Colour Science

Change your mood with Colours

One of the important decisions before painting is the colour choice. The most common problem people face when using colour is knowing how to choose the right colour and how to combine more than one colour together to make it more attractive and meaningful to create an impact on the people who see it.

It’s ideal to choose a color based on the psychology behind paint color and on the atmosphere they hope to invoke in the room we have specific reactions when stimulated by color.

Colour affects mood, hence it’s imperative to consider the mood-altering characteristics of a colour before applying a coat on the walls.

Colours play a very major role to decide the furniture, wall art and other decorative items on the basis of that colour to match them well together. There are different types of colours which bear different meaning and are used for different purposes

Colour properties:

Hues: Also called tonality or tone is the quality of the color itself, it refers to the colors on the color wheel or mixtures of primary colors. Pure hues are the Rainbow colours. Red, Orange, Yellow, Pink, Turquoise are hues

Lightness: Refers to how close a colour is to black or white. Yellow is the lightest color as it is closest to white, and this makes it brighter than green or blue. Violet is darkest as it is close to black.

Movement: Refers to whether a color is advancing towards you or receding. Most luminous color i.e yellow advances while a least luminous such or blue or violet recedes.

Saturation: Relates to intensity of colour from pale to dark. Tint is a hue mixed with white. Shade is darkening of a color achieved by mixing black with color

Temperature: Indicates whether the colour appears to have a hot or cold feel. Blue is cool and orange is hot.

Colours are classified in various ways, however in some cases they are called as Fresh, Calm, Vibrant, Warm and Neutral

Fresh- Tints without full colour, no trace of black, should contain white

Vibrant- Strong colours with very little white some black content

Calm- Greyer Tones and greys, all colours must have some black and white

Warm- All other tones are warm

Colour combinations:

• Red, Yellow and Blue are primary colours. Combining any of these will give a secondary colour (i.e. purple, orange).
• Colours near to each other on the colour wheel such as blue and purple are analogous to each other and will allow one colour to stand out more.
• Colours opposite each other on the colour wheel such as green and red are complementary to one another and will nicely play off each other.
• Staying within the same shade of colour (i.e. greens) will give a subtle and soothing look.
• Painting with cool colours such as blues, greens and purples makes small rooms appear larger and airier while colours such as reds, yellows and oranges will give a room a more vibrant appearance.
• One can vary the warmth even with a red or yellow by choosing muted shades of those colours such as pink, peach or a soft yellow. Warm colours have cool ones as their complementary colours while cool colours have warm complements. Shades are either pure or vibrant, muted or shaded.

What people seek in colours:

"An elegant look": Neutral colours offer elegance and flexibility to a simple living room. Lighter the colour, more spacious the room will appear.

"A subtle and soothing look": Stay within the same shade and use a monochromatic approach. Might suit for bedrooms and bathrooms

"A vibrant look": Gold and oranges, purples and reds, one can complement these colours by selecting a two next to each other such as gold and orange and one from the opposite side of the colour wheel such as purple. Two colours next to each other on the colour wheel for a visual contrast as one will stand out from the other.

Ceilings: Lower a high ceiling visually by painting it a darker shade than the walls. Same way, expand a room by selecting a lighter colour for ceiling than the walls.

Create focal point: Change the look of any room by adding contrasting colours or by adding darker colour to one wall; make a large room look smaller by painting one wall a darker shade, also visually expand a room by painting the walls a darker colour and the trim a lighter shade within the same colour scheme.  Highlight any interesting aspect in a room with a darker, complementary shade to the one chosen for the walls. Visible stairways, if in the middle of the room look outstanding when painted a darker shade than the walls and gives a wonderful focal point.

With a little paint and a lot of imagination, one can easily change the look and feel of a room. Look for highlights of the rooms and think of ways to make them stand out.

• Want to feel romantic and calm-choose a light warm or cool shade.
• Want to feel homey and comforted- select buttery yellows such as for your kitchen.
• Want a feel of calmness and balance-select shades of green that are light for a earthy feeling
• Want to feel energized and express your vibrant personality-choose vibrant shades.
• Want an air of elegance and serenity to a room-select neutral shades or cool light greens.
• Want to home office setting- choose orange shades
• Want to feel pleasant in bedrooms- choose dark blue shades
• Want to eat with peace in dining rooms- select pleasant whites