Erika Woelfel has one of the most stylish and creative jobs around—and no doubt the most colorful. As Behr’s Vice President of Color Marketing, the designer spends a great deal of time searching for different shades of inspiration and upcoming color trends.
With over 20 years of experience in the color industry, Erika is an expert in sharing the best ways to liven up your home with color. “To me, color is like one of the senses. You don’t always think about it, but it’s around you all the time.”
Eager to learn more about what inspires the team at Behr, we sat down with the colorist to get the scoop.
How did you get started with a career in color?
My dad worked in the paint industry and my mom was an artist—so we were always painting things in the house. Color was not something we were afraid of using. I ended up going to design school, and later worked with a color forecaster for the home industry. I really enjoyed focusing on paint and that led me to developing color palettes.
What inspires you?
As a colorist, I’m always observing and I don’t go anywhere without a camera. Food and travel really provide a lot of interesting ideas. Nature tends to spur color creativity, too.
What type of team do you work with at Behr?
Because we are working with all aspects of color each day, everyone has a color in their background. We have a color stylist, graphic artist, an interior designer and many more. Together, we collaborate
on developing trend palettes and concepts for showing how to use color in rooms. One thing’s for sure—we are all very creative and passionate about color!
How do you determine trend colors?
The team looks at previous years’ colors and at what colors people are gravitating towards. Then we add to them to make them a bit edgier and fashion forward.
How long do colors trends typically last?
Trends change pretty slowly and have about a five-year cycle. You usually see a shade in the fashion industry first. The color really peaks in the third year or fourth year everywhere else—home décor, tech gadgets and even transportation.
What colors will be big next year?
Because of the recession, gray has been a popular color in the past five years. It’s an easy-to-use, stable color. We see it starting to move more brown in the next few years—and I haven’t seen brown as a major trend color in awhile! Teal is also big color. We see it getting bluer for 2016—it’s the perfect accent color. We’re keeping an eye on how green evolves as well.
How do you name colors?
We want our names to be original, but also tell you a story—this detail gives you insight into the personality of the color. We go through all types of resources to find names, like catalogs, menus and maps.
Any tips for those looking to paint a room a new color?
I recommend always getting tester samples and trying out colors first. Getting a good look at how the color will look at different times of day, based on light and how other objects in the room affect it is really important. The great thing about paint is, if it’s something you decide you really don’t like, it’s easy to change.
For decorators and DIY painters ready to pick out their perfect color, Behr offers a ColorSmart® mobile app that gives you access all of their hues right from your phone. You can also explore colors to see how different shades will look in different spaces in store andonline with The Home Depot’s Color Center.
