Choosing Colours
Thinking about using one of these colours in your next decorative scheme?
Then read on for the pros and cons of using these colours in your home!
BLUE
PROS: From palest baby blue to dark indigo, shades and tones of blue are an extremely popular colour for decorative schemes. Reminiscent of the sea and sky, shades of blue can create a calm, relaxing, fresh feel. In particular, powdery, pale, soft tones of blue remind us of babies and create a gentle, calm atmosphere. Blue and white New England style schemes can feel summery and fresh.
CONS: Too much blue can make a room feel cold, so make sure you break up the blue with other colours.
RED
PROS: Vibrant, strong and powerful, red can make us feel alive and energetic. Deep red tones are an ever-popular choice for dining rooms, as can create a warm and inviting feel.
CONS: Too much red can be aggressive and over-powering, and can make a room feel dark and oppressive. Break it up with paler colours or, in a dining room, use different textures and careful lighting to make sure the room is inviting and atmospheric rather than oppressive.
BLACK
PROS: A fashionable, striking colour for decorative schemes, black is bold, daring and can create a real 'wow' factor!
CONS: Too much black in a room is oppressive and depressing! Ensure you break the black up with plenty of white or cream, and use a variety of textures to create interest. In smaller rooms consider using black only in your accessories, to avoid an oppressive feel.
WHITE
PROS: Another fashionable colour, decorative schemes that are mostly white are cool, have a designer feel and can be very peaceful and restful.
CONS: Not a practical colour, especially if you have young children! Too much white can create a cold, stark, clinical feel, so make sure you add lots of texture to add interest and depth to the scheme.
GREEN
PROS: A timeless colour, shades and tones of green creat calm, serene decorative schemes.
CONS: Too much green can be dull and old-fashioned. Using strong contrasting colours such as chocolate can lift a green scheme, giving it interest and depth and a contemporary twist.
YELLOW
PROS: Yellow is a cheerful colour that can create a lovely, bright, fresh feel in a room. It is a particularly popular choice for kitchens, especially country style kitchens. Pale lemon shades look especially pretty.
CONS: Some shades of yellow can be garish and an eyesore, so choose carefully! Yellow can also look old-fashioned, which is fine for a more traditional look, but for a contemporary twist try using a contrast colour such as chocolate to update the look.
CREAM
PROS: Decorating in cream can create a calm, light, appealing and contemporary scheme.
CONS: Avoid the "magnolia" look - too much bland cream can be dull and boring! Use a variety of shades and textures to prevent this, and to keep the look interesting and contemporary.
CHOCOLATE
PROS: An extremely popular contemporary colour, using chocolate in decorative schemes creates a fashionable, modern look. Chocolate is also a great base colour that creates a fantastic contrast with many other colours, giving room schemes depth and interest.
CONS: Some people play it safe and stick to just tones of chocolate and cream in their decorating schemes. This is okay, but for a much more interesting and "wow" factor look, try adding touches of another colour, such as pink, blue, green or turquoise, to bring the scheme to life.
PINK
PROS: Pink is a fantastic colour that comes in a vast array of shades, ranging from sweet pastel pink, to deeper rose pink, to vibrant fuschia. It can be traditional, such as in rose pink, or contemporary, such as in cerise. Pink is a fabulous girly colour (although it is becoming an increasingly fashionable colour in men's clothing) and is incredibly versatile in that it can be used to create either sweet, pretty room schemes or stunning "wow" factor designs.
CONS: Too much pink can be sickly sweet or, in the case of fuschia and cerise, overpowering. Use appropriate contrast colours to add variety to schemes. Other than that, at Hot Pink Angels we thoroughly recommend pink!
PURPLE
PROS: Mauves and lilacs can create very feminine, soft, serene room schemes, whilst purples and aubergines can be used to create a rich, deep scheme.
CONS: Tends to be a colour people either love or hate! Pale mauves and lilacs can look grey and dull depending on the lighting in a room, and purples or aubergines can look dark and over-powering. To avoid these problems, use soft creams and whites alongside mauve and lilac to lift these colours.
Copyright Hot Pink Angels 2008.
DISCLAIMER: Hot Pink Angels provide suggestions and ideas as to the interior design of homes; the decision to act on such suggestions or ideas is the responsibility of the individual
Then read on for the pros and cons of using these colours in your home!
BLUE
PROS: From palest baby blue to dark indigo, shades and tones of blue are an extremely popular colour for decorative schemes. Reminiscent of the sea and sky, shades of blue can create a calm, relaxing, fresh feel. In particular, powdery, pale, soft tones of blue remind us of babies and create a gentle, calm atmosphere. Blue and white New England style schemes can feel summery and fresh.
CONS: Too much blue can make a room feel cold, so make sure you break up the blue with other colours.
RED
PROS: Vibrant, strong and powerful, red can make us feel alive and energetic. Deep red tones are an ever-popular choice for dining rooms, as can create a warm and inviting feel.
CONS: Too much red can be aggressive and over-powering, and can make a room feel dark and oppressive. Break it up with paler colours or, in a dining room, use different textures and careful lighting to make sure the room is inviting and atmospheric rather than oppressive.
BLACK
PROS: A fashionable, striking colour for decorative schemes, black is bold, daring and can create a real 'wow' factor!
CONS: Too much black in a room is oppressive and depressing! Ensure you break the black up with plenty of white or cream, and use a variety of textures to create interest. In smaller rooms consider using black only in your accessories, to avoid an oppressive feel.
WHITE
PROS: Another fashionable colour, decorative schemes that are mostly white are cool, have a designer feel and can be very peaceful and restful.
CONS: Not a practical colour, especially if you have young children! Too much white can create a cold, stark, clinical feel, so make sure you add lots of texture to add interest and depth to the scheme.
GREEN
PROS: A timeless colour, shades and tones of green creat calm, serene decorative schemes.
CONS: Too much green can be dull and old-fashioned. Using strong contrasting colours such as chocolate can lift a green scheme, giving it interest and depth and a contemporary twist.
YELLOW
PROS: Yellow is a cheerful colour that can create a lovely, bright, fresh feel in a room. It is a particularly popular choice for kitchens, especially country style kitchens. Pale lemon shades look especially pretty.
CONS: Some shades of yellow can be garish and an eyesore, so choose carefully! Yellow can also look old-fashioned, which is fine for a more traditional look, but for a contemporary twist try using a contrast colour such as chocolate to update the look.
CREAM
PROS: Decorating in cream can create a calm, light, appealing and contemporary scheme.
CONS: Avoid the "magnolia" look - too much bland cream can be dull and boring! Use a variety of shades and textures to prevent this, and to keep the look interesting and contemporary.
CHOCOLATE
PROS: An extremely popular contemporary colour, using chocolate in decorative schemes creates a fashionable, modern look. Chocolate is also a great base colour that creates a fantastic contrast with many other colours, giving room schemes depth and interest.
CONS: Some people play it safe and stick to just tones of chocolate and cream in their decorating schemes. This is okay, but for a much more interesting and "wow" factor look, try adding touches of another colour, such as pink, blue, green or turquoise, to bring the scheme to life.
PINK
PROS: Pink is a fantastic colour that comes in a vast array of shades, ranging from sweet pastel pink, to deeper rose pink, to vibrant fuschia. It can be traditional, such as in rose pink, or contemporary, such as in cerise. Pink is a fabulous girly colour (although it is becoming an increasingly fashionable colour in men's clothing) and is incredibly versatile in that it can be used to create either sweet, pretty room schemes or stunning "wow" factor designs.
CONS: Too much pink can be sickly sweet or, in the case of fuschia and cerise, overpowering. Use appropriate contrast colours to add variety to schemes. Other than that, at Hot Pink Angels we thoroughly recommend pink!
PURPLE
PROS: Mauves and lilacs can create very feminine, soft, serene room schemes, whilst purples and aubergines can be used to create a rich, deep scheme.
CONS: Tends to be a colour people either love or hate! Pale mauves and lilacs can look grey and dull depending on the lighting in a room, and purples or aubergines can look dark and over-powering. To avoid these problems, use soft creams and whites alongside mauve and lilac to lift these colours.
Copyright Hot Pink Angels 2008.
DISCLAIMER: Hot Pink Angels provide suggestions and ideas as to the interior design of homes; the decision to act on such suggestions or ideas is the responsibility of the individual
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