmatic and natural.

Blue made the color of the year for both Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams, the former’s 2024 shade “Blue Nova” is rich and saturating, yet muted and earthy. Doornink says soft greens that were very popular in 2020 and 2021 are also making a return coming into the new year. “We’re seeing greens right now as being very livable, beautiful on cabinetry, wonderful accent walls. Everything from a deep hunter green to something that’s a super soft sage green on the cabinets, colored cabinets are a really big trend right now.”

So, you know you want a light blue room, but which light blue? Doornink shares her number one tip on selecting your perfect shade.  

“They’ve got little sample pints at the store,” she says, “they’re like ten bucks or so, I recommend getting the tagboard, a brush, do two coats for sure, you absolutely have to do that, on this tagboard, and then tape it up in the room at different times of the day.” Tagboard is basically a thin cardboard, she recommends getting the 18-by-24-inch size for this purpose. “Actually having the paint and having it on a tagboard really helps you see. I go to so many color consults where people have put two or three swatches on the wall and they can’t figure it out, which is completely normal.” The swatches you get at the store are much too small for you to be able to truly see the undertones and how the color will look in your lighting. She also recommends that if you are comparing two different colors, tape the tagboards up at opposite ends of the room and not right next to each other for a better comparison.

“Wallpapering is huge right now,” says Doornink. She confirmed the word on the street.

The wallpaper options these days are endless. And it’s not just for walls. “Dining room ceilings, the backs of cabinets, that’s a really good one,” she mentions. “A lot of people are really having fun with furniture refinishing right now, finding those really solid pieces, and then when the drawers open up, put wallpaper on the sides of the drawers or inside the drawers.”

Wallpaper has gotten a bad rap over the years, but there is a method to the madness.

“When people talk about wallpaper, the first thing is somebody who has been around in the ‘80s is like ‘don’t do it’ because they were just putting wallpaper right on drywall, and you try to pull that off and it’s a nightmare,” Doornink says. She says the newer and better techniques are to size the wall (put a waterproof barrier on first and then the wallpaper), or to use peel-and-stick wallpaper, which has become increasingly popular. If you see a pattern you like, many places are even able to customize it to any color you want, so it can match that shade of light blue paint you just picked out.

Have pesky nail holes or nail pops in your drywall? Doornink’s pro tip is to use the back of a screwdriver to punch in a more rounded divot. Then grab a high-quality spackle and fill it in for a perfectly smooth fix.

Doornink says some other fun winter project ideas include painting the brick in your fireplace for a dramatic look or re-finishing your bathroom vanity. Painting a ceiling can add a cozy, intimate effect in a hallway or room.

Of course, if you are feeling stuck or have a specific question, don’t be afraid to ask for help! Stop into your nearest Hirshfield’s store for some expert advice.

“The cool thing about Hirshfield’s is people have been at the stores for a long time. Our longevity is 20, 30, 40, 50 years. So, people have great information,” says Doornink. Bring your photos and swatches into a retail location and you will find the help you need. They even offer free color selection and trend classes a few times a year, in-home color consults, and an awesome online digital rendering program.

“Don’t hesitate to just try something, because paint absolutely can transform the way you feel in a space.”

Hirshfield’s
Family-owned since 1894
www.hirshfields.com