Colour is such an interesting thing. Colour trends are even more fascinating.
Simply White. How does it make you feel?
Simply White was Benjamin Moore's color of the year for 2016, and is it any wonder? With our busy, non-stop lives, a clean uncluttered environment enabled us to deal with the nagging sense of overwhelm. We needed our restorative spaces to be peaceful and calm.
THE PENDULUM SWING
In 2017, the color pendulum has swung in a completely different direction with Shadow, a smoky greyed amethyst. It is rich, deep and regal - moving from a royal amethyst in daylight, to a graphite charcoal at night. It pairs beautifully with a myriad of colors to create spaces that can be classic and elegant, or edgy and dramatic.
I love following colour trends, but I refuse to be a slave to them.
For me, selecting colour for my personal space and that of the clients I serve is about understanding how I want a space to feel. Color is a powerful way (and a relatively inexpensive one too, I might add) to create a specific feeling and mood.
COLOUR COMMUNICATES
In order to create spaces that say what we desire, we have to understand how colour communicates.
For the sake of simplicity, colour typically falls in two categories - warm colours and cool colours. Warm colours are those with yellow undertones, and cool colours have predominately blue undertones.
And as is suggested, warm colors most often create spaces that feel warm. Colors with warm undertones literally bring the sun into your space. In kitchens, family rooms and dining rooms, these colors create a sense of warmth and welcome.
Conversely, cool colors have more blue or grey undertones. They bring refreshing and relaxing feelings into space. They are the go-to colour family for resting spaces like bedrooms, or areas for concentration and study.
HOW DO YOU WANT TO FEEL?
Whether you are downsizing into a smaller residence or you hope to redecorate and simplify your home, refreshing a room with a new wash of colour is a relatively inexpensive way to transform a space. But is it enough to pick a colour from a swatch in a paint store?
"No. It is more complicated than that. First, answer this question: How do you want your space to feel? Welcoming? Peaceful? Refreshing? Energizing? Neutral? Calming? You'll need to pinpoint this first."
CONSIDER FURNISHINGS
Next, consider the furnishings you own. How about your upholstery, rugs, and window coverings? Are you hoping to use what you currently have—an applaudable and conscious choice as a consumer—or are you planning to select a host of new furnishings which will need consideration as you select a colour?
HOW'S THE LIGHTING?
The amount of natural light will affect how the colour responds in a space. Understanding the impact of daylight helps to navigate the colour wheel so as to not warm up or cool down a space too much.
HIRED HELP
Hiring a trained colour analyst or interior designer will help take the guessing out and guarantee your space will be bathed in the perfect colour to achieve the feeling you're after. It will spare the headaches of repeated trips to the store and save money in the long run.
DON'T BE A SLAVE TO TRENDS
It's more important to honour your furnishings and how you want to feel than it is to have the latest, trendiest, colour. That way, you'll end up with something that is more enduring and will bring you joy as the years go by.
Are you putting off painting because you don't know where to start or you're afraid to make a mistake? I'd love to help you. Colour is my world. Let's connect.
Feel free to play around on the web. Benjamin Moore's tool is a great, albeit limited, way to try on different looks. Which colour makes you feel on top of the world?