Colour Consultancy
Two hours with someone who does this every week will save you from the mistake that costs a repaint. Whites are where most people get it wrong, and a sample card won't tell you. Colour consultancy is for PaintX clients once their painting quote is approved.
why the card lies
A colour chip is 40mm of colour on a white card under fluorescent light. Your wall is twenty square metres under a north window, next to a blackbutt floor, opposite a green garden. The colour that reaches your eye is the chip plus every one of those.
This is why so many people end up with a white that reads pink, or lemon, or cold grey. It isn’t that they chose badly — it’s that they chose from a card. We sample on the actual wall, look at it morning and evening, and only then commit.
building a scheme, not picking a colour
A house reads as a whole. Wall colour, ceiling, trim, doors, floors and the fixed things you aren’t changing — benchtops, tiles, the kitchen — all have to sit together. The most common failure is a lovely wall colour chosen in isolation that fights the floor.
A consultation produces a scheme: a defined palette across the house with the trim and ceiling resolved, the transitions between rooms considered, and a written schedule naming every product and sheen, so the crew paints exactly what you approved.
exterior colour is a different discipline
Outside, scale and light change everything. A colour goes lighter and more saturated in full sun, and an exterior sample needs to be at least a square metre before it tells you the truth. Roof, gutters, window frames, brick and render all have to be resolved together, and heritage areas and some estates have their own constraints.
We’ll also tell you where a dark colour is a maintenance problem rather than a style choice, because on a western wall in Sydney it often is.
how colour advice works, and how long it takes
Best suited to clients with an approved PaintX quote who want help settling a colour scheme before the painting starts.
how it fits in
- We offer colour advice once a painting quote has been approved, as part of that job
- The number of rooms or elevations in the scheme
- Whether exterior colours need strata or council approval first
the timing depends on
- Sample patches need to dry and be seen in morning and afternoon light
- Strata approval meetings for exterior colour changes
- Ordering any specialty colours or finishes
Colour advice starts once your painting quote is approved. Ask for a quote or call 0423 533 883.
how the job runs
- 01BriefWhat you like, what you can’t change, how the rooms are used and what you’re afraid of getting wrong.
- 02Look at the lightEvery room assessed for orientation, natural light and the artificial light you use at night.
- 03Fixed elements auditFloors, benchtops, tiles, joinery and anything staying — the constraints the palette has to live with.
- 04Draft paletteA proposed scheme across walls, ceilings, trim and doors, with reasoning rather than just names.
- 05Sample on siteLarge samples on your walls, reviewed in daylight and at night before anything is confirmed.
- 06Written colour scheduleEvery room, every surface, product, colour name, code and sheen level, in one document.
- 07Hand overThe schedule goes to your painting crew, so what goes on the walls is exactly what you signed off.
what is included, and what isn’t
included as standard
- On-site consultation in your own home and your own light
- Assessment of orientation and natural light room by room
- Audit of fixed elements the palette must work with
- A whole-house or whole-project palette, not isolated colours
- Large-format sampling on your actual walls
- Wall, ceiling, trim and door colours all resolved
- Sheen levels specified per surface
- A written colour schedule with names, codes and products
- Exterior scheme including roof, gutters and frames where in scope
- The schedule goes straight to your painting crew
not included
Quoted separately if your job needs it, so nothing arrives as a surprise variation.
- Interior design, furniture selection and styling
- Joinery, tile and flooring selection
- Heritage or council colour approval submissions, unless quoted
- Custom colour matching to a physical sample, unless quoted
- Paint and materials for the repaint itself
why you can believe any of this
frequently asked questions
Why can I not just pick from a card?
Because a 40mm chip under shop lighting isn’t the same colour as twenty square metres in your north-facing lounge next to a timber floor. Whites in particular shift dramatically with light and with what is around them.
How long does a consultation take?
A single room is usually an hour or so. A whole-home scheme is typically two to three hours on site, plus the written schedule afterwards.
Can I book a colour consultation on its own?
Colour consultancy is for PaintX clients once their painting quote is approved, so the colours and the painting are planned together as one job.
Can you work with my interior designer or architect?
Yes, and we do regularly. We work to their palette and resolve the practical side — sheen levels, product selection and how a specified colour will behave on a given substrate.
What do I get at the end?
A written schedule listing every room, every surface, the colour name and code, the product and the sheen level. One document, no ambiguity.
Can you match an existing colour?
Usually. A clean sample of the existing paint can be scanned and matched, though an aged colour never matches its original code exactly.
Do you do exterior colour schemes too?
Yes, including roof, gutters, frames and the relationship between brick or render and everything applied to it.
What if I hate it once it's on the wall?
That’s precisely what the large on-site sampling stage is for. We do not confirm a colour you have only seen on a card.
get a quote
tell us about the job.
Two minutes now, a proper answer within one business day — from a person, not a call centre.
- 1we come back to youwithin one business day, with the questions a quote needs
- 2site walkwe measure, check the surfaces and test the existing paint
- 3written, itemised quoteroom by room, product by name — the price on the quote is the price on the invoice
