Visual home stories
Beautiful, photo-realistic renders transform your home
Call now for a free chat about your project 07720 651967
Colour Theory
Everyone perceives colour differently
Using colour in interior design doesn’t always guarantee that everyone sees and feel exactly the same. For example, certain colours can evoke memories or feelings but it's different for each of us. This Youtube video identifies the wide ranging differences in just one example of how we see colours differently.
Bold primary schemes
Red is considered a strong colour, often associated with physical aptitude. Good for getting attention as it seems closer to the observer, no accident it is used for traffic lights
Positive thinking is associated with yellow, but it needs careful usage. Blue is calming, but it can be have negativity: cold, isolating and emotional unavailability.
Red room
Red gives a resonant and stimulating aspect, but the colour often indicates threat, it can increase heart rate, but a warmer shade can feel very good. A room with a lot of red can increase the level of passion. Like orange, red is known to increase appetite and thus is widely used in kitchens.
Yellow room
Yellow is perceived as being a bright and optimistic colour, but the effects vary with nuances. Pale yellow can bring a little sunshine in while a darker yellow can be overpowering. Yellow is also great for highlighting small amounts of yellow accessories, flowers or pictures.
Blue room
Blue creates a cool, clear look, good for an atmosphere of work and meditation. It has been shown to lower blood pressure and heart rate. Enlarge a room with a light shade, or cool a room with too much sun. In the kitchen, blue is said to decrease appetite and good for losing weight.
Neutral schemes are incredibly flexible
Personalise your space. A neutral scheme is superb as acting as a backdrop, you can add interest, texture, colour and character so easily. Changing with the seasons with a few cushions or throws or keeping up with new trends and replacing a few accessories.
Neutral schemes works as a blank canvas in which you can start to tell your story, making the space unique to you, not just a look-alike High Street store room set. But how can you start adding some interest and personality?
Brown tonal
room
Composed of black, yellow, grey, green, red or orange and even purple, brown is neutral, Found in nature, it can give us a sense of security and stability. think of chocolate, coffee and cake. It can add depth and warmth to interiors, e.g. unpolished wood or textiles in natural shades create a pleasant rustic effect.
White and pink scheme
White has the psychological effect of being refreshing, invigorating and clean as well creating an airy, pure look. It can create optical illusions making rooms look bigger or higher. Flexible enough to use with other neutrals, black, brown, grey or with vibrant accessories.
Grey living room
A beautiful shade of grey, in combination with a muted bright white, can create a clean and refreshing appearance. But if there are too many grey areas it will become predominant and create a boring environment.
Warm or cool?
The terminology – warm and cool – is emotional and psychological, but unlike other colour definitions warm and cool is not related to colour properties or light absorption, it refers precisely to where the colour falls on the colour wheel.
Warm colours are reminiscent of the sun or fire. Reds, oranges, yellows and pink. The actual division on the wheel is yellow to red-purple.
How do you see it?
It is believed that the evolution of the warm and cool colours wheel was created by David Briggs, “The Dimensions of Colour”.
Warm living room
Red based interior displaying
warm colour scheme, creates warmth and positivity.
Cool living room
Blue and grey based Interior displaying cool colours, creates calm, quiet, peace.
Tints, tones, shades
Lightening the 12 basic colours produces tints, sometimes called pastels, going from extremely pale, nearly white to a barely tinted pure hue. Tints are soft, youthful and soothing. A tone is softer than the original colour, for appealing colour combinations, e.g. adding black to white to make grey.
A colour “greyed” out is considered a tone. Tones are more pleasing to the eye as they can be more complex, subtle and sophisticated. Colours are made darker adding black. Shades are considered deep, powerful and mysterious, but can be overpowering and best used as accents.
Tints, tones and shades
Every colour on the colour wheel can be altered in by tinting, toning and shading.
