COLOUR SCHEME FOR SMALL SPACE

Finding a Color Scheme

If you feel helpless when it comes to picking and blending colors, your answer could be as far away as your nearest pillow. Here is a quick way to create a color scheme for your home with PICK - SEE -LMD . PICK a Pattern: Starting with a pattern is the easiest way to create a color palette for your decor. Choose a pattern from any object you already have and love such as a pillow, picture or piece of furniture. This will be your color palette ! SEE 3 Colors: Select a light, medium and dark color from your pattern to be used as your foundation. You may want to go to a hardware store and select color chips from the paint department that match your pattern to carry with you in case you come across a great find and need to know if it matches. LMD: Light, Medium and Dark - How you use these colors can affect the overall appearance of your room. Light- Is the Background- this is usually easy to achieve since most rentals are equipped with light to off-white walls. Medium- Large furniture and windows - Since the color of these objects will blend with the above lighter selection, the medium furniture will ground the room and give it a foundation. Darker- Accessories. Since your eye is drawn to a darker more intense color you will be able to arrange you accessories in a manner to guide the eye flowing through your room. PICK - SEE - LMD Use it whenever you are trying to pull together a color coordinated room! By Tammy Jo Schoppet

Choosing Color

Choosing the right colors is the first step to great interior design. It is not so easy to select the right color of paint or wallpaper or the right carpet color to deliver the desired results. All too often, a color that looks ideal on a small paint sample erupts into a different color when you apply it to a wall. A subdued light champagne yellow paint color turns into a screeching sour lemon yellow on the walls, an olive carpet winds up brown, and a very light tint of any paint color turns out white. Interior design colors in an office space must also be mindful of the mood they will convey. Some studies have shown that colors can play a significant role in how we feel and the energy we have.

Factors Influencing the Use of Color

Here are some factors influencing the use of color in space design: The time of day the area will be used the most The type of light it will receive The relation of colors surrounding it The size of the area The purpose of the space Color and light go hand in hand in interior designing. Each type of light bulb furnishes a different color accentuation. Halogen is very close to the full spectrum of sunlight while incandescent lamps are on the warm, orange scale. Fluorescent lamps are usually more blue (though some are called full-spectrum). It is important to see your color choice in the lamps to be used. Each will show the color in a different way.

Three Basic Elements

Here are the three basic elements to color and interior design: Hue - the color itself - Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, etc. Value - the relative lightness or darkness of a color, whiteness or blackness. Intensity - the saturation or brightness of a color. The mixture of these design elements induces psychological and emotional reactions. Surrounding colors support various moods and activities, from resting and dreaming to socializing and working. It's best to consider carefully the requirements of the space to create a successful interior design.

General Categories of Color

Colors fall into three general categories: Warm Cool Neutral The way we mix those colors along with attention to value, can enhance the use of color in interior design and communicate explicit messages. Warm colors in interior design convey excitement and energy. Cool colors are calming and relaxing. Neutral colors are unifying and help us to focus better. Different spaces within a home or office may need different colors depending on the purpose of the space. Interior design colors in office design can be essential to the image and mood that is created thus helping productivity and enriching aesthetics.

Color Psychology

When selecting interior paint colors, it is important to consider the emotional effects of the chosen color design. Color psychology is the examination of colors and their influences on mental and physical states. While many interior designers utilize principles of color psychology when working with clients, there are also color consultants who specialize in color matching and the selection of interior paint colors. Reasons to Hire a Professional Designer Do you need to hire a designer for your project? That depends... on you , on your available free time, patience, creativity or lack thereof, list of resources, interest, and much more. Here are some guidelines to help you decide if you should hire a professional. You might want to hire a professional designer if... You have little or no free time to coordinate and shop for home decor items. You feel completely overwhelmed by the number of choices available. You need help with space planning, lighting design, kitchen layouts, or bathroom renovations. You want someone else to deal with the hassles of ordering, shipping, coordinating, and installing. You want to have quality work done but don't have your own list of reliable workmen, installers, and resources. You've tried to decorate your home and have purchased a few nice items, but really need help pulling it all together. You want a cohesive color scheme and design that can be carried throughout your home. You think you have pretty good taste, but would like to move up a few notches in style. You've torn out photos of rooms you like, but are unsure of how to coordinate some of the elements. You and your partner can't seem to agree on anything for your home. You've found a gorgeous sofa in a decorating magazine, but it's available "to the trade" only. You want some custom designed furniture, cabinetry, fireplaces, built-ins, murals, faux finishes, etc. You don't know what new products, fabrics, or appliances are available that might be used for your project. Your bonus finally came through and you want something new, something different, something fabulous. You have a new job and now need to upgrade your home for corporate entertaining. Your home is from a particular period, has a specific style, or has an unusual design and you need assistance in selecting appropriate furnishings. You're tired of buying things here and there without an overall plan. You're very creative but don't know where to start with your current decorating project. You'd like more choices in fabrics, flooring, and furniture than are available in local stores. You've never seen a source for the look you really wantfor your home. You're planning to build a new home and are wondering if any interior specifications should be changed before work begins. You've seen the "perfect" room in a decorator show house and would like to hire that designer to help you.

The Mind and Color

Because it is a fairly new area of investigation, color psychology is looked at with some hesitation by the majority of psychologists. This is often because cultures around the world can have conflicting meanings for the same colors. However, ancient cultures such as the Chinese and Egyptians did believe in the healing powers of color and their effects on well-being. Color consultants have also observed emotional reactions to colors in addition to physical responses. Because of these effects, color consultants feel that interior paint colors can have a considerable influence on the inhabitants of any space. The process of color matching based on each client's situation will result in custom combinations of interior paint colors. The basic categories used by color consultants include: Warm colors - red, orange, and yellow. Cool colors - blue, green, and violet. Neutral colors - white, black, and gray.

The Effects of Color As color consultants analyze a client's personal interior design style, there are specific criteria that are used to ensure proper color matching for each client's needs. Here are some of the commonly accepted mental and physical connotations of interior paint colors: Red Positive - passion, love, excitement, fire, strength, courage. Negative - anger, war, danger. Effects - increased respiration, blood pressure, appetite, and metabolism. Orange Positive - happiness, endurance, stimulation, enthusiasm, determination, attraction. Negative - heat. Effects - increased mental activity, appetite, and energy. Yellow Positive - cheerfulness, sunshine, energy, joy, intelligence, honor. Negative - deception, cowardice, caution. Effects - increased mental activity, awareness, and energy. Blue Positive - tranquility, loyalty, truth, depth, confidence, trust, sincerity, expertise, masculinity. Negative - depression, solemnity, coldness. Effects - increased calm and satisfaction. Green Positive - safety, nature, restfulness, growth, fertility, harmony, newness, security, money. Negative - greed, envy, jealousy, ignorance. Effects - improved healing and relaxation. Violet Positive - power, wealth, dignity, royalty, luxury, magic, wisdom, drama, mystery, ambition, creativity, femininity. Negative - snobbery, gloominess. Effects - increased creativity and intuition. White Positive - cleanliness, innocence, purity, kindness, light, simplicity. Negative - chilliness, sterility, emptiness. Effects - increased sense of sophistication and sanitation. Black Positive - formality, night, elegance, mystery, prestige, power. Negative - evil, death, fear, grief, depression. Effects - increased sense of sophistication and depth. Gray Positive - wisdom, atonement, intelligence, industry, futuristic. Negative - dreariness, storminess, boredom. Effects - increased sense of sophistication and calm.