Creating With Color

June 4, 2010

Filed under: Decorating,Installation of Wallpaper,Wallpaper — Tags: color, color scheme, creating with color, elements, Wallpaper — Garett@EW @ 3:43 PM

Step 1: Finding a Color Scheme
Step 2: Choosing Color
Step 3: Factors that Influence the Use of Color
Step 4: Three Basic Elements to Color
Step 5: General Categories of Color

Step 1: Finding a Color Scheme

choosing color

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.

a)
Light- Is the Background- this is usually easy
to achieve since most rentals are equipped with light to
off-white walls.

b)
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.

c)
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.

Step 2:
Choosing Color
color pencils

Choosing the right
colors is the first step to great looking room. It is not so
easy to select the right color of paint or wallpaper or the
right carpet color to deliver the best desired results. All too
often, a color that looks ideal on a small paint sample erupts
into a totally different color when you apply it to a wall. A
subdued light champagne yellow paint color turns into a
screaming lemon yellow on the walls, an olive carpet winds up
brownish in color, and a very light tint of any paint color
turns out white. 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 throughout the day.

The practitioners of color therapy teach that people can have
emotional and physical responses to color. For example, colors
that are light or cool recede from the eye while dark or warm
colors make a room feel less expansive. Our perceptions of size,
weight, and temperature can also be influenced by color schemes.

Sometimes called chromotherapy or chromodynamics, color
therapy involves applying light and color in an effort to
stabilize emotions, mind, spirit, or body. This balance is
demonstrated by the positive and negative aspects related to
each color meaning.

Here are some of the
commonly accepted mental and physical connotations of 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; power, wealth, dignity,royalty, luxury, magic,
wisdom, drama, mystery,ambition, creativity, femininity.

Negative – greed, envy, jealousy, ignorance; snobbery, gloominess.

Effects
- improved healing and relaxation; 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.

Step 3:
Factors that Influence the Use of Color

Here are some factors influencing the use of color in space
design:

a) The time of day the area will be used the most.

b) The type of light it will receive.

c) The relation of colors surrounding it.

d) The size of the area.

e) The purpose of the space.

Color and light go
hand in hand in designing your room. 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.

Step
4: Three Basic Elements to Color

Here are the three basic elements to color and interior design:

a) Hue – the color itself – Blue, Red,
Green, Yellow, etc.

b) Value – the relative lightness or
darkness of a color, whiteness or blackness.

c) 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 design.

Step
5: General Categories
of Color

Colors fall into three general categories:

a) Warm

b) Cool

c) Neutral

The way we mix those colors along with attention to
value, can enhance the use of color in design and
communicate explicit messages.

a): Warm colors in design convey excitement and
energy: red, orange, and yellow.

b) Cool colors are calming and relaxing: blue,
green, and violet.

c) Neutral colors are unifying and help us
focus better: white, black, and gray.

Different spaces within a home or office may need
different colors depending on the purpose of the space.
Design colors in the office can be essential to the
image and mood that is created thus helping productivity
and enriching aesthetics.

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June 4, 2010

Creating With Color

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