Livinghouse

How do you choose colours to decorate and furnish your home? There are some basic principles that most of us ‘know’ intuitively. Things like which colours go best together and which colours clash. How different tones of the same colour always work well together but often need a contrast to lift the room.

The colour wheel

It all starts with the Colour Wheel. This device shows colours in a circular segmented diagram. The first person to devise this system was Sir Isaac Newton way back in 1666. Since then it has been used by artists and designers as the ultimate colour tool.

It divides colours up into primary – red, yellow and blue – the colours all other colours are mixed from; secondary colours, i.e. those mixed from the primary colours: green, orange and purple; and tertiary colours – the colours formed by mixing primary and secondary colours together.

Mixing colours for harmony

If you choose three colours that sit next to one another in the wheel, you will find they tone and harmonise with one another. If you’re looking for a complimentary colour, look at colours directly opposite on the wheel.

How do colours make you feel?

You might choose colours based on how they make you feel and what they symbolise.

No wonder turquoise and blues have long been bathroom favourites; representing water, calmness and cleanliness.

What works for you?

While these symbolic references are important for some; you should go with your gut reaction to colour and what you want in your rooms.

If you keep the colour choices to the accessories only, then they will be relatively easy to change. Colours of larger items like bathroom fixtures or radiators can be expensive to change, so best play safe with those unless you are absolutely sure of your choice.