Colour with confidence

Colour with confidence

Gather inspiration
Keep a record of paint shades and colour combos that grab your attention when you are out and about. If you see an effect that wows you in a restaurant or bar, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and make a note of whatever details you get, even if it’s on a napkin or beer mat. Better still, ask for permission to snap a quick photo on your phone so you have a visual record to revert back to. Similarly, clip ideas you find inspiring from magazines and newspapers before you toss them. Having a stash of ‘I like’ references will make decision-making easier when you decide it’s time to rethink your paintwork.
Be fashion cautious
The interior trend market is big business, and tends to change its ‘what’s-hot’ mind as often as fashion retail turns seasonal collections. So rather than being too led by colours of the moment and end up feeling ‘so-last-year’ when they loose their vogue-factor a few months down the line, allow personal instinct and emotion to navigate you. Certain colours will resonate because you have a positive history with them, or remind you of a time, place or occasion you hold dear. This is perhaps a more solid and valuable starting point than fair-weather fashion.
Acknowledge your aspects
Always consider your colour options in relation to the aspect of a room and the amount of natural daylight it receives. South-facing rooms are bright and sunny, and a lick of cool blue or pastel green paint is a good way to kill the overload of glare. In a similar way, sunny shades of yellow or glowing tones of orange will make a dark north-facing room feel a whole lot warmer.
Work with what you have
In order to avoid a colour car-crash in a room you are going to paint, it’s important to map, understand and work with the colour dynamics of fixtures and furniture that will remain in it. Once you have clarified the dominant colours among the existing elements, use a colour wheel to devise a shortlist of potential paint colours that could be introduced into the space without clashing or sending the overall balance overboard.
Colour wheel know-how
Painting in colours that are in close proximity on the colour wheel, or combining several shades of the same colour, will give a room a sense of organic tonal harmony and make it feel calm and tranquil. If you want to make a bolder statement, combine colours situated opposite each other on the colour wheel, but be aware that allowing contrasting colours equal coverage will make the space feel pretty frenetic. You can create a more toned-down version of contrast by using one of the opposing colours moderately, more as an accent colour to pull focus to selected areas or make a feature of a single wall.
Central concept
If you find yourself drawn to the full gamut of paint colours, streamline your choices with a ‘look’. For example, making ‘vintage chic’ your starting point will focus your eye to a more pastel palette of colour, while ‘classic country house’ will get you thinking lush and sumptuous shades, like burgundy red, sage green and navy blue. It’s a really effective way to help you see the wood through the trees, and will encourage you to pair colours that make aesthetic sense.
Bigger-picture unity
Avoid thinking about individual spaces in isolation, and be aware of sightlines and the relationship of colours between rooms. That doesn’t mean you need to create variations of the same look for every room, or be over-cautious in making them all harmonise tonally. Completely contrasting colours can work together, as long as they don’t become an eyesore. For example, brown and orange featured across rooms with any degree of visual connection can blend into a hot and slushy mess.
Sample for insight
Most paints are available to purchase in small sample-size pots, and it’s always a good idea to test a colour that you are considering in the designated room before making any definite decisions. Applying a coat to a small test area on a wall will allow you to see how it reacts to the flow of light throughout the day, and also assess how well it really works with the colour of a sofa, pair of curtains or dining table.
Be batch aware
Once you have your roller poised and are ready to purchase paint, be aware that colour variations can occur on pre-mixed varieties that are delivered to stores at different times. Don’t be afraid to clarify with sales staff that multiple pots of the same colour are from the same job lot.