ink
It’s time to reth
proach
the way you ap
ur to
adding colo
re’s
your home. He
rts say
what the expe
The quickest way to turn
any newbie decorator into a
wobbly mess is to show them
a pile of colour chips and ask
them to choose one to paint their
home. It seems that sometimes
you can have too much choice.
So what do you do when you
come to this point in your
decorating plan? You read on.
The crucial
first step
Before you think colour. Before
you rush off to get a pile of charts.
Before you even step inside a
hardware store you need to do
a little planning. “The creation
of a successful colour palette
needs to be based on how the
room is to be used and how the
inhabitants would like to feel in
that space,” says Luke Harrison
from the International School of
Colour and Design (ISCD). “Once
the mood is determined a colour
palette can be developed to
match that mood.”
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How to select
a mood
It might sound a little strange
at first, but you need to decide
on the mood you want in your
home before doing anything else.
To do this the ISCD suggests
writing down the following three
headers on a piece of paper:
mood, place and colour
family – then underneath jot
down the type of space you want
to create. For example, you might
want an engergetic space; live in
an urban environment; and prefer
yellow tones, or perhaps you
want to create a casual vibe, live
in a coastal area and love blues.
You may prefer a style that’s
sophisticated, live in the surburbs
and like neutral shades.
Take the
colour test
To create a colour palette from
scratch, you need to do some
research. Go to your local paint or
hardware store and select a range
of paint colour chip cards.
From this selection you should
choose your favourite. Then
select two colours slightly lighter
and two colours slightly darker.
Then add a neutral, such as
white, that goes with this scheme.
And choose another colour just
for fun. Most likely this will be
a complementary tone to your
palette. When you place all these
colours together on a piece of
paper you’ll find that you’ve
created a colour palette; one
that you can use throughout
your home and use as a guide
to not only paint your walls but
also for selecting vases, rugs,
fabrics, cushions – any decorative
element in your place.
Different
rooms,
different
colours
You can paint different colours
in different rooms of the house.
After all, each space has
a different purpose and need.
For example, the mood you
may want to create in your dining
room – talking and socialising
– is probably very different to
the mood you want to achieve
in the bedroom – resting and
relaxing. Some rooms welcome
stimulating colours – most often
the kitchen, dining and hallways.
Whereas in other spaces you
might want to tone down the
colour a notch – the living room
or study, for example. Just
remember that overall the
space has to feel unified.
Julie Johnstone, colour
development and logistics
manager with Dulux, suggests
standing in a room with the doors
open to see walls in an adjacent
room. “Look further than the
room that you’re painting and
take the next room on board.
Consider if you want it to be
complementary, contrasting,
similar or if you want the paint
colour to go down a few shades.”
writer natalie walton | photography snapper media (lifestyle shots);
acp digital library (paint splats)
colour
with
confidence
room by room
Dramatic decor
“Green is the most relaxing
and calming colour,” colour
expert Katrina Hill says.
But she says that when
colour blocking – even if it’s
just painting a white ceiling
or skirting against coloured
walls – you need to get the
harmony right. “If you use
a warm-based green on
the walls, you must use
a warm-based white rather
than a cool-based white.”
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123
Get the tone right
“Red can work in living
environments if it’s muted,”
Katrina Hill says. That’s
why this room is successful.
However, for fire-engine
reds, it’s best to save them
for areas that people only
pass through, such as
hallways or staircases.
what mood are you in?
The ISCD has come up with this list of colours
and how different people respond to them. Circle
the response you have to each colour and you’ll
soon get a sense of your colour palette. You can
take it one step further and select a range of
colour chips in the colour you think you want to
paint your room or home, such as green, and
note how you feel about each hue until you settle
on one that meets your needs.
Red stimulating, hot, passionate, menacing, dangerous
Yellow warm, sunny, bright, happy, mellow, sickly
Blue cool, pure, clean, cold, melancholic, oppressive
Orange cheerful, warm, zingy, dominant
Green calm, natural, fresh, restorative, cold
Purple rich, sophisticated, spiritual, sombre, cheap
Pink soft, soothing, feminine, romantic, fun, sugary, sickly
Gold expensive, prestigious, mellow, decorative, brash
Silver cool, sharp, sophisticated, functional, cold
White pure, clean, light, cold
Black dramatic, elegant, sophisticated, depressing, sinister
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room by room
Light show
Zsa Zsa lamp in Red,
$275, MRD Home.
Comfy & colourful
Cushions (from top): Vivid
Red Irina, $39.95, Etoile,
$79.95, and Chitresh, $39.95,
Country Road.
Cool in chrome
Alto round side table
with chrome legs,
$249, Freedom.
red
Vibrant vessel
Squat jar in
Rouge, $79.95,
Rouge Living.
How to do
“Red is a sensational colour.
It commands attention so if it is
going to be used in an interior it’s
going to be a scene stealer,” says
Luke from ISCD. “If you don’t
want to paint your walls red,
consider using it in unexpected
ways. Red can really radiate in
entranceways, passageways and
small spaces that are not really
lived in. Consider an unexpected
scarlet hallway or painting
the back of your door a
cheeky fire-engine red.”
Red looks great in
kitchens combined
with deep charcoal
and crisp white, says
Lucy Sutherland, a
colour spokesperson
for Wattyl Paints.
Also, colour expert
Katrina Hill says small
spaces look best in dark
colours because they make
the walls recede and
so the room appears larger.
Dulux
“Cherry Race”
Bright bowls
Sunshine resin
bowls: small, $60,
medium, $80, and
large, $120,
Dinosaur Designs.
British Paints
“Ritzy Red”
Reading red
Bergsbo bookcase
in Red with glass
doors, $519, Ikea.
Colour rules
Hot seat
Skruvsta swivel
armchair in Alme
Red, $229, Ikea.
Statement stool
Marcia stool in Red,
$295, Globe West.
Scarlet stripes
Sveje rug in Red &
White (1.5m x 90cm),
$19.99, Ikea.
pops of colour
If painting a room or wall in a
strong colour is too brave for you,
introduce colour in your furniture
and furnishings. We’ve rounded
up some fun products for each
of our chosen colour schemes
– red, green and yellow (see
above and over the page) to get
you started. Just remember that
it’s best to have a few little hits
of colour – even if it’s only a fleck
in some fabric and a few vases
– rather than leaving one colourful
item stranded in a room.
Here are some tried and tested
rules to creating a successful
colour scheme in your home.
● Create a theme and mood
for your home and use this as
the starting point for your paint
palette. (See box on the opposite
page for guidance.)
● Always consider the floors
when deciding on your scheme
– it’s one of the most dominating
colour surfaces in the room.
● Your whole interior – from
lighting to furniture and fabrics
– should tie in with your palette. It
doesn’t have to be matchy-matchy
but it does have to be considered.
● Have a continuity of colour
theme throughout your home.
Think of it as a thread that
weaves through each room.
● Consider the aspect of a
room when deciding on a paint
colour. Generally, choose cool
colours for north-facing rooms
and warmer colours for parts
of your home that face south.
● When using dark colours on
your walls, such as this vibrant
red (see left), it’s a good idea to
use artificial light through
lamps to illuminate specific areas,
says Julie Johnstone from Dulux.
real living
125
Mellow yellow
Snille visitors chair,
$34.99, Ikea.
Smooth curves
Inside ¾ Dome pendant
in White & Green, $99.95,
Beacon Lighting.
Win!
Dulux is giving away 10 Dulux
Once paint vouchers worth
$200 each to real living readers.
Turn to page 161 for details of the
competition and how to enter.
Grassy green
Hampen rug
in Green (1.33m x
1.95m), $99, Ikea.
Porter’s Paints
“Caprioska”
Soft touch
Gelati Square
cushion in Lime,
$29.95, Rouge Living
Dulux
“Vitalize”
Time for
lime
S&P “Zone”
wall clock
(30cm),
$49.95,
selected
homewares
stores.
Feeling fruity
Faience (non-clay based ceramic)
Vitamin container bowl by Ole
Jensen, $195, Great Dane Furniture.
Standout
stool
Twiggy
barstool,
$275,
Globe West.
Fun ‘n’ funky
Verner Panton
“Flowerpot” lamp,
$395, Great Dane
Furniture.
Subtle shades
Cushions in
Chartreuse (from
top): Allona and
Briane, $49.95
each, and
Kermena, $59.95,
Country Road.
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Groovy green
Sombrero side
table, $700,
Mamagreen.
Can be used
outdoors, too.
green
How to do
“Green is a great decorating
colour,” says Lucy Sutherland of
Wattyl Paints. “Use a soft yellow
green (Wattyl “Lemon Verbena”
or Tea Ceremony) as a core
colour on walls combined
with deep navy (Wattyl
“Midnight Seas”), crisp white or
dark purples (Wattyl “Imperium”).”
“The really important thing is
that the colours you choose have
harmony,” says Katrina Hill. “They
should have the same bases – so
the same amount of cleanliness,
dirtyness, brightness or
mutedness.” As long as you don’t
mix warm-based and cool-based
colours you will achieve
harmony in a room.
Formula
for colour
confidence
Porter’s Paints managing director
Peter Lewis has a tried and tested
formula for creating confidence:
Have a plan “If you know
what carpet, flooring and
fabrics (such as bedlinen)
are in a room then life’s easy,”
he says. “Pick a background
colour from the fabric and use
this on your wall. It will all go
together really well.”
“If you use 10 per cent
of your wall colour on
the ceiling you’ll make
a room look grander.”
“Choose a slightly darker
or complementary colour
on your woodwork and
you will have a formula for colour
confidence,” he says.
1
2
3
Get it right | 3 tips from
architect and interior designer
Scott Weston; swad.com.au
1 Look at your home’s intrinsic
bones (timberwork/picture rails)
that you can work with to introduce
solid blocks of colour.
2 Make sure the colour is suited to
the room’s function. For example,
a library room could embrace a rich
red while a strong feature wall in
a child’s room can be balanced with
an opposite joinery colour.
3 Once you’ve decided on a room’s
main colours, find fittings and fixtures
that are within that range/hue. “We
call it ‘flavours of the main
colour’. Then paint the room in the
colour and provide an equally strong
floor colour or accent. Then think
of the furniture, artwork and soft
furnishings as players on the stage
and arrange accordingly,” he says.
room by room
Colour tricks
“Yellow is a colour
of great cheer and
happiness,” Katrina
Hill says. “It can also
replicate the sun in
spaces that are dark
and dull.”
you can contrast
colours, just keep
tones the same
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127
yellow is a very
energetic colour
that can add fun and
excitement to a room
Bold & beautiful
One vibrant yellow wall in a space can create the perfect backdrop to showcase unusual
artworks and simple black items of furniture as shown here. The key is to not to go over
the top with the yellow palette but to use it to highlight special pieces or nooks.
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room by room
Contemporary clock
Plug Inn metal wall clock
in Black (60cm), $149.95,
Profile Products.
Cool to cluster
Marlo vase (at back), and
bowl (front), $49.95 each,
Marlo candleholders,
$7.95 each for 7cm, $34.95
for 15.5cm, Metro Style.
Good
to know
Simple
structure
Lennox coat
rack in Black,
$179.95,
Metro Style.
Splurge item!
Box Nobis side table
in Ebony (height 55cm),
$1195, Globe West.
Bargain buy
Muddus drop-leaf table
in Yellow, $99, Ikea.
yellow
How to do
Abstract object
Muuto “Closely
Separated” vase,
$195, Great
Dane Furniture.
Dine or display
S&P “Resort” geometrics
dinner plate in Green
& Black, $7.75, selected
homewares stores.
Yellow is a very energetic colour
and can add fun and excitement to
a room. “It’s an excellent colour
that draws the eye, so punches
of yellow should be used to
highlight a special piece of
furniture, a nook or an object,”
says Luke from ISCD.
Lucy agrees that yellow
can be tricky. “But brownbased leather and caramel
tones of yellow make a lovely
warm enveloping scheme for
bedrooms and studies,” she says.
“Otherwise use bright yellow as
an accent colour in small pieces.”
Still stuck?
Taubmans
“Sunblest Poppy”
New Look
“Ritz”
from Paint Place
Luxe lounging
Bella casual
outdoor
armchair,
$1155, Robert
Plumb. Also
available in
Espresso or
a wide range
of Dulux
powdercoated
colours.
“You don’t have to reinvent the
wheel; it’s all been done before,”
says architect and interior designer
Scott Weston. Copy looks from
books and magazines. Lucy
Sutherland advises to use proven
colour combos that someone
has already tried and tested. Use
colour palettes and schemes
from paint companies, such as
Wattyl’s Designer Card range with
three combos in each range.
Porter’s Paints has recently
developed a new range of colours
called Tang. “We’re the masters
of the ‘dirty’ colours so we
wanted to introduce something
interesting,” says Porter’s Paints
managing director Peter Lewis.
“Most bright paint colours are
often shallow and don’t have
depth. But we’ve created depth
to super brights.” The range will
be released in March; see
porterspaints.com.au
How to: distribute
colour | The ISCD says
the easiest way to distribute
colour in your home is to use:
1 A neutral or pale version of a
dominant colour in the largest area.
2 A dominant colour to create mood
– subtly repeat it in the space.
3 An accent colour to be used
in the smallest proportion.
4 Bright and warm-toned colours
to “advance” (draw the eye) in
a room, and cool and dark colours
to “recede” (blend easily).
Visit the International School of Colour
& Design website at iscd.com.au
Sunny side up!
Trollsta side table in Yellow,
$159, Ikea. Also in Black.
For stockists, see page 160.
real living
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