Colours

Planning a colour scheme

Start by creating a mood board, this will give you a direction and help you to build up your ideas for the room and share them with others. It rarely happens that we have a blank canvas to start with, so look at your surrounding in the room before choosing your base colour.

Colour Schemes

Tonal scheme

A tonal or monochromatic scheme means you use one colour but in varying tones. If you choose everything in the same tone or colour your scheme will look bland. A key factor with this look is to use texture and patterns to alleviate the potential boredom of using one colour.

Examples of a tonal scheme

On the colour wheel, look at the segment showing just one colour. The paler tones are on the outside which graduate into the middling tones and on into the deeper tones in the centre.
Choose three tints and shades of the same colour and use it throughout the room.
Use the deepest tone nearest the floor and the lightest on the ceiling. This gives the room a feeling of space but if you try it the other way the room will seem to shrink.

Harmonious schemes

Harmonious colours are the ones that sits next to another on the colour wheel or veyr close to it, for example, red is near rust which is near terracotta. It is veyr easy to create a balanced scheme which is pleasing to the eye with harmonious colours.

Examples of a hormonious scheme

Choose colours of similar densities for a balanced look, so one does not overpower the another.
Make the scheme bolder by going for a deeper more intense shade.
Pick three or four colours that all stem from the same primary colour.
If one of your harmonious colours are a primary colour the effect will be more striking, for example, red and hot pink.

Complementary scheme

Complementary colours are the colours that are opposite to one another on the colour wheel. These colours are naturally made to go with one another. They tend to be more dramatic and bolder than the harmonious scheme.

Examples of an complementary scheme

Choose your first colour and then look directly at the colour opposite and that should be your second colour.
Decide which colour you want to feature. If you use them both in equal amounts they will fight for attention and cancel each other out.
If you are worry about using dramatic colours, try to introduce a complementary scheme in form of a throw or other accessories before you go ahead with the actual colour.
Balance the scheme by introducing some neutral colours such as cream or white.
Experiment with it in both combinations, for example, try a light soft grey with a vibrant deep pink and the other way around.
Paring one dark and one light tone of each of your two colours can work well.
You can use a third colour, preferably in a different tone from the other two but do not use more the three colours.

Create a mood

Colour is the easiest and most effective way of creating a mood for every room in your apartment. By using warm and advancing colours in your living room and dining rooms you will make people feel welcome. A chic, contemporary bedroom could be created by using various shades of neutrals or perhaps by creating a boudoir with deep purple and reds. Use lighting for setting the mood in different situations such as romantic, formal or cosiness see colour and light for more inspirations.

Linking rooms with colour

It is important to link the rooms in your apartment together. You may have loads of idea about colour schemes and theme for the various rooms but stop to think about the overall effect these may have if the doors to the rooms are open. The last thing you want is for the room to clash with one another, so therefore it could be a good idea to choose a overall colour for the entire apartment and then vary the scheme (tonal, harmonious and complementary) in each room.

Before you start

Now that you have done your mood board and chosen your colours you are ready to go but before you get started have a look at these four point;

Buy test pots of the colours you have chosen and paint a quiet big stretch of the wall.
If you have chosen several colours for your room, paint some of the colour on non-absorbent white paper and stick them onto the wall.
Leave the sheets on the wall for a couple of days and move them around the room so that you can see the colours in all light.
Always keep larger extensive items such as your sofa and flooring in neutral colours so that you don't have to start from scratch every time fashion changes.