Color: The Idle Designs Interview

We are honored to have sat down to chat for a while with one of the masters in color on historic architecture and restoration!

We know how subtle this process is by the Williamsburgh Savings Bank restoration process. So enjoy the words and inspiration by Stephen DeLacey Idle.

Idle Designs.

My name is Stephen DeLacey Idle and I am the owner/designer of Idle Designs Color Consultants, which is an architectural color design firm, and I have been doing colors for buildings now for 34 years. Architectural color design is the selection and placement of colors on structures to create a beautiful and creative impact. It converts a nice paint job, into a three dimensional work of art, through the careful selection and placement of colors that are both pleasing to the client, and harmonious with each other. Beautiful colors without accurate placement (or the reverse), can be a great disappointment, especially considering the price of painting a house or business.

I basically take out the guesswork involved in creating an intricate color scheme. So, not only will the client experience a heightened sense of pride, but so will the neighborhood in which the structure is located. Often, one good architectural color design spurs others on to have their property painted in a like manner, thus raising the value of your property, as well as the neighborhood’s. Idle Designs uses knowledge of architectural design concepts (both historical and modern), as well as color history and theory, to bring out the elegance inherent in each structure, and satisfy the needs of each individual client.

 

Your job isn’t too common, how was it that you started and ended up specializing?

I started Idle Designs in May 1984 after a stint in the Navy. Before that, I had worked my way through college as a little lifeguard and by helping my oldest brother Paul restore older buildings in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’ve been an artist since the time I could wield a pencil, crayon and or paintbrush. (My first mural was when I was four years old and I colored on my bedroom walls and bottom of the upper bunk that I shared with one of my older brothers. My parents were of course “angry” about it, but they never made me clean it up.) Over the years, I had created art as a fine landscape painter, illustrator, muralist, and as a model shipwright. And I have always loved architecture and history and would be the kid drawing houses and historical scenes in class instead of paying attention.

So, it wasn’t a far reach when my brother asked me to create a color scheme for a Victorian home we were working on at the time. After we had finished, I was approached by a woman who asked me who had done the colors and if they were for hire. I believe that Jung would call it Synchronicity, but I was just at the right place at the right time.

I was incredibly lucky to be living in the Bay Area, where the Colorist movement started, and to be a part of it at the beginning. There were so many amazing buildings to color and people willing to experiment.

 

Can you tell us a few words about your connection with color and nature?

I was raised in Northern California and was able to hike and camp in some pretty amazing places, like Yosemite, Muir Woods and Mt. Lassen. I also surf and scuba dive which gives me an attachment to the power and majesty of the ocean. Being an artist, I can say that these experiences shaped me then and even now. The various subtle and not so subtle colors of nature are absolutely amazing in their complexity.

 

Do you use the color wheel as a musician uses the scales? With an almost mathematical logic in it?

Yes and no. I believe that you have to understand the color wheel and the rules of how colors work together before you can start breaking those rules. It’s like anything you want to master, you have to have a solid grounding if you want to improvise.

If I were to use a musical metaphor for my approach to colors then it definitely would be Improvisational Jazz. Here are the chords, now lets see what you can do with the various notes.

The logic to my approach is in figuring out how the building was designed. The Architects who designed these structures had a vision and if you look at buildings built before the Bauhaus Era, you’ll see that they used the Golden Ratio to figure out the proportions of the structure as well as the details no matter how large or small it was. I believe that this is why there are people who love older buildings but are not always sure why they find them so appealing. I believe that it’s the natural balance in their designs that speaks to the inner soul.

 

Do clients reflect their personalities and represent themselves by the way they want their houses to look like?

Every client is different and I am always amazed and humbled when they hire me to help them with their structures. Over the years, I have had clients who were Engineers that gave me carte-blanche to put whatever colors I wanted to on their structures and at the other end of the spectrum, Artists who were very specific on tints, tones and shades that were to be used.

The vast majority though are people who love their houses and want to make some type of statement. They are the ones who have a color or two that they love but are not sure how or if it will go together. Or they love a certain feature and want it stand out but not take away from the balance of the color scheme. That’s a great deal of responsibility considering the cost of a paint job these days and how long those colors will be on there!

 

Do you get disturbed by a bad color combination?

I have learned through the years that if the person who owns the building is happy with the results, then it’s really none of my business. That being said, I do feel disappointed when I see a color scheme that, in my opinion, could have been better executed in either colors and/or placement. Both are SO important and after studying architecture and colors as long as I have, I know that I have very definite ideas about how a building should be painted. When I look at a building, I know exactly where every color should be placed, and even what colors I would use if I were consulting on that building. There is nothing wrong with a White house but when I see one, I automatically look at it as a blank canvas.

 

What do you like better working with, tones or tints?

Personally, I prefer tones and shades for my main color choices. I also work in tints if the color scheme calls for them, but I try not to pigeon hole myself into only using certain color palettes. I use different paint brands and I’ll use any color I think will work with a scheme. And if I can’t find the exact color I want readymade, then I create it. The most important criteria for me when I am designing a scheme is that the colors are proportionate to each other and the building as a whole. Being an exterior Color Consultant, I look at colors and how they appear on very large surfaces under natural sunlight versus in a room with filtered sunlight or artificial light. That said, I also have a healthy respect for Interior Decorators since they work with so many variables when choosing colors.

 

Do you have any favorite type of architecture?

I am a confirmed old building nut. I love everything from log cabins to Art Deco and everything in between. Although, I have a soft spot for towered Second Empire Mansard roofed houses. My wife, who is a children’s book author/illustrator loves Craftsman homes so we share an affinity for all things beautiful and old and as a result our own home is… eclectic!

 

Thank you Stephen for so much passion, knowledge, respect forthe arts, nature and inspiration!!

For more information and gallery please visit the Idle Designs website.

The Weylin Team