Using colour in the home

Using colour in the home

To have a beautiful home, you don't need to be a slave to the trends - colour trends will come and go. The people who live in the home make it beautiful by choosing colours that reflect their lives and their personalities. The trick is to blend the colours you like into a delightful combination.

Colour is a subtle yet fundamental design element, and choosing colour combinations is one of the  most daunting steps for beginners. Colour has the power to change the relative shape and size of furnishings as well as the shape and size of the room itself. When used properly it changes the room from a space to an experience.

Selecting colours is not difficult if you equip yourself with some basic information about colour and its effects, so let’s find more about room colours, and how these affect your mood.

Colours - the basics…

All colours are made up of three primaries: red, blue and yellow. When you combine these primaries, you get three secondary colours: orange, purple and green. When you combine each secondary colour with its neighbouring primary, you get six tertiary colours: yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-purple, red-purple, red-orange. This forms the basis of the well-used 12-colour wheel. (Which was piioneered by the 17th century British physicist and natural philosopher Isaac Newton while studying the effect of a beam of sunlight shining through a prism).

Colours and their temperature…

Every colour has a 'temperature' -  from the warm, red/yellow edge of the spectrum (advancing colour), and from the cool blues and purples (receding colour). The intensity of the colours are described as saturation. Saturation is defined by how much or how little grey a colour contains. Highly saturated colours are pure, bright and vivid. Less saturated colours are muted, soft and subdued. When planning a colour combination, remember that saturation is as important as the hue (synonymous with colour).

Colours and atmosphere…

When selecting colour for a room, keep in mind that each colour has a psychological effect.   That's why people have 'favourite' colours.  Think about how certain colours make you feel. The main colour of your room can have an effect on your mood - ranging from tranquil to rage. So when trying to create peace and harmony in your home choose your colours wisely. The lovely, relaxing pink you so love may literally drive your loved one up the wall!

Let’s find out more about colours...

Blue is generaly accepted to bring down blood pressure and slow respiration and heart rate. That’s why it’s considered calming, relaxing, and serene, and is often recommended for bedrooms and bathrooms. Be careful, however: a pastel blue that looks great on a swatch can become unpleasantly chilly when it’s on the walls, especially in a room that receives little natural light. If you go for a light blue as the primary colour in a room, balance it with warm hues in the furnishings and fabrics.

To encourage relaxation in the rooms where people gather, such as family rooms, living rooms, and kitchens consider warmer blues, such as periwinkle, or bright blues, such as cerulean or turquoise.

A dark blue may have the opposite effect. Dark blue evokes feelings of melancholy. So refrain from using darker blues in your main colour scheme. Stay with the lighter shades of blue to give you and your loved ones a calm effect.

Yellow evokes the joy of summer and sunshine and communicates happiness. It’s perfect for kitchens, dining rooms, and bathrooms, where this happy colour energizes and uplifts. In halls, entries, and small spaces, yellow can make the space feel bigger and more welcoming. Although it is a cheery colour, it may not be a good choice for the main colour scheme of a room. People, statistically, are more likely to lose their tempers in a yellow room. Babies also seem to cry more in a yellow room. This colour tends to create feeling of frustration and anger in people. This colour is the most tiring on the eyes.

Red raises a room’s energy level. It’s a good choice when you want to stir up excitement, and romance - particularly at night!  In the living room or dining room, red draws people together and stimulates conversation. In an entryway, it creates bold first impression. Red, however,  has been shown to raise blood pressure, speed respiration and heart rate. It is usually considered too stimulating for bedrooms, but if you’re only in the room after dark, you’ll be seeing it mostly by lamplight, when the colour may appear muted, rich, and elegant.

Green is considered the most restful colour for the eye. Combining the refreshing quality of blue and the cheerfulness of yellow, green is suited to almost any room in the house. In a kitchen, a sage or medium green cools things down; in a family room or living room, ia deep, natural green encourages unwinding but has enough warmth to promote comfort and togetherness. In a bedroom, it’s relaxing and pleasant. Green also has a calming effect when used as the main colour in a space. It is believed to relieve stress , promoting relaxation - it is also believed to help with fertility this is a great choice for the bedroom.

Purple is perhaps the most enigmatic and complex colour. It’s associated with luxury, royalty, as well as creativity, and as an accent or secondary colour, gives a scheme depth. Lighter versions of purple, such as lavender and lilac, bring the same restful quality to bedrooms as blue does, but without the risk of feeling chilly. Purple is often favoured by creative, artistic and eccentric people who are not afraid to be daring.

Pinks  - depending on its saturation or value, pink evokes varied moods in different people. Magenta and fuchsia are perceived as sensual or theatrical. But  diluting the red in lighter pinks, and sensuality is then replaced by gentle romanticism.

Orange evokes excitement, energy and enthusiasm. While a no-no for the living room or bedroom, this colour is great for an exercise room. It will bring all the emotions out that you need when jumping into your fitness routine. In ancient cultures orange was associated with medicines and practices to heal the lungs and increase energy levels.

Brown: Rustic, natural, wholesome , rich, chocolatey are just some of the feelings evoked by the colour that’s often associated with earth and home, substance and stability.

Neutrals (black, gray, white) are fundamental to the decorator’s palette. All-neutral schemes fall in and out of fashion, but their virtue lies in their flexibility.  Splashes of colour in accents and accessories liven things up; subtract ithem to calm things down. Black is best used in small doses as an accent - some experts state that every room needs a touch of black to ground the colour scheme and give it depth.

White: Not surprisingly white communicates purity, honesty and simplicity. White is also perceived by the human eye as a bright colour, that’s why it works so well in contrast with all other colours.  White is great for expanding small spaces and brightening up romms with little or no sunlight.

Black: People see black as the most dramatic, powerful, and also classy colour. Because of its naturally extreme contrast to white, black and white is the quintessential combination of depth and clarity, power and innocence.

Rooms painted in deep, warm colours like rust red will seem cosy and comfortable and are perfectly appropriate in the town or country, or in countries with long and sombre winter months.

The same room painted white, pale yellow, blue or light green will seem airy and cool in a hot climate, especially if filled with plants and white  or bright cream furniture, with perhaps yellow, blue or green and white cushions or upholstery.

A dark, rich room can be brightened by accents of more intense colour and either lightened by white woodwork or given a jewel-box atmosphere by painting the woodwork in the same colour as the walls.

A light, or lifeless room can be given more character by staining the floorboards a very dark brown and adding large plants in over-large baskets or terracotta pots. Large pieces of furniture will look smaller if covered in a fabric of the same colour as the walls; a smaller piece of furniture, covered in an accent colour , can then balance it.

What mood do you want to create? Which colours will help you achieve that mood?

If you are unsure of the colours that you find comfortable to live with, try the old trick: look at magazines, decorating books, blogs and websites for ideas, mark or save the pictures of rooms that appeal to you. Put them aside for a few days and then look at them again, lay them side by side. You will almost certainly notice that the same colour combinations reappear over and over. This will indicate the colours that are the most comfortable for you.

Colours and Space...

Understand that colours behave in three basic ways: active, passive, and neutral, and you can easily match every room’s colours to your personal desires and taste and to the room’s purpose. Light colours are expansive and airy, they make rooms seem larger and brighter. Dark colours are sophisticated and warm; they give large rooms a more intimate appearance.

Small rooms will seem more spacious if the same colours are used in different juxtapositions throughout. This is all the more true if the rooms have the same floor covering or polished wood floor. Similarly, the way in which you use colour can alter the visible proportions of a room.

Cool colours will appear to stretch space, to push the walls out, particularly if the floor, walls and ceiling all relate to each other and seem a harmonious whole.

Strong or warm colours, like red or ochre, will make walls appear to close in and the space seem smaller.

A long room will look less long and narrow if the end wall is accented by paint or paper in a warm colour.

Use light, airy colours in a light, airy room. If the room is small as well, the light colours will seem to push out the walls and make the room feel far more spacious. This is especiialy true in winter gardens and conservatories.

The ceiling represents one-sixth of the space in a room, but too often it gets nothing more than a coat of white paint. In fact, for decades, white has been considered not only the safest but also the best choice for ceilings. As a general rule, ceilings that are lighter than the walls feel higher, while those that are darker feel lower. Lower does not need not mean claustrophobic: visually 'lowered' ceilings can evoke a cosy intimacy.
It is not true that white or very light walls will make a dark room look lighter. In fact, they may end up making it look colder; without personality.  Choose rich, warm colours, or creamy yellow, apricot or duck-egg blue instead.

How many colours can be put together?

People often worry about whether they are using too many or too few colours. Interior designers feel that major areas (walls, floors, window treatments) should be restricted to three, at most, but that there need be no limit to the number of accent colours that can be used (for cushions, trims, mouldings, accessories, flowers, etc)

Conclusion...

These general guidelines are a good starting point in your search for the colours to use in your room. But remember that colour choice is a very personal matter, and should reflect your personality. You’re the one who has to live with your new colour, so don't be a slave to the magazines: choose a hue that suits you, your family and your lifestyle.