Colors, Colors, Colors!
This past weekend I’ve been working on the paint colors for a dental office design project I’m currently working on. Many may feel this is no big deal; however, I tend to spend a considerable amount of time on this portion of a dental office design project to make certain that the feel and flow is just right. While paint is relatively cheap and wall colors can change easily, not so true of the flooring, lighting, and furnishings that have been purchased as part of the project. Besides, who wants to repaint all the time? Not me!
Colors impact our mood. I think most school kids are taught that some colors are warm colors and some are cool colors. The warm colors (red, yellow, orange) arouse and stimulate, while the cool colors (blue, green, violet) calm us down. My high school used yellows and oranges in the halls to excite us and help us speed from class to class during the five minutes between classes. Then, the classrooms were painted in blues and greens to calm us down and get ready to learn. I visited the school a few years ago and found that the entire school had been repainted using the school colors of blue and white in the halls and tans in the class rooms. Obviously, whoever was in charge of the new color scheme missed the point of the original one. Makes me wonder if kids still make it to class on time?
Back on my current dental office design project, I’m down to just the right shade of beige for most of the walls. “Why is this such a big deal,” you ask? Well, some have more yellow in them than others, so they coordinate with the other tones that are fixed, such as the furniture and upholstery than others. The monkey wrench in this particular dental office design project is the available colors for the vinyl base. I’m not happy with any of my choices relative to everything else on the project. Today I’ll be in search for other base manufacturers to see what color choices they have as options. I’ll keep you posted. After all, not all beiges are created equal!
15 November 2009 at 10:07 pm
I would very much appreciate you keeping this updated. I am as well in a bit of a pickle trying to pick out colors for our new dental office. My fiance’ (the dentist) has put me in charge of this. The contractor has given three different tile samples to choose from and about 24 different shades of carpet. HELP!!
With the option of being able to start with color from the ground up, I know I am fortunate in the matter but what colors do I want to start with for the floors so they compliment or flow with the walls? Greens, beige….maybe even red????? I want the warm and calming colors for the majority of the office except maybe the break room. Any input is greatly appreciated.
16 November 2009 at 5:22 pm
Happy to help. Here are a few things you’ll want to think about that may make the color decisions earlier:
1. What is the color of the operatory chairs and cabinets? Have these been picked yet? Often times, the choice in operatory equipment and cabinetry drives the color selection. I worked on a dental office design project once that only gave me three choices for cabinet colors and five for chairs. Needless to say, this narrowed my choices for the rest of the office pretty quick.
2. On your tile and carpet samples, don’t worry too much about the carpet colors. With so many choices you are sure to find something that will work. Once you know the operatory room choices, look at your three tile choices and determine which you think will work best. I’m assuming these are for the operatory. You don’t want to put carpet in the operatory for sanitary reasons. Personally, I favor vinyl in the operatories as it is easy to clean, sanitary, and have just a bit more “give” to it than ceramic tile helping to reduce lower back and leg fatigue.
3. Now that you’ve narrowed things down a bit, selecting something warm and comforting should be easier. Keep in mind you want the colors fairly light in the operatory – and neutral – so they won’t interfer with color matching when working on the teeth. Colors reflect off walls influencing the colors of those things in the room. I’d stay clear of red. It tends to remind people of blood and makes them more anxious about visiting their dentist than they already are. Blues, greens, tans, and yellows are always nice.
Lastly, in your tile, if someone is walking straight into the reception room from outside, avoid a smooth tile. Find something with a texture to it that will have a higher coefficient of friction which will, in turn, reduce the likelihood of slips and possible falls from wet feet.
Let me know how things go!
16 November 2009 at 7:47 pm
how’s the project going on? I really like to see the final workout.
17 November 2009 at 12:07 am
I won’t have any pictures to share on the project I referenced above for a while yet, as they won’t be finished with drywall until later this week. As soon as I do, though, I’ll be sure to post them!