We do hope that you are not under the impression that by reading these pages we are going to tell you which colour goes with another.
Anything but, we do hope we will be able to give you some advice on how to choose colours that will enhance schemes that you plan.
Using colour, how simple and easy it sounds, but it is as many have found anything but easy. At the same time, colours are a very personal thing and a home must be yours for the living in. Again though, there are aspects and elements into which some colours fit, and others do not. By planning and doing your research we hope that you achieve the scheme that you are seeking.
Unless though you really open your eyes, colour produced by human hand, and inter mix by the human mind, can and often does produce disasters. Artists have the knowledge and knack of working with colours, if you want to learn by following their examples, study some of the masters paintings.
Mother Nature can do what she wants with colour, it all fits together with ease. Manufactured colour however has different ideas, what we might take to be a daffodil yellow, is by no means the same.
Instinctively people know what colours they like and dislike, this subconsciously is based on what clothes we feel happiest wearing, very often this goes back to what our mothers would dress us in! It is not just the colour, the texture as well. The trouble being many fight against inner feelings, preferring to recognise the current fashion trends and modes.
Good interior decor is not based on current fades and fashions. It is the ability to be able to create from a designated space a scheme that represents the requirements of that area for living purposes. Using to the best advantage the elements that exists but the introduction of colour and items of importance to that area. To create a home decor which is not only pleasing to the eye, suitable and sensible, and runs in context with the rest of the house.
Nowadays of course we come up against a number of problems, such as not being able to find the correct lamp shape, as the style and colour you want is not longer available. Indeed a sad state of affairs, but luckily in today’s world we have the internet - and you will be surprised what you can find by searching for it!
Much is written and discussed on subject of colour and interior design, as with most things, in the end it comes down to the choice of a particular person.
Through these pages we simply want to point out a few things that may help you on your way.
There is no point in creating a room that those who regularly use it will not like. A point some interior decorators fail to consider, often placing their own interpretation on a space, without due attention to their clients real requirements.
Even is someone says "do what you want", the chances are they do not really mean that as they will have subconscious preferences which should be addressed and discussed in details before a scheme is prepared.
Before starting all of this we should have pointed out that much which is written here relates to domestic interiors, commercial and corporate projects are by means of their statue a very different issue.
Thus, on to colour. Colour changes, by day light, by artificial light, by texture, by movement, by an area cover, by the colour next to it, by a multitude of other reasons.
Moods can be drastically affected by colour, so it is said. Are they? Take an example. Tropical fish in a tank are supposed to be soothing, indeed they are found in places where they have the ability to relax people, especially when waiting for treatment such as a dental surgery.
Just think though of the colours of the fish! Bright and vibrant! Swirl and twirl those colours about would achieve a psychedelic kaleidoscope that if used as an interior scheme would be impossible to live with.
So, it is not really the colours but the smooth, graceful calmness of the silent swimming fish providing the soothing, relaxing sensation.
Red and oranges are colours which should be used with extreme caution, red is used as a warning for obvious reasons!
Should you be in the lucky position of starting with an empty room, do not fall into the trap of thinking you will be able to use whatever colour you wish. Even an empty space has elements that you have to consider.
First and foremost is what is the room to be used for? Then think about the light, the amount of day light that comes in, how much sun or if the room will be in shadow most of the day. Then give some thought to the type of artificial lighting that will be required and where fittings will be sited. Many people consider lighting to be an accessory, fancy lamps and shades to enhance a scheme, but light is an essential part and has to be taken into account from the onset of planning.
Decide next on any particular textured elements you might wish to include, just for example a fireplace, a type of wood finish of the furniture, a certain floor covering, fabric that you specially like. Plus, any object be it large or small that is to be included, especially if as a feature.
By now you are probably forming an idea of the style you are hoping to achieve, the colours you want to use etc.
Now is the time to start the planning, which we have discussed previously, but not from the angle of colours.
Start with the floor, the type of floor covering has been decided upon, now the colour. Should you have decided on wood, then the sort of timber will be dependent upon whatever else is going to go into the room. Do not try mixing wood types, this can be achieved with fantastic results, but is the province of the professional cabinet maker who knows how and what to use.
A dark room does not want a dark floor, or anything else come to that. Make sure a careful decision is made on this, that a good size sample is placed in the room and is seen through out a day, and in artificial light. Consider the use of patterned carpets with care, remember also that a self patterned carpet will look different to a completely plain carpet of the same colour.
Samples it has to be stressed are very important, but do not overload yourself, it is so important at this stage to have your colour scheme worked out, even if you find you have to change the darkness or lightness of an item.
At this point also it should be said that by using samples it is likely your eye will tell you if the colours you think are right for the room, do not actually do anything for the space.
Should the room include any upholstery, decide on the type and colour of this, together with the drapes at this stage. Again bringing samples into the room.
Light against dark can make a clear cut statement, usually though the use of different tones of a colour will achieve a better one scheme.
Time now for the walls and ceiling. Keep the ceiling light, unless very high, the walls a little darker with possibly one a different shade. Depending on whether or not the woodwork is a feature of the room, or just practical, keep to the same theme, possibly though using a contrast paint on any features to assent them - but not overly so.
Contrast colours can be introduced in the form of accessories, which can also be changed around depending on the time of year, keeping in line with the over all scheme.
The Munsell Colour System
An Overview
Constructing a colour-system that would provide standard samples according to a logical plan, whilst at the same time catering for the perceived affinity of colours, was achieved by an American painter, Albert Henry Munsell. His was not the first system, but has been acknowledged as being th most successful.
Professor Albert H Munsell created a colour system that would be a way of rationally describing colour, using decimal notation instead of names which he considered to be misleading.
An artist, Munsell started work on his system in 1898, the first publication of the full form colour notation was published in 1905, the newer Munsell book of colour continues to be used today.
The Munsell system specifies colours based on three colour dimensions, hue, lightness (called value) and chroma the difference from grey at a given hue and lightness.
Consisting of an irregular cylinder around the value axis, so dark colours are at the bottom of the cylinder and light at the top, measured from 0 (pure black) to 10 (pure white).
Each horizontal slice of the cylinder across the axis is a hue circle, which Munsell divided into five principal hues: red, yellow, green. blue and purple and five intermediates: yellow-red, green-yellow, blue-green, purple-blue and red purple.
Munsell hue is specified by selecting one of these ten hues, and then referring to the angle inside them from 1 to 10. The measurement of chroma is taken from the centre of the wheel outwards, with lower chroma being less saturated (ie pastels) There is no intrinsic upper limit to chroma.
Different areas of the colour space have different maximal chroma co-ordinates. For instance light yellow colours have considerably more potential chroma than light purples, due to the nature of the eye and the physics of colour stimuli.
These means there is a wide range of possible chroma levels and a chroma of 10 may or may not be maximal depending on hue and value.
A colour is truly specified by listing the three numbers, for example, a fairly saturated blue of medium lightness would be 5b 5/10 with 5b meaning the colour in the middle of the blue hue band 5/ meaning medium lightness, and a chroma of 10.
Although it was discovered the original idea had several embodied deficiencies, these were much improved in the 1929 Munsell Book of Colour, which is still widely used and has been the base for several colour measurement systems.
Colour information
