Color Palettes: Atmospheric Interiors Using the Donald Kaufman Color Collection

Kaufman paints are as he says, full of depth mixed with many pigments (instead of the 3-4 in paint stores). The results are astounding and almost intimidating when you see the colors on your walls. Reflected light changes the paint color in a fascinating way every 15 minutes.

I painted last night a troublesome northern room with an early morning east and early morning southern exposure. They room has vaulted ceilings and shadows. Usually ALL colors greyout with cold, then green reflected color. Yesterday this room was painted with DKC #3 and this morning I woke up to a prism on my wall on the new Kaufman color. Was there a mirror or glass to reflect this? No, I never saw it with former colors on the wall. Kaufman demystifies why wall colors are flat and uninteresting and makes them live by infusing them with many pigments.

He also tells you that you can mix your own colors as well. Using white base paint and using universal tints. This way, as he directs, you can mute with the color's complementary color and NOT black and have intriguing walls. Just write down the recipe.

This book needed more statements telling people how to correct for troubling light exposures and troubling rooms. The public is thirsty for this. But, alas, perhaps his latest books covers this area, I haven't been able to find it in a bookstore yet. Alaways sold out.

My only wish is that Kaufman is not my best friend. I have plenty of questions for him about nuances of color!


A breakthrough in creative creative use of color   February 16, 2000
virginia h. cohen (Redding, Ct)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful

Any serious interior designer who does not have this wonderful volume in his or her reference library is missing an important and invaluable design resource. Color Palettes is succinct and well written with wonderful color plates of imaginative yet subtle color palettes. It is a "must" for anyone who needs a creative approach to for his or her "high end" client. I am delighted that my own clients have not , as yet , had access to Color Palettes, as this book has made me look very good, indeed. Virginia H.Cohen ASID Interiors


carole from new york   February 4, 2000
Carole (new york)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

This book presents a lot of very useful information about how colors work in different settings. It also helps you figure out the important things to think about, before starting a paint job. It not only gave me some great ideas, it encouraged me to look at my rooms in a whole new way.


Beautiful   March 14, 2002
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

This book is a beautiful and practical guide to selecting a palette from Donald Kaufman's wonderful and luminous paint line. The previous reviewers' comments that the interiors are nothing but beige couldn't be further from the truth. Kaufman shows that walls painted deep red or apricot orange can actually read as a neutral -- which I guess to some people is the equivalent of "beige."


I give COLOR PALETTES my highest recommendation!   September 12, 1999
10 out of 13 found this review helpful

I can't say enough nice things about COLOR PALETTES (using the Donald Kaufman paint collection) and recommend it highly, along with it's companion book, COLOR: NATURAL PALETTES FOR PAINTED ROOMS, by Donald Kaufman. The two books give me all I need to know in order for me to choose colors for my home with confidence. As an artist, the theory behind Donald Kaufman's color palette is most illuminating, and I will be using what I am learning from these two books in my own work. Thanks, Mr. Kaufman and Ms. Butterfield, for putting together these beautiful and inspiring books. I hope you expand on your color theory in future books!!! I'll be first in line to buy them!