Reviews

"Gretchen's superpower is helping clients make their homes more than a dwelling place, but an extension of their identities. Her superpower isn't just a keen artistic eye for complementary palettes and lighting - although that's part of it. Her gift is in helping her clients discover the colors that speak to them and giving them permission to shine brightly! What she helped me discover is that it's scary to be your true self and much easier to be palatable for others - it'd be easier to paint my house a trendy white than to get curious about the colors that remind me of my favorite childhood memories, family, and milestones. Thank you, Gretchen, for the color consultation turned therapy session - I'm sure this is intentional! Thanks for the permission to add COLOR to my life and home and for creating such beautiful, thoughtful colors."— Dianne, New Homeowner & Life Enthusiast

First, you were recommended by Bill and by Bonnie, and I trust both of them. Your consultation process was easy and made sense to me. During the FaceTime consultation, "we" walked the neighborhood near my house and my yard/building site, so you could see what was already there. My street is part of a development built in the mid-50s — large lots with mostly ranch-style homes with mature trees and shrubbery and even some front yard vegetable gardens. An elementary school is a half block from my house, and neighbors range from families with toddlers to 90-somethings who've lived there for decades. We also talked some about my style influences (living in the Midwest in a mid-century modern house in the '60s and in Asia), my "color story" (mom was red-green color blind, so I grew up in homes with lots of natural wood, modern teak furniture with blue and gold upholstery, and oriental carpets), and that I'm a quilter and dyer. I like classic and timeless, not "trendy;" I like balance, not symmetry.Your recommendations based on all that made sense to me. Crisp neutral colors (lighter grey body, white trim, black roof) to give my house "edges" so it's visible among all the trees and shrubs, but with grace notes of a natural wood door and posts/trim for the covered front patio. The quilting studio in the back gets a white roof that contrasts with the house roof, the same white trim as the house, but a vivid color all its own (jay blue or a bright coral) indicative, if you will, of the creativity it houses.Nancy, Homeowner & Quilting Enthusiast

We learned about Gretchen when we decided to paint the entire inside of our newly purchased 1932 home thirteen years ago. We did not have the talent to pick the colors ourselves, so we searched for help from color professionals. Before we found Gretchen, we had used four others. It was painful. We did not connect with any of them and wasted much time and money. When we were about to try picking the colors ourselves, we found Gretchen Schauffler. The minute she walked in the door, we knew she was the one. In about thirty seconds, she told us exactly what needed to be done, with zero hesitation… my type of gall! I was so relieved to finally find the one. I thought I would have to pick the colors myself, which I knew would not be good. The colors Gretchen picked were nothing that we expected. They were loud, confident, yet soft and subtle somehow. It instantly reminded me of a ring I didn't purchase but had always regretted. A statement… large, bold, hand-pounded rustic sterling, yet so delicately surrounded by little diamond chips. The perfect balance! We still love the colors in our house that Gretchen picked for us years ago. I honestly think they will last a lifetime.

We recently met up with Gretchen again, twelve years later, when we decided to remodel our kitchen. We had decided to go with color custom appliances but were overwhelmed with the color choices available. There were at least twenty different shades of each color. She has a great way of making everything in the house flow, and our kitchen has always been the eye sore in our house. Our kitchen designer said that the appliances we picked would not go with our house because they were not the right style. I wasn't sold on her comment. In my mind, these retro appliances just had to become a part of our house, and we needed a second opinion. We knew to ask Gretchen because she is really honest and blunt. She makes it clear if she doesn't like something and will not be shy to tell you. We sent her photos of the appliances and set up a meeting.

"When she first walked into our house, she proudly stopped to look at the colors she had picked so many years prior... she was very proud and still very confident with her past decision-making. Moving to the kitchen, she says, "you have two choices, red or blue. Which one do you want?" I was shocked that she could narrow it down to just two colors in about two seconds, but first, I asked if she even approved of the style of appliances. She looked at me as though I was an idiot. "Are you kidding me? These are gorgeous and would fit in anyone's kitchen if they knew how to put them together." I was so excited and floored at her confidence once more.

Once we picked the color, we all met at Ann Saks Tile to pick out the rest of the kitchen. It was like watching a modern-day Picasso at work. She picked out the wall color, kitchen tile, flooring, cabinet, and trim colors… everything we would need in our kitchen in one hour. She even picked the grout color. No detail is too small for her. She is the most incredible color consultant out there. I honestly dare you to find someone better. It just won't happen!! Gretchen Schauffler is the color whisperer." —David, Homeowner & Whisky Lover

On a rainy day in early fall, we (my husband) decided it was time to repaint our hall bathroom. You know the drill, no natural light, distinctive tile and only a few years since the major remodel happened. I liked the current paint and would have been happy to leave it alone, but my husband started painting big squares of whatever light color paint we had in the cabinet all over the walls. A project was born. We live in a 1960’s one level ranch, and live by the motto – use one neutral color throughout most of the house to make it flow and look larger, then enhance with art.

We did what everyone does next; we got the color fan from a local paint store and spent endless hours trying to find “the perfect color”. It didn’t come to us, and soon we realized we needed help figuring something out as this didn’t fall into the category of our trusted neutral color (believe me, it was one of the large patches painted on the bathroom walls.) We had a designer over (for a different project) and brought her into the bathroom and placed the color wheel into her hands with the hope that she would open it up and reveal to us the color that would once again transform the bathroom into a beautiful and cohesive space. She shuddered and said she was not comfortable picking paint colors as it was much harder than we probably realized…..oh no, I said, we know how hard this is (it was now late Spring).

After a few weeks I wrote to the designer and asked for the contact information for her friend who specializes in helping people pick paint colors. She sent me Gretchen Schauffler’s information.

I immediately called Gretchen and she had me go to my computer and pull up her website. 

After we talked for a few minutes, she pointed out she had been the owner of Devine Color; of course! I remember Devine Color and was now even more excited to work with Gretchen.

Come over I screamed in my mind….TODAY! However, Gretchen has a different way of approaching a client relationship. She had me sign up for a one hour “FaceTime” walkthrough where I am at my house, and she is at her office. What? How can she see the light – no light - in the bathroom, how can she understand what we are looking for? I thought I could have just as easily set the money on fire that we just paid, and probably would have come out ahead of our looming hour.

But boy did everything change after our first few minutes together. We started at our front door and did a walkthrough of the house. She picked up on minute details and immediately understood our style. WOW! She used words like Atmosphere, Richness and Vitality and married them with words like Air, Grounding and Energy.

“Gretchen, just tell me what color to paint the bathroom – PLEASE.

I have no idea what you are talking about!” 

Once an educator, always an educator; Gretchen kept talking to us until we understood and felt what she was showing us.

And a star was born! I am naturally referring to our hall bathroom, you remember the beginning of this tragic story. Once remodeled and then defaced when my Husband decided he didn’t really like the current paint color. Gretchen gave us a choice of TWO COLORS.

Hallelujah! Throw away the paint fan, we can make this kind of decision……well. after we order the two colors in the 3-ounce test size!

As I end this tale, I wanted to let you know that not only do we have color suggestions for the hall bathroom, we also have a plan for the dining room, living room, entryway and bedroom hallway, the family room, laundry area (dubbed the room of doors) and our master bedroom and bathroom.

Can’t say enough good things about our journey down the Color Baggage rabbit hole.

Debbie, Homeowner & Art Enthusiast

I bought my first home this year, and while I knew what I wanted my home to feel like, I had no idea how to achieve it. I was dangerously close to painting my whole house white, until I got the chance to work with Gretchen who inspired me to paint the home in all kinds of absolutely gorgeous colors that all complement each other so beautifully in ways I never would have thought of on my own. She's truly a color genius. I didn't realize how much color would matter to me in my home until I painted my office a deep, eggplant, or my kitchen a midnight blue, or my bedroom with a mauve accent wall. These walls bring me genuine joy when I see them, even months later. Gretchen is such a joy to work with – she goes so far beyond simply recommending a nice color palette. She really gets to understand how you want to feel in each space, which is something I hadn't really thought of in terms of color before. My home feels elegant and warm in a way that brings me so much joy. I'm SO happy I followed her advice :)