All the Right Hues

by Adrian How

Those who know colour schemes well use that to their advantage to create stunning homes without having to buy the best furnishing or the most expensive accents.Most people know that dark colours usually make a space look smaller while pale colours have the opposite effect. But knowing this alone isn’t enough to help you aptly choose the right colour scheme for your home.

What colour should my walls be? Let’s look at the main colour contributor in any home — the walls. Ever been in a room and immediately get a headache but didn’t know why? Exit the room and instantly feel better? You’ve just been affected by the colour scheme! While I can’t say for sure what colours you should avoid, there are guidelines to select apt colours for your walls. As most people can’t mentally visualise the outcome, they find that the colour charts provided by paint companies usually turn out a different shade. If you want to have bold colours in your living room or bedroom, the rule of thumb is, choose three or four colours that you would like for a room — you will apply these colours to your walls and furnishing.

One colour must be the dominant colour while another colour should be used half as much as the dominant colour. The third and fourth colours are used sparingly as accents. If you already have furniture in the room, select a shade that is similar or complements the fabric colours on your sofa. Note that contrasting colours will accentuate the structural details of your room, but extreme contrasts will leave your guests too distracted to fully enjoy the effort you’ve put into the room. How do I choose colours? Before even deciding on the colours, know what your room is to be used for, and how much natural light usually gets let in. Colours have characteristics that are augmented differently in natural or artificial light.

For example, red or pink look much deeper in artificial light compared to blues and greens that may look washed out. For gloomy rooms — spaces which get little or no natural light — warm colours such as orange, red and yellow are usually applied to make the surfaces appear to be “advancing” or draw closer and create a more lively effect. Rooms with an abundance of natural light are usually painted with cool colours such as blue or green.

This can have a “receding” effect which seems to maximise space and create a more airy feel. In interior decorating, there are no hard and fast rules for anything, and these rules can be broken yet still produce stunning effects. What if I decide to paint my ceiling? Painting your ceiling a dark or bold colour will instantly create the effect of your ceiling looking lower than it actually is. Asian homes trend towards maximising space, but having the ceiling looking lowered can have a cosy and pleasant effect, too. The opposite effect is achieved by painting your ceiling a bright or pale colour. If your home uses plaster ceiling with the L-box variety, a commonly used theme is to paint the concrete part of your ceiling the same colour as your wall and the plastered portion a brilliant superwhite.

This will accentuate the plaster ceiling design from the contrast in colours (assuming that your wall isn’t white). A good and cheap way to set up a feature wall is to paint it in a different colour from the rest of the space. Painting a small piece of wall is definitely going to be cheaper than wallpapering or tiling to create a feature wall effect. In fact, the feature wall in my home is painted a bright orange and I placed a console table — waist high and slightly less than the width of my feature wall — to accentuate the space.

What about colours for my furniture? The rule of thumb is to not get furniture that is the same colour as the dominant colour in your room. Get furniture that complements the colour of the room. If you’re going to have a lot of wooden furniture, it’s best to have cool tones for your room to accentuate the darker woody tones of your furniture.

If you have a light-coloured sofa, then bold wall colours will create a stunning effect. Unless your walls are a shade of chlorophyll green, plants are usually safe additions. Get creative by using solid-coloured pots, which contrast with the dominant colour of the room. Similarly, for artwork, they stand out best when they contrast against the wall on which they are hung.

Colour schemes in a nutshell:

- Warm colours create an “advancing” feel — drawing the walls closer to you — while cool colours create a “receding” feel — maximising space.

- Neutral colours complement spaces where natural wood or wood finishes are applied. Examples of natural colours are cream, beige and light brown.

- Having several shades of red within a room can create a romantic feel. Best applied to dining halls and bedrooms.

- Pale colours reflect light. Dark colours absorb light. More artificial lighting is needed in rooms with strong and dark colours.

- In spaces where you will not have a lot of furniture or furnishing, you may want to try clashing colours to provide a dramatic feel. Apply neutral furnishing to prevent making the space look gaudy.

- When in doubt, instead of going ahead and painting the wall a colour you might regret, try decorating the space with simple accents such as lamps, ornaments and even pillows which have the colour you had planned for the wall. If it looks good, chances are high that you won’t regret painting the wall with that colour you had in mind

originally written for the NSTP