Decorating with Colour

Colour has a powerful impact on how we feel. Green is calming, and can help people recover from stress. Bright shades of red on the other hand make us feel dynamic and positive and are often used in gyms and physiotherapy centres.

Emotional links to colour are quite common. But how much do you really know about the effects of colour on space and appearance in your home? Let us help, by explaining some of the theory about using colour when decorating.

Different colours can affect your impressions of space, making a room seem bigger or smaller. Colour also changes with the light from morning to evening. Once you understand these effects, they can be used to your advantage when decorating.

Professional designers use the colour wheel to show relationships with colour; which ones work together and which ones clash.

Colours can look quite different in combinations, and that is why designers always look at colours in combos when planning rather than in isolation.

For example, the blue looks lighter when placed between 2 white lines, yet this is exactly the same colour blue.

To help plan your colour pallete, lets look at the terms interior designs use in relation to colour:

Primary colours =Only colours that can’t be made from mixtures of other colours. Eg- red, yellow, blue.

Secondary colours=Colours made my mixing equal amounts of the two nearest primary colours.

Tertiary colours=Colours made from a primary colour and a small amount of a second primary.

Contrasting colours= sit opposite eachother on colour wheel, also called complimentary colours

Harmonious colours=sit close or next to eachother on the colour wheel

Warm colours=warm colours lie on the orange side of the wheel

Cool colours= cool colours lie on the blue side of the wheel.

Important colours that are missing from the colour wheel are black, white and neutrals like beige, grey and cream. These are integral for decorating. Just some of the ideas for using colours are listed below:

Classic: grey, white and black
Inviting: chocolate, beige, cream
Use neutrals as the backdrop for a splash of vibrant colour in any shade. For example, in a white room, with white couches, engage with a brightly coloured painting on the well.

One colour, many variations.
Use shades of one colour to ensure that the monotony of a single colour is avoided.

Harmonious colours
Using two or three harmonious colours is very restful on the eye because they are created from similar mixtures of colours. No colour is “singing out of tune”

Contrasting Colours
Using contrasting colours can be truly dramatic. It can be hard to live with vividly contrasting colours used in equal amounts in a room. Use shades of a contrasting colour to ease the effect.

Split contrast
Using three colours, two that are closely related and one completely unrelated can create a bold and lively look.

Highlighting with colour
Accents are a great way to liven up an area. Introduced through textiles, accessories, rugs and wall hangings, using accents will draw the eye around the room. Accents are all about contrast- light against dark, cool against warm, strong against weaker colours.

Cool or warm colours
Using warm colours to warm a cooler room (such as South facing rooms), or cool colours to cool a warm room are very effective. Remember that neutrals can also be warm or cool just by using shades of neutrals.

Advancing and receding colours:
Warm and cool colours also influence the way we perceive distance.
· Warm and dark colours are advancing, the eyes seem them as closer
· Cool and pale colours are receding, the eye sees them as further away

If you want your room to look wider and squarer, then you would paint the far wall a dark colour, and the side walls a lighter colour.

To make a room look longer, paint the far wall white, and the side walls a slightly darker shade to give a long narrow feel.

Natural Light
Looking at a colour in a shop, is going to be different from seeing it in a room at a particular time of day. Plus homes have reflective and absorbing surfaces which also change the colour.

Artificial light
Standard bulbs have a light close to daylight but a little more yellow. Flourescents add a blue tinge. Although slight, these other light sources can also influence the way colours appear in the home.

Pattern and Texture
Pattern can affect the apparent size of a room. Our eyes tend to move along a pattern. For example, vertical lines draw the eye up creating height in the room, horizontal shapes make a room appear wider.

Areas of pattern can be used to define zones or divisions in space.

Covering all walls of a room in an intense pattern can make the space very claustrophobic. Used in a more restricted way it can achieve the opposite affect.

Bringing it all together
Colour should ideally flow from room to room. This can be achieved by choosing a basic colour palette throughout the house and then adding individual style to each room. Or even by keeping the flooring the same throughout the house you are creating connectivity.

How to choose your colour scheme?
One suggestion is to create a mood board. Cut out pictures, collect colours, objects, write down words and collate all these in one place. Laying these items on a board will enable you to start seeing patterns. Do you see an overall colour emerging? Are there two or three colour schemes. Narrow down your selection and finally stick your chosen images onto the board. This will be an invaluable tool for matching paint, colours and fabrics.

Create soft schemes for decorating baby nurseries, and bold schemes for kids rooms. OR perhaps you prefer neutral colours for decorating and then choose single colours for accenting or highlighting! There are so may options and the world is truly your canvas!

Have fun with your decorating!!

Information taken from our own experiments. Reference made to "Understanding Colour at home: by B&Q (Thames and Hudson)