We recently decided to renovate our apartment in New York City. Steve, our take-charge no-nonsense contractor gave a tour of our living room, and suggested that “Linen White†is the color to paint.

Having absolutely no idea of what linen really shows as “whiteâ€, I decided to research a little and play with the color palette.

I have no idea what I got myself into! There are more than 5000 colors to choose from. The grades of white easily presented more than a hundred options. Now the rules of color sound straight forward: choosing a color requires coordination between cool and warm tones. Colors in the same family of spectrum are “friends†i.e. they have hues that complement each other. While opposite colors “attracts†and they just naturally look good next to each other – for example red will look great with green.

When I asked Steve why he suggested “Linen Whiteâ€, he explained that this is the most popular color in United States. But this is not a good answer – popularity does not necessarily equate the best – at least for me.

Wishing for a color that is truly personalized, and deciding that we are the “cool†folks, we went for blue. Then as a novice with the color chart, we try to imagine if the color works with the furniture color and other rooms, which proved not to be simple. I spent hours matching and simulating the different colors with a software.

The experience of choosing a color is a decision management problem – there are business rules (i.e. the rules of complementing colors), multi-criteria (many options and the need to satisfy competing objectives), and most importantly, personalization (we prefer cool but not warm white as most people). Hiring a color specialist can help in my renovation project; there is a role for experts with knowledge and understanding of the color spectrum.

Now, I got to run… I’ve to use my iPhone to catch some colors and develop a truly personalized “taste†for my kitchen.