The Colours Of Your Home

So, you are moving in a new house and want to apply your vision to it, or just remodel your old one. Either way you are probably pretty confused about how to repaint the walls. The colour of a room is absolute key to the atmosphere and feel of the room. A good one can complement it's function and make it cosy and comfortable and a bad one can ruin any beauty it might already have. And with the possibility to choose of thousands of colours, often the simple at first glance choice can get pretty hard and frustrating.Hopefully this article will cover most starting points and give you a general guideline for the decision. With that said, emotion and tastes are subjective and if by any chance you feel you should disregard whatever rules, do so without holding back. The result should satisfy you alone, so if that requires you to deviate from any standard, do so by any means.So, let's first cover the general colour theory. You probably know that every colour represents a certain emotion and creates a distinct feel and mood. It goes even deeper. The brain and body react to different colours differently, meaning colours have a physiological effect on the body.To start with the basics, let's look at the colour wheel.

Red

Red is the colour of blood, fire and love. It's the warmest of all colours. It's a common pick for outgoing, confident and outgoing people. It's also pretty popular choice of men. It increases the respiratory rate and raises blood pressure. This provokes toward action and movement. Red is also the colour of fire and naturally is associated with danger and caution by the brain. Because of that red is highly contrasting to the regular environment and really visible to the eye. Hence, warning signs, fire engines and equipment are all painted red for more visibility.Every colour can be associated with positive and negative emotions and traits (as everything else in the world).On the positive side red symbolizes enthusiasm, energy and confidence. Blood is red, so the colour is perceived as a sign for good life and vitality. Heath institutions commonly use it in their colour schemes, logos and banners. Red is a sign for love and warm hearth, so a couple's bedroom might benefit and feel more romantic and confined, if you use some red on the walls or decor.Put some red in the room if you want to be more energetic and confident.On the negative side, however, red is the colour of war, anger and wrath. Some shades can accumulate stress as they can be linked to feelings of unsafe environment and imminent danger. As you know, bulls react actively to red. Well, the colour unlocks the same frustrated and angry emotions in humans as well, however, in a smaller scale.Be careful not to accidentally turn a room into a site of frustration and irritation, by picking the improper shade.

YellowYellow is the colour of the sun. It's the most visible colour and people with colour blindness can often see and recognize yellow, but no other colour. Hence, it's often used when you want to attract more attention. It's the reason cabs are yellow in the first place. If you really want to accentuate on a feature of yours consider using yellow on it, to make it pop into eye sight.The body reacts positive to yellow, as it stimulates creativity and mental processes and boots muscle action. It also arouses appetite, so put it to good use if you or any member of the family has an eating disorder or any condition linked to low appetite.True yellow is an entirely positive colour. It evokes cheerfulness and happiness. It helps thought process, so it might be perfect for a study room for the children.Darker shades and tints that mix with green, however, bring negative emotions. They can symbolize deceit, decay and a sickly feeling. (Imagine somebody with a yellowish tint on their skin.) Yellow and black are used in repeated patterns to signify warning and caution, so be careful not to actually induce a similar feeling in the room.

BlueBlues is the coolest colour in the gamma, the colour of the sea and sky. Pure blue corresponds to calmness and intellect. Blue shades slow the metabolism and soothe the body and mind. You can recall how a sky or a sea view calms us down and allows a clear mind. This effect is provided by the colour. It links to a feeling for openness and space, so it might be a decent choice for a room, which is already small or cramped up.Blue is also a good choice for a study or work room. It's relaxing and battles frustration. It also enhances learning and thought processes. It allows for a better concentration.So far, there is no bad analogy to blue. Darker shades correspond to knowledge and power. They are often picked by more conservative people. Light blue is airy and open. It symbolizes purity and softness. Lighter tints are often a perfect choice for the child's room.

OrangeWhile red is burning hot, orange is enjoyably warm. It's the colour of the tropic, which naturally makes an analogy with sunshine, warmth, joy, happiness and leisure. An orange room is much brighter and retains more sunlight. That makes is a suitable candidate for the living room, or kitchen. Those are the places we spend most of our day and are in need of as much natural light as possible.The colour increases the flow of oxygen to the head, so it boosts the mental activity. It also links to healthy food (e.g. Citruses) and therefore boosts the appetite. The colour is stimulating and encouraging, so it can be used to counteract the daunting chores in the kitchen, or the boring homework and paper work in the study or office room.Orange means taking it easy and enjoying ourselves, so it's not a good pick for something we wish to look serious. The home office is one thing, but your office building needs to look professional and dependable - orange might not be the perfect choice there.Reddish tints are aggressive and dominant. They increase sexual drive, desire and call for action (just like red does). Darker ones create a feeling of distrust and deceit.

GreenGreen is nature's colour. It symbolizes growth, life, peace and tranquillity. It brings the best of both blue and yellow. It has a strong soothing effect on the body and mind and is known to relieve eye stress and irritation. Green is balance, safety. It's recommended to places of relaxation and sleep. We feel natural and comfortable in a green environment, so the dormitory and bedroom are a perfect candidate.Aquatic and marine tints signify healing and environment for growth and improvement. Those shades are useful if you have a rather weaker immune system and get ill very easily and frequently.Dark green on the other hand is the sign for greed and envy. You can recall it from many emoticons, cartoons and illustrations. Yellowish shades and milky tints correspond to unnatural matter like poisons, spoiled food, toxicity and chemicals. You'd probably want to stay away from those particular greens as they might evoke revolting emotions.Olive green is a traditional colour for peace. It can have an effect in the dining room as to bring the family together and unite for a warming meal.

PurplePurple is the mysterious and spiritual colour. You have seen it in a lot of entertainment media, widely used for magic and wizards, wisdom, spirituality and peace of mind. It is widely preferred by small children and artists.In a real and modern interpretation, purple signifies wealth, extravagance and royalty. It links to ambition and inspiration, so it might be a good fit in a place of work and creativity, like a personal studio.Use purple to bring balance, inspiration and soothe your mind. However, do note dark purple can cause gloomy moods and evoke depression and sadness.

WhiteWhite is purity. It's the colour of heaven, angles and innocence. It's perceived as freshness and cleanliness. It's widely used in hospital and offices to bring a more convincing look. In the home however, it's rather sterile. White dcor and furniture is perfectly good if you want to bring that look of cleanliness in. However, a pure white rooms is too sterile. A good combination is to have white walls, but have all your furniture and dcor in different colours. On the other hand, white is the perfect colour for appliances and hi-tech gadgets.

BlackBlack has as much good associations as bad. Black is the universal colour for death, emptiness and concealment (shadows, ninjas, masks). Black has absolutely no place on the walls, but just like white is perfect for appliances and gadgets. On the positive side, black is the colour of elegance. Black is professional, serious and sexy. It, as well as white is universal and fits with any other colour. A lot of times it can save you from the frustrating choice of a certain dcor piece's colour. It fits well together with leather and plastic materials, so it can have quite the application inside your home.The first and most important rule in design is "Design follows function". With that said, if you're looking at a brand new flat or house, it's good to define what room is what and how are you going to use each of them. That, combined with the specific needs of each person can give you a pretty good idea where to put each colour.

TransitionThe colours not only need to bring in the emotion we are looking for but also interact with each other. The whole house or apartment needs to have unity. And you can achieve that by using colours that blend together. That means that you need to have good transition between each room, so that you feel like flowing from the dcor of one into the dcor of another. It's not recommended to have adjacent rooms in contrasting colours from one another. That will enhance the connection and make them look like one big piece, rather than separate and isolated parts. You'll know you've done a good job if your home looks more or less like a gradient.This chapter is more practical than theoretical. That said, just grab the colour palette and test how they stand next to each other.

InteractionIf you have a blank apartment or house it's easy to just start with the colours. However, in most cases you will be bringing some already purchased furniture or a whole set of equipment. All those need to be taken into account when picking the colour.

Another consideration are the materials or fabrics of your already existing furniture and decor. Wood, metal, plastic and different types of fabric all have their requirements and need specific colours. For instance polished wooden surfaces will tend to stand better with earthly colours (brown, green, yellow), where a modern plastic design can call for cooler tones (blue, purple).

There are three major groups of colour combinations:1. Analogue Colours2. Complementary Colours3. Monochromatic Colours

Analogue colours take adjacent places in the colour wheel.They can bring multiple items or objects together into a union. For instance, you can have the walls in the bedroom painted green and then get all the fabrics (curtains, bed covers, pillows) in yellow with a tint of green inside. All the object looks as in a natural environment, they correlate and have a strong visual bond.

Complementary colours are those, which stand on the opposite sides of the colour wheel. They are good for when you want to accentuate on a specific object, or in other words - make it pop from the background. Complementary colours naturally contrast each other, so that blue painted retro shelf will really stand it's ground in front of a yellow wall. You can use complementary colours to make the given object the point of interest for any newcomer.

And then, there are monochromatic colours. They are different shades of the same colour. You can use those to put make a connection between the different rooms in your apartment. Let's say you have a light orange living room and next to it there is a green dormitory for the kids. You want to blend the two rooms so the transition seems natural, but the colours are somewhat contrasting. Well, one way you can do this is to introduce orange objects (with different shade) into the green room and vice versa. You are not repeating the same colour, however, you introduce the same feel and emotion it generates. That will connect the rooms and improve the flow of the apartment.

Considerations

If you're not sure whether you want your furniture or not, now is the time to make changes. There is always a reason to change the furniture, so assess what you have and decide if you really want it in your new house. Otherwise, you can easily waste money, time and effort for something that no longer "clicks" for you.Imagine how you pay several hundred pounds for end of tenancy cleaners, packers and movers just to realize you no longer want that couch and all the kitchen cupboards have to go. In London, there are thousands of places to find inspiration for new unique designs, which are tender on your already wallet. Simply repainting all furniture could give them an entirely different shine and usability.All this is a solid food for thought. If you're good with a pencil, it's worthwhile to take the time and sketch your vision and then show it to as many people you know and trust for feedback and ideas.One thing to always have in mind is the appearance of colours changes based on the lighting conditions and the surrounding colours as well.

It's Your Design

Remember - it's your design. That means if you feel you want or need something entirely different from what any rule or advice says, do it by all means. Even though the general assumptions will be met by most people, we are individuals and perceive everything in our own unique (but similar) way. Don't disregard your desires for anything written in this article or said by whoever. It's your home and you want to make it as beautiful and comfortable to yourself as you can.

How to pick between shades

Now that is often a really confusing and frustrating task. Say, you have picked the living room to be yellow, and yet, there are thousands and thousands of different yellows out there. Well, you can pick up a palette catalogue and start to filter it down. For instance, in the example you can take all the yellows and separate them into acceptable and unacceptable. Once you have your two piles sorted, take the accepted colours and start to compare them one with another. When you filter them out to around five - stop. Remember that you have to match them out with the colours in the adjacent rooms, so always leave a few options.

It didn't work, the result is horrifying....That's okay. Nobody promised the first attempt will be successful. However, now you have a strong base of what not to do and what doesn't work for you. Next time will be better. Remember that it's only paint, you can always redo and redo and redo, until you've reached the desired result.There we go, now, hopefully, you have a bit of clarity about what you want and need. It's always scary until you put the brush to the wall. Afterwards, you've started anyway, might as well see what happens.