Interior Colour Schemes

November 19th, 2009

When you are going to repaint a room, it is important to initially think about the purpose of the room. A bedroom should feel comfortable to wake up in, an office should encourage concentration and a child’s room should feel both stimulating and calm.

You are no doubt aware just how many different theories and thoughts exist about colour scheming and about how colours influence us and our senses.

But try not to place too much emphasise on the rules and instead use your own ideas and preferences.

The most important thing is to choose what appeals to you and then dare to give it a go!

A useful tip is to think in terms of the overall picture when colour scheming. You can often see from one room into another room and in some cases even into a third room. By choosing colours that work well together, a more uniform and harmonic impression is achieved.

If you like brightly coloured rooms, then a good trick is to have a neutral coloured room in between two colourful ones. It acts as break for the eye.

Colours differ from room to room

The exact same colour can look completely different in different rooms. This is because so many factors determine how a colour is experienced: the sunlight, a room’s lighting, a room’s size, the surface’s structure to name but a few. But there are also some simple rules of thumb which should be considered when choosing a colour.

• Colours from the yellow-red scale are warm colours and often give a warm and cosy impression. A north facing room can therefore be ‘warmed up’ with the help of yellow and red colours

• In the same way, a ‘warm’ south facing room is cooled down when painted in cold blue or green tones. Rooms painted in cold colours can be experienced as larger and roomier.

• A window wall which is painted in a different darker colour (feature wall) will be experienced as even darker when looked at in direct light.

• Colours seen together influence each other. A green room with white furnishings gives a different experience than if the furnishings were red. (The red activates the green, making it more powerful).

• Consider that colours ‘grow’ with size, in other words, the larger the surface you paint on, the stronger the colour will be experienced.

Transform a room with colour

A room has a floor, walls and a ceiling. Painting one or more of the surfaces in a different colour or shade can influence the feel of the whole room.

• Rooms that are painted throughout in pale colours are experienced as large and spacious. Whilst darker colours have a diminishing effect.

• If you want to ‘lower’ the ceiling, then use a darker shade on the ceiling. On the other hand, use a pale shade if you want to ‘raise’ the ceiling.

• Stripes can also play tricks on the eye. Vertical stripes give the room a tall and narrow character whilst horizontal stripes make the room appear wider and lower.

• Using dark walls with a pale floor and ceiling makes a room feel higher but smaller.

• A dark floor together with a dark ceiling ‘lowers’ the ceiling height and makes the room feel wider.

• A feature wall can change the balance in a room. Position the feature wall at the short end of a rectangular room to give the room the impression of being ‘shorter’ and more square.

• You do not always need to think in terms of the whole wall in order to create a good looking effect. Horizontal stripes, a large colourful spot or a word can be just as exciting. Dare to give it a go!

Consider that the result can only be judged once the room is completely finished. Furniture, textiles and lighting usually work to soften the colour impression.

Good luck!

Text courtesy of Beckers Paints

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Posted in Useful Advice