Question:
How do you make decisions about what colors to choose for items you make to sell? For instance, what color should you dye those silk scarves? What scrubbie colors will sell best?
It just occurred to me that we've got a great resource right here at here!
Today the CHALLENGE topic is what colors you refuse to wear....
In the past we've a had a Challenge about the colors of your rooms.
I guess I'll have to go back through them and see what other potentially useful info can be gathered....
I DO know that brown and burgundy/maroon scrubbies don't seem to be selling at all right now... lol
I started selling them due to a special order request...guess that person is either ahead or behind the trend in the general population.
Elaine
Answer:
Gosh, I'm not sure that there is a connection between what colors people wear and the colors they choose for other things. For instance, although I never leave the house wearing yellow, my kitchen has cedar cabinets so a lot of my kitchen decorations are yellow.
I guess the tendency is to make stuff in the colors you like and hope others will like them also.
I DO know that brown and burgundy/maroon scrubbies don't seem to be selling at all right now... I wonder if that could be because brown may look dirty to people.
Answer:
I wonder if that could be because brown may look dirty to people. That may be it!
Whenever I'm making something, I try to do the "basic" colors....red, yellow, blue, green....and then I try to match the "season":
White/ Blue / Dark Green/ Burgandy - Winter
Yellow / Purple / Pink (pastel & bright shades) - Spring/Easter
Yellow / Red / Blue / Green (bright shades) - Summer
Orange / yellow /gold - Fall/Thanksgiving
Red / Green / Gold /White / Silver - Christmas
JMO
Answer:
Originally Posted by BlondeSense Gosh, I'm not sure that there is a connection between what colors people wear and the colors they choose for other things. For instance, although I never leave the house wearing yellow, my kitchen has cedar cabinets so a lot of my kitchen decorations are yellow.
I guess the tendency is to make stuff in the colors you like and hope others will like them also. Yes, I think you are right about all of these things.
But if I read that almost NO ONE can wear a bilious yellow or green, then maybe I shouldn't make neck scarves of that color. (Unless I'm selling to a particular group of teens/20s with a current fad of those colors)
And since I know that a lot of your kitchen decorations are yellow, then I'll want to find out what type of yellow if I want to entice you to buy scrubbies! There's a nice 'russet' that might be good with cedar.
I wonder if that could be because brown may look dirty to people. Probably right. If fact, these (terra-cotta, brown, burgundy, tans) were purchased in a large quantity by an orchard on the east coast. I'm not sure if they were reselling them in their gift shop or using them to scrub the apples by hand. If it's the latter, then the 'dirty' part may be an asset--they'll stay looking 'new' longer.
Elaine
Answer:
Originally Posted by NotMe Whenever I'm making something, I try to do the "basic" colors....red, yellow, blue, green....and then I try to match the "season":
White/ Blue / Dark Green/ Burgandy - Winter
Yellow / Purple / Pink (pastel & bright shades) - Spring/Easter
Yellow / Red / Blue / Green (bright shades) - Summer
Orange / yellow /gold - Fall/Thanksgiving
Red / Green / Gold /White / Silver - Christmas That's a good list.
I usually add purple to the basic list.
And when I'm thinking of spring, I also try to think about Jelly Bean colors (the traditional ones) and 'spring' greens. (I do well with quilt fabrics selected in these colors for Spring.)
Summer in the US tends to include Red/White/Blue
I first thought maybe you should add brown and dark yellow/greens to your Fall list, but then realized that many people already have a bunch of brown in their houses (furniture, woodwork), so what they need to make it look festive is the Bright colors added. They may also have green already, in plants, etc. Or they have a blue-green in their decor already that doesn't coordinate easily with yellow/greens.
Anyhow, I find it fun to speculate about colors. Thanks for your ideas!
Elaine
Answer:
I've been thinking about choosing colors since we started this thread.
I'd really like input from more people.
How do you choose which colors you BUY?
When you are making items to sell, does it work (sales-wise) to choose the colors you'd make for your own use?
And then the all-important question....how in the world do you get good photo/color renditions of the colors when you are trying to sell your items? I really really hate all the photos I have right now. I can't figure out if it's due to the 'color-correcting' I did a few months ago to my monitor/display, or if it's a camera problem or what. How do they look to you? If not too great, do you have suggestions for color correction? (I'm serious about needing/wanting help here. I think sales depend on good photos.
Elaine
Answer:
How do you choose which colors you BUY? First of all, I do think it makes a big difference what it is I'm buying. The color I choose for a blouse is going to be different that the color I choose for carpeting, which is different again from the color I would choose for a couch. Was there a challenge about the color of your kitchen? I think that would be more relevant to scrubbies in particular. I'd be curious to know what is the most popular color for kitchens. I remember years ago when everthing has geese on it. Then came the cows, then it was chickens. The "tuscan" look seems to be popular this week? I don't know if it would be worth the trouble to follow what the current trend is or not.
Answer:

I don't think I explained myself very well. (Nothing new. lol)
I originally meant to say that the challenge about what people would NOT wear might be relevant if one were preparing to make or dye scarves for sale. (or blouses or hats or anything worn near the face)
I think there was an here challenge about the colors in people's houses; not sure about the kitchen colors. It would seem that general color trends in interiors would translate to preferred colors of accessory items, including scrubbies.
Also, often the color trends in bathrooms and bedrooms follow color trends in cars and clothing, but sometimes it's a year or more later before the colors sift down to Walmart, etc.
In general I do think some of the answers to the challenges here can give us product ideas of things to sell... Vintage or handcrafted.
I once saw an apartment bathroom that had beautifully installed, high quality ceramic tile. The interesting thing is that each of the areas (floor, backsplash at sink, tub surround, walls) had a different size and shade of pink tile, depending, I assume, on the dates each was originally installed. There were peachy pinks, brownish pinks, grayish pinks, clear rosy pinks...it was interesting! I doubt that many people decorate their bathrooms with pink tiles these days...but it is a very complexion-flattering color for many people. And wasn't there research in the 50s or sometime that said a pink room was calming for agitated mental patients?
The best thing about color is that it's mostly FREE. or at least low-cost.
Elaine (who thinks people probably choose scrubbies by what colors they LIKE as least as much as by what colors are in their kitchens. After all, it's not like an appliance or floor tile decision that you'll need to live with for a few years!)
And locally the ones I sell leading up to Christmas tend to be in 'Christmas' colors - for stocking stuffers or for small gifts to colleagues at work.
Answer:
Ok, one last observation. Someone in the thread linked above mentioned the book "Color me beautiful". I read it years ago, and if I remember correctly they put everyone into one of four catagories labeled by the seasons; spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Their theory was the color or hue was not as important as the value or intensity. In other words, consider the color red. Summer would look good in a bright icy pink; Spring would look best in a softer more subdued pink; Autumn in a wine or maroon; Winter in a true red. (I may not have them quite right, but its been awhile.) They also said most people are drawn to the colors that suit them.
That said, when offering a variety of colors, I think it is important to offer a variety of values and intensities in your choices. For instance you want some pastels, some bright primary colors, some earth tones, etc.
In other words, the person who likes the Christmas red and green is also gonna like the bright crayola yellow.
The person who likes the pink will also like the mint green and the pale yellow.
The person who likes the maroon will go for hunter green and gold/butterscotch.
You get the idea.
JMHO
Answer:
Sorry Elaine, I misread/misunderstood. For some reason I thought you had requested that 300 second challenge, but I just went back and realized I was wrong.
My mistake.
Nuther one of those blonde moments.