Don’t be afraid of Colour….
As I’ve gotten older I’ve become less afraid of using colour particularly in my home. I think for a long time I felt pre programmed to use neutral colour palettes. When I think about it, it’s a little crazy as my Fashion Design background tells me the complete opposite. I’ve always embraced colour and used it to enhance all of my designs and creations over the years in this regard.
So let’s get into colour and use it in your home to express who you are. Colour of course has a huge impact on how we feel and can affect our mood so we should always take this into consideration when choosing a colour palette for our home and our living spaces. Also how our rooms connect and the floor coverings that go from room to room should also be considered.
When choosing a colour palette you’ll be pretty safe if you stick with colours of a similar under tone. Also choosing colours that have the colour same temperature is also a great place to start.
Let’s dive into some information about how to use colour and how to choose what is best for you. First rule of thumb is to choose colours you like this is kind of a no brainer, choose colours that make you feel good and perhaps remind you of things you love, memories it creates in your mind. If you want to keep your walls etc to a neutral palette you can always add your bright colours with your furniture, accessories and soft furnishings. I personally am not afraid to splash a bit of colour on the walls I don’t mind a good feature wall and always remember it’s just paint it’s one of the easiest and least expensive things to change in my opinion.
A simple designer rule you can follow when creating a colour scheme is the 60/30/10 Rule.
60% is your primary colour, 30% is your Secondary colour and 10% is your accent. This rule allows the space to have balance and creates harmony within the space. Light colours create more space and can make a room appear larger, Dark colours can make a space appear smaller. So for instance if you have a cavernous living area and you want it to be a little more cosy choosing a dark or warm colour can pull back the space. And a small space with a light colour can make it appear larger.
Next you need to decide whether you would like to use warm colours or cool colours. A warm palette creates a sense of cosyness as mentioned before it can change how large a space may appear and feel. I personally live in a place with a cold climate so painting the walls in a warm tone can eliminate a space feeling cold and harsh and the same can be said for a space in a hot climate can create a cool serene feel to it.
In some cases it’s idyllic to include a tonal contrast (value) within the space to keep visual interest so everything isn’t same/same. But this is personal choice and not a fixed rule. This is just a design feature to consider.
A great tool to use in choosing colours is the Colour Wheel, you can get these through a paint specialist. This will show you the primary, secondary and tertiary colours. It shows you how colours relate to each other and how to combine them in a colour scheme like Monochromatic, Complementary and Analogous. It displays the pure colour, shades, and tints. I found one of these at a paint store from Resene paints but all paint companies would have their own version.
Always get samples of the colours you might like to use, these can be in the form of an A4 size card (these also come in a stick on form which you can move around the room) or you can purchase paint pot samples. Paint patches around the room or paint on a card. Look at these at different times of the day in differing light to get a good feel of how it will look during the day and at night in artificial light. I’ve purchased these cards from Dulux it’s a fantastic way to see the colour this size. Looking at colours on a tiny swatch doesn’t really give you the full affect.
I hope this has helped you in some way to understand a little more about colour and choosing it for your home. I will delve into this more in future posts and explain some of the colour schemes you can choose.
Please email or message me if you have any questions. I can always create a colour scheme for you. You can book a Colour Consultation with me through my Website or message me if you’re interested in this service. This can be done in a personal appointment in your home or through an E-Design format.
Cheers
Kiri
