Magic of Colour (part 3)

Using Pattern


Like colour, pattern tends to intimidate those who are not used to working with it. For creating interest, depth and sheer visual richness, however, there are few design tools more potent. If you are equally tempted and dismayed by the possibilities on offer, there are two main tactics you can employ t reduce the risk of failure: either choose all your patterns from a range of coordinated fabrics, wallpapers and accessories, or begin in a low-key way with one or two small areas of pattern, then add more as your confidence and style sense develop. The first option is certainly the safest one, but the result often has a sterile, showroom feel and inevitably lacks the originality and sparkle of a scheme that you have sourced and put together yourself.

Guidelines for Success

Also in common with colour, patterns can grouped according to type: formal and elegant, cheerful and cosy, bold and graphic, opulent and exotic, or simple and fresh. To put together a successful mix, choose several examples with a similar feeling classic gingham checks and artless country florals, for example, rich paisley weaves and oriental rugs, African motifs and modern geometric shapes, or period stripes and traditional chintzes.

When you're using fabric and wallpaper samples to experiment with different combinations, you'll get a much more accurate idea of how they'll look if you approximate the comparative size of each one to its intended purpose in the finished room. If, for example, you are looking at a collection of patterns-some for the wallpaper, some for the sofa and some for throw cushions - arranging sizable lengths of paper with medium-sized squares of sofa fabric and small swatches of cushion material will give you a much clearer idea of the final effect than playing with same-size cuttings of all the design under consideration.

The magic of colour (Part 2)

Solid Ground


In the end, the only appropriate basis for choosing a colour is that you feel good about it and it suits your home and the way you live. All too often, though, inexperience leaves the first-time decorator vulnerable to unwholesome influences. Of these, the most prevalent are fashion and cowardice. Like decorating styles, fashionable colours change from year to year and keeping up with every new furnishing can be considerablym more costly than updating your wardrobe. It's also true that the relentless pursuit of novelty sometimes throws the spotlight on shades that are as impractical and unflattering as they are unusual.

Perhaps the most widespread of all incentives for choosing room colours, however, is timidity. Although the past few years have seen an encouraging burst of enthusiasm for colour, millions of walls are still being painted white or off-white because they're regarded as 'safe' and they 'go with everything'. There's no doubt that decorating palettes based on pale, neutral tints can look stunning, but only when the choice is a positive and informed one, not a design cop-out. Keep in mind, too, that pure white walls are best suited to parts of the world where natural light is abundant. In more temperate climes (and darkish rooms) they tend to take on a grey
and dingy cast. To increase the impression of light, choose soft, white witha hint of pink, yellow or apricot, or be brave and opt for a full-blooded version of one of these warmer hues. And unless you're prepared for the harsh glare of chemical brighteners, steer clear of any tin marked 'brilliant' white.

Test an Trial

Not surprisingly, large areas of colour - walls, floors, curtains and upholstery- tend to inspire the most anxiety, which is perfectly understandable, since mistakes on this scale are not only difficult to ignore, but also very expensive, Before you commit yourself to any of these major elements, try to get hold of decent-sized samples of all the options so you can see them in sit. When it comes to paint, postage-stamp sized squares on a colour card will not do the job. Most manufacturers sell sample pots of all their standard colours. Buy one of each shade you're considering, brush the colours onto separate strips of plain lining paper and pin them to the wall. If your favourite shades need to be specially moxed, don't hesitate to pay for a small tinof each one.
Similarly, the swatches of carpet and furnishing fabric that most stores give away are of very little practical use, but many suppliers will let you have more generous samples - especially of carpet- if you leave a small, returnable deposit. Again, if small fabric cuttings are all that's on offer, invest in lenghts of two or three metres that you can tuck over a curtain rail or drape across a chair. When your samples are in place, leave them there for a week or two so that you can see how each one looks throughtout the day, and in different lights. You will find that living with the alternatives over a period of time leads you almost unconsciously towards your final choice.

THE MAGIC OF COLOUR

Tricks Of the Eye

One of the most familiar of all decorating dictums is the rule that pale colours make a room look bigger, while darker ones reduce its perceived size. While this is certainly true,it's worth bearing in mind that there are other ways of achieving similar results. One of the most successful tactics is to choose the same colour treatment for walls, ceiling and woodwork: this kind of visual simplification not only makes a room feel more spacious, it also disguise any awkward shapes and ugly features. Use the same device to make a huge, but infinitely practical chest of drawers or cupboard less obtrusive by painting it to match the walls. Similarly, choosing white to make a ceiling appear higher is seldom necessary and often counter productive since a dramatic change in tone between ceiling and wall accentuates, rather than disguises, any proportional inadequacies.

As a general rule, the closer in tone all the surfacesand furnishing elements are to each other,the closer in tone all the surfaces and furnishing elements are to each other, the more spacious a room will seem. This doesn't mean that everything has to be the same colour, but if enhancing the impression of space is your top priority, then cameo pink walls witha matching ceiling combined with say, natural flooring, furniture made from blond wood and rich, creamy curtains would be more successful than the extreme contrasts of dark, stained floorboards, white walls and multi-hued furnishings. It's important, though, to avoid becoming obsessed with this concept; after all, making rooms appear a little bit bigger or higher is much less important than creating an attractive and inviting home.



Changing Moods

Whatever your personal preferences, each colour has its own specific qualities that affect everyone. Strong, bright tones are naturally much more potent than light, chalky ones. Soft,subtle versions of green, blue, mauve, pink and apricot are tranquil and soothing shades: use them for living areas, bedrooms and bathrooms. Sunny yellow, rich red, deep rose, burnt orange and baked terracotta, on the other hand, have a strongly energizing effect. These colours are well suited to areas such as dining rooms and hallways, which are not used for relaxation, and where people tend not linger for extended periods. For kitchens and workrooms, look for middle-range tones that cheer and stimulate without overpowering the senses.

In many cases, the particular shade you choose is more important than the basic colour.Ochre-based banana yellow, for instance, adds a flattering glow to even the smallest, darkest space and lifts the spirits immediately, while a lemony tint is apt to take on a greenish cash whenever the sun disappears, and it is very unsetting to live with in large quantities. In the same way, pale aqua and watery eau de nil are calming and easy on the eye, whereas grey-tinged shades such asa airforce blue and pea green can feel chilly and unwelcoming in both temperature and mood, and large expanses of brighter shades like cobalt blue and grass green are more likely to induce headaches than alleviate tension.


Colour Harmony

Aim to think in terms of colour groups instead of basing your choices on the more traditional concept of the colour wheel, or trying to match individual tones precisely. On the whole, colours of the same intensity and type work well together: tender pastels, 1950s dayglo shades, dusty earth tones, clear primaries and candy pinks and oranges. Some of the most common decorating failures result from a dramatic imbalance among the dominant colours; some shades are dark, vivid or muddy, while others are light and clear. A sofa covered in deep saffron, for example, will sit uncomfortably against an anaemic off-white or baby-blue wall. To complement its intensity, choose a background shade of similar visual weight, such as Tuscan pink or watery aquamarine.