Colour has the ability to completely transform your home, there is no exact science, and the most important thing is that you love it. However, to make it work you will need to do a bit of planning. Follow our handy tips on how to select your perfect colour scheme.
1. Choose your inspiration - The common mistake we often make when deciding upon a colour scheme is to go directly to what colour you want to paint the walls, when actually it is better to base your design around an image or item that you want to feature in your room. This could be a piece of furniture, a patterned fabric, or striking wallpaper. Pull out the main shades from this base and plan the rest of your room around those. We would recommend choosing between 3 -5 different shades.
2. Create a good balance - Colours vary in lightness and darkness of a hue, also known as its colour value. A carefully considered balance of hues sets the mood of a room and helps draw the eye to the right places. We suggest choosing one light, one dark and one bright colour for each room. Think about how you want the room to feel, light and bright/dark and moody. From this you can decide which hue will be the most dominant.
3. The Impact of Lighting – The type and amount of light there is in a room will have a significant effect on how your colour scheme looks. Collect samples of colours you have chosen and leave them in your room for a few days. Visit you room during different times during the day and notice how this impacts your colour scheme. You will soon get a feel if changes need to be made.
4. Colour doesn’t have to be permanent – Long term decisions on colour can be daunting. Instead why not go for a neutral back ground on walls, floors and expensive furniture and then add your colour scheme through your use of accessories. Soft furnishings, such as rugs, cushions and blankets are a perfect way to bring colour in whilst adding some pattern and texture as well. Wall art, planters, vases, ornaments are also great ways of bringing non-permanent colour in.
5. Plan your home – Planning your entire home can be overwhelming and over time you are likely to change your mind on things, and that is ok. We suggest planning room by room keeping one or two key colours that appear in each one, ranging in their dominance to suit each space. The same can be applied to open planned living.