Broad strokes about color: Selecting the perfect shade for your room
Color is the most powerful tool a decorator or designer has in their bag of tricks. Sometimes changing just the background color of your walls is enough to make your room look like it has had a complete overhaul.
Color is the most important element in the room in defining its character. It can make your room feel cool, warm, inviting, reserved, elegant, casual, soothing, stimulating and even welcoming. Selecting colors requires careful study. What basic colors are you intending to work with? Who will be using those rooms?
Once you've made your first selection, or let's call them your preferred colors, bring them to your room. No one can really forecast how light will affect the colors you want to put on your walls. How your house is positioned and the location of windows will affect how your wall colors look. Windows that face north usually cast a blue- or gray-tinted light onto your color. This means that you likely will have to adjust the color or the hue. If you are adding white or trying to lighten the color, your result will be a tint of the color. If you are trying to darken or give a color more depth by adding black or more color pigment, your result is a shade of the color.
Colors have certain psychological effects:
Red is the color of power and motivation. This color is mostly used to call attention to itself. It is considered energizing and sexy. But use too much, and it can seem garish and asphyxiating.Orange is a friendly color. It encourages socializing and can be considered daring. This is a perfect color to use in creative areas. As an accent wall, it can help create a focal point.Yellow is a happy color. The color of the sun is energizing, and it helps communication and aids memory. It is a color often used for offices, living rooms and common areas.Green is another favorite color. It is the color of nature, and in the correct intensity, it matches most all other colors. Psychologically, it is the color of prosperity and well-being.Blue is a favorite color of many. It can be cool and have a calming effect. In certain intensities, it can also be stimulating and mysterious.Indigo is a deep, rich color. It lies somewhere between blue and violet. It is a color that symbolizes spirituality and serenity. It is the color of blueberries.Violet takes its name from the flowering plant. This color has been used by royalty because of its uniqueness. It also symbolizes creativity and individualism.
The final test for the color of your walls is to pair your selection with swatches of the fabrics you intend to use on your upholstery goods. The attempt is not to match all colors 100 percent, but rather to find colors that either complement or contrast each other in a compatible way. Of course, everyone's preferences are different, so don't pass judgment too quickly on someone's color combination in their home. Remember that colors are elements of self-expression. Observe, enjoy and learn.
#x2022; Joseph Pubillones is the owner of Joseph Pubillones Interiors, an award-winning interior design firm based in Palm Beach, Florida.
#xa9; 2015, Creators.com