Colour your home as nature intended
Home Design September 28th, 2009
I wish I had a dollar for every book and article I’ve seen about creating colour schemes for homes. Okay, I know there is a certain science to colour and that professionals like me need rules and guidelines, especially when pushing aesthetic boundaries or working on big complex projects. But for the average person who just wants to make a house a home, why should the subject of colour seem so technical and daunting? It’s amazing to me that many people who are highly confident and competent in so many other areas of life are suddenly lost when it comes to making colour choices for their home.
Now, I am a designer, but, for the average person, choosing colours for a home is the simplest of all matters. I say this because colour and colour combinations are everywhere and we are all influenced by them every day, whether we realise it or not.
It's easy to imagine how these delicate colours would create a restful and romantic bedroom.
Here’s an example. Imagine that on a day you’re feeling a little down a friend presents you with a beautiful bunch of flowers. Just by looking at those flowers you feel loved and nurtured. So imagine what colour those flowers would be? For me, they’d be soft pinks and creamy whites. Suddenly there’s the inspiration for a colour scheme in, say, my bedroom – a place where rest, emotional security and nurturing are all important.
Similarly, think about colours that make you feel happy then use those colours in your home’s communal areas to encourage fun, laughter and feelings of togetherness. Also think about colours you don’t like. If red aggravates you, don’t use it in a place of rest, or better still, just don’t use it. And if beige and brown make you feel bored and dull, simply cull them from your decorating palette. A great way to start thinking about colours and how they make you feel is to grab a box of coloured pencils and some paper and then ask some basic questions like: What’s my favourite colour? What colour do I loathe? What colour makes me laugh? What colour makes me feel cold? What colour makes me feel peaceful? You get the idea.
These are wonderful examples of how you could use vivid accent colours in your home.
The next place I go to for colour inspiration is nature and the outside world. Nature is like a living design palette and you’ll find colour inspiration for your home decor at every turn. A perfect example is the beach. What designer could better nature’s combination of sand and sea? Or, pick any flower and study the way the colours are graduated and combined. Look at the coat of an animal, see the colours at play and create a modified version of that scheme for your home. There are so many examples I could go on with, but I’m hoping the concept explains itself and you’ll soon be finding your own inspirations.
Of course, if you’d prefer to take a more technical and traditional approach to colour, you’ll find plenty of expert know-how and loads of advice on how to get it right in the articles Picking colours for your home and Colour selection rules for your home. But whichever way you decide to go, I do hope you enjoy the process of bringing colour into your home as much as I do.
