Shop colors

[CES020]

We are about to move our shop. A whopping 8" (moving next door), and it's empty right now. We're going to paint the walls of the shop area (warehouse) and if I don't speak up now, it'll be off white One wall is sheetrock, the opposite is block. It's a long, narrow type space. 15ft ceiling, I'm guessing. Maybe 1800 sq. ft for the shop area. Haven't decided what to do in the offices. I'll worry about that later.

The shop area is where we'll do our CNC routing and fabrication, so no printers, etc. in that area. Mostly sawing, routing, hitting things with a hammer, etc.

I'd like to do something colorful and looks tasteful and professional. I've been in a couple of small shops in town that use a lot of color in their shops and I think that looks good. I'd like to do something with some good, popping colors, that looks professional.

No idea where to start. I'm fine with two toning it, maybe one color up top, one color lower, or make that lower color ramp up as it goes down the shop. Anything. I'm open for ideas, suggestions, anything.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks-
Steve

 

[JR's]

is it for the showroom or work space? if its for the work space I like off white or a eggshell color. its neutral and not yelling at you. plus if its a narrow space light colors would be better.

JR

 

[CES020]

It's for the shop area, not the place customers would see normally, but it's killing me to do something with some colors, but I'm not a creative, artistic person. If I can get over there today, I'll try and snap a photo. No lights on there yet and it's cloudy and raining, so I'll try and get something up.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

I'm a big believer in bright semi-gloss white for shop areas. It reflects light and makes the place look a lot brighter and cleaner, although it's not the most exciting thing to look at...

For showroom areas, why not paint some walls a neutral earth tone and then do some accent walls in custom wall graphics? I've never understood why sign shops paint walls bright colors when they could apply their own product to it to achieve the same effect but with more impact and marketing power...

 

[Jillbeans]

I watch wayyyy too much Sell this House on Saturday mornings.
Go for a weird green with white trim and maybe one white wall.
Love....Jill

 

[rfulford]

If you do any color matching, you should use Munsel gray and invest in daylight lighting. True Munsel gray is really expensive however so I take my Gretag Color Checker chart into the paint store and have them match the 3rd gray swatch on the bottom, the lighter medium gray.

 

[signswi]

If it's an area where you'll be doing any sort of color management work (design, prepress, production) stick to flat white or a neutral grey. Non-gloss, reflections on monitors are a good way to create eye strain. If it's not, have fun...pull something out of your company branding. Make it fit in with the overall image you're trying to project for your business.

 

[CES020]

No color management going on. We do no printing in house.

Here's the two walls, looking towards the back loading dock.

Jill, that's exactly along the lines I'm thinking. Some kicking bright color like that matched with some other color that looks good with it. Only issue I have with it, is I stole that color idea from a local shop that has that color green matched with a blue that's really colorful, like a bright turquoise. I'd hate to have them come pick up some work we do for them,wholesale, only to find we painted our shop their colors

 

[shakey0818]

I would start off by spraying the ceiling white and using Sherwin Williams block filler on the block.

 

[John L]

Ces, do you have an iPhone? I use the Sherwin Williams Color Snap App all the time to "rip off" decent color ideas that I see when I am out and around. It will give you actual SW color names and numbers from a photo. It's not always exact now, but it rarely let's me down with acceptable suggestions. I then get a small sample container of the paint from SW or, if it's closer, even Home Depot (using the SW number) to try out in real life.

I recently saw a great color combo at our dentist office and snatched it for a retail space I built (and made signs for). Made me a hero.

 

[TintTech]

graffitti. Free too.. what you do is just put on craigslist that you are willing to have someone tag your walls. It'll look cool and free

 

[graphicmaniac]

Offsite pics replaced. Please observe our rules on photo posting.

 

[graphicmaniac]

Offsite pics replaced. Please observe our rules on photo posting.

 

[JR's]

Cool Graphicmaniac. your name reminds me of someone els.

 

[Gino]

Go in with an airless sprayer and paint everything white. Nothing worse than having some color coordinated wall & trim scheme then your wall decorations have to match some horrid combination. Keep it simple and professional, then let your samples and wall hangings do their job.

 

[graphicmaniac]

Offsite pics replaced. Please observe our rules on photo posting.

:Oops:.......sorry.

Thanks JR's......

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

work shop white, if ya want color put in on lower part 3-4 ft up..if you color above that you need alot more lighting.
You can put a graphic in there like your logo very large or words in colors to off set the white and put some action in the room.

 

[SignManiac]

Paint everything brown. Then you won't have to clean. All the dirt and grime will blend in nicely.