Color is one of those things that stresses a homeowners out. First there's picking just the right paint color. Then there's that whole vocab thing. How to describe colors? There are words for that. The problem? It's jargon and jargon can quickly break down communication.
Who really can keep straight the difference between tint and shade? Well I can, but if I use those terms, I simply confuse people, so I typically steer clear of jargon unless I explain at the same time what I am talking about.
But for those who like to know the real terms, here's a great little cheat sheet on color terms at Stir by Sherwin Williams.
I often avoid these terms because how they are used in real life can be the opposite of how they are used in color theory. Here's one of the most confusing ones for homeowners from the article.... Yeah, I avoid this term, but not the concept.
Tint. Put simply, a tint is a lighter variation of a color. Tints are created by adding white to colors. For example, pink is a tint of red. A commonly held meaning of this word is to add color to something (blue-tinted hair), so it’s important to be clear with clients that the color-theory meaning is quite different.
What to do? To keep open the channels of communication, create your own vocabulary. If a client calls a gold tone a wheat, it's wheat to me. This way we know we understand each other.
