Making use of colour themes in your home styling might seem complicated at first glance, but once you know how colour affects the space and mood of your room you’ll realise how this plays a vital role in interior decorating.
When you approach home design, it’s easy to simply choose objects and colours that look attractive. Existing patterns or decor themes also often govern your decisions, but colour is a powerful tool that can be used to inspire emotions, create space illusions or simply set the mood and atmosphere in a room.
Different tones and shades affect how your interior feels. Warmer colours are more vibrant and tend to feel inviting and intimate. Colder colour themes create a soothing mood and bring calm to a space, while natural colour tones create an earthy, relaxed environment. There’s more to colour styling than first meets the eye, so I have compiled these tips to help you make your home interior fabulous.
1.Think about the architecture of the room.
This is one of the first things you should consider when choosing a colour palette. What are the tones of your flooring material, cupboards and existing furniture? Is the room small or spacious? Do you want to make the room feel bigger than it is? By paying attention to what you already have to work with you can reduce the almost infinite number of colour options down to some samples that will work with your home.
2.Create more space.
If you need a room to look larger than it really is, then bright colours are the answer. Light colours tend to feel more spacious and airy than darker tones and warmer colours will make a space feel smaller. Generally it’s a good idea to avoid using a flat white as an interior colour, not only does it show dirt easily but it tends to blend into the background which will create a much less effective sense of space than a tinted colour.
3.Decide where to apply the colours
Colour will always draw the eye so you need to think about where you want to apply colour in a room. Is there an area you want to draw attention to? Then consider having a feature wall of colour or patterned wallpaper. This way you can create a focal point for the room and you can apply colour accordingly to maximise the influence it has on a room. This is best seen in guest bathrooms and dining rooms which are often painted in strong, dark colours creating maximum impact, regardless of the size of the room.
4.Warm colours vs cool colours
It is important to understand the nature of warm and cool colours when selecting a theme. Warm colour themes range from yellow to red and cool colours stay in the blue and green zone. Warm colours are stimulating, so they are a great choice for social rooms and rooms that see a lot of activity. On the other end, cooler colour themes are generally perceived as soothing and calm – these are perfect for private rooms where concentration, tranquillity and rest are important. If you choose a neutral palette in your room, you can then use a stronger colour for an accent wall or bring in the accent colour with accessories like window finishes or throw cushions.
5.Now that you have a theme – reinforce
Once you have chosen a colour palette, put your interior decorating brain to work and carry the theme through the room with touches of colour in the furnishings. Go through your colour wheel and find some other shades that compliment your theme, use these to choose throw cushions or decorative items that will make your interior pop
6.Keep it personal.
You are the one who is going to have to live in the house you have designed – so make sure it works for you! Don’t let colour wheels or current trends keep you from following your own personal taste and creating a space that you’ll enjoy living in.
I hope you find this guide helpful when it comes to harnessing the power of colour in your next home makeover. I’d love to hear your tips and tricks on how you did your colour styling.
