There’s nothing like a job that runs smoothly. But one thing can often get in the way: color selection. It’s hard to blame someone for struggling, but any delay can throw a wrench into tight timelines and budgets. When it’s all said and done, it’s in your best interest to help your clients find a color they love – so here are some ways to do just that.

• Share Valspar color trend brochures and paint chips, so your clients can be aware of current trends.
• Offer to pick up paint samples of their choice from a retailer like Lowe’s.
• Paint sample areas of a wall so that clients can live with the different colors.
• Note: Remind them to look at the colors at night as well as during the day, to see how changing light affects them.

• Tell them to start browsing Pinterest, Instagram, and Houzz for inspiration.
• Have them go into a store like Lowe’s and browse color chip racks and color brochures.
• Remind them to save their favorites for use as reference throughout the project.

Once the inspiration stage is done, it’s time to get to work narrowing the options.

• Have them test out different light sources to see how it influences the appearance of colors.
• Remind them to look at the colors at different times of the days, observing how changing light can change the colors.
• Encourage them to live with the color for a few days.

Making an effort to help guide their color selection will pay dividends by not only saving you time and money, but your clients will appreciate your work more. So the next time a client turns to you for advice – or they just can’t make up their mind – now you have some tools to keep the job on schedule.