As a colour consultant choosing colour is one of the best bits of my job. Choosing colour can feel quite big and scary, there are so many beautiful colours to choose from (a whole rainbow’s worth and more!) and so much to consider. One of my greatest joys is being able to work with people to give them the confidence to choose a colour that is perhaps a little out of their comfort zone, and to see their reactions when they see the results. Sometimes all we need is a helping hand, and a little nudge towards bravery.
When it comes to choosing colour knowledge is power! There are many aspects to consider besides just the colour itself. It’s really important to take all of these aspects into consideration to achieve a result that is cohesive and pleasing to the eye. The vocabulary can be confusing when we’re not sure of the terms so I’ve put together a short list of what I consider to be the five main things to keep in mind when choosing colour.
- Colour Hue- This is the dominant colour family, the colours of origin that we can see. Hues are pretty much the colours we see in a rainbow – red, yellow, orange, violet, blue or green. So for example with the colour pink, the hue would be red, with navy the hue would be blue and so o
- Chroma – The saturation or intensity of a colour – how bright it is. The chroma is changed when we start adding black, grey or white to create shades, tones and tints.
- Shade – A shade is a colour that is mixed with black. This darkens the colour. It is the same hue, only darker.
- Tone – A colour that is mixed with pure grey. This tones down the colour. Tints are generally considered more sophisticated, and pleasing to the eye. They don’t have the brightness of pure colours, which are often considered childlike – think about bright red, orange etc.
- Tint – A tint is a colour mixed with white to make it lighter, or paler. Pastels are a great example of a tint.
This is just a quick intro to basic colour theory, something I could happily talk about all day. It’s important to think about the lightness and depth of colour as this will change the energy of a space. Consider how you would like your space to feel – do you need to use pure colour such as bright yellow to add zing? Or are you creating a calmer space like where a pastel might be more suitable. How much do you want the colour to be a feature? A pure colour will really add pop and energy, whereas a tone will give you the feel of the colour but perhaps without it being the main focus.
I have another post about different ways to use colour to create beautiful interesting spaces coming soon. In the meantime if you are overwhelmed and feel like you could use my advice as a colour consultant I’d love to help. Contact me to have a chat about how we can work together and have some fun adding colour to your home. https://interiordesignwhangarei.nz/interior-design-contact-me
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