Bring colour into your space without fear with sample pots

Introducing colour to your decor is not as simple as it seems for many homeowners. Depending on the trends, colours can range from muted tones to bold, dramatic colours that won’t suit every taste. But there are ways to bring colour into your space that can be pleasing, even for homeowners shy of colour.

“If you’re not sure about colour, then use it in small areas and on non-expensive items,” says Eileen Crowley Couse of Emerald Interiors in Halifax.

Using a new colour in your home requires strategy and planning. Crowley Couse says if you’re redecorating an entire room, think about the biggest, most expensive pieces in the room first, including furniture and rugs. She suggests purchasing those in a neutral or a colour you really love and will for years.

“That’s where you should start,” she says. “There are more paint colours than there are fabric colours.”

Paint, of course, is one of the ways to introduce colour to your space. But paint will look different in a space than it will in a store in a sample.

Cheryl Cook of SeeSea Interiors suggests purchasing a sample pot of a colour before committing to several cans. Then paint a small spot on a wall. Some paint colours are tricky. A grey can be too blue or too yellow, for example.

“Paint a patch on your wall and watch what happens over the next couple of days,” Cook says.

“It depends on where you windows face. The light in the room will change everything.”

As for choosing a colour to work with, use items you already own, such as a piece of artwork or an area rug, as inspiration. Crowley Couse says you can use that colour as the accent colour throughout your space.

What colour you use depends on the colour, too.

Ultra violet, Pantone’s colour of the year, will be harder to work with for some homeowners than the blush tones that have been around the past few years.

“It’s almost a neutral,” Crowley Couse says. “You can use with other colours.”

For clients afraid of using colour in a larger room, Cook suggests they start with a smaller space, such as an office or a powder room, which can be good testing grounds for colour.

“It’s not such an investment. They’re spaces people don’t see as often, and you can be really bold,” Cook says.

Cook says another way to work with colour is to keep your major pieces of furniture and your paint in a neutral and play with colour in the accessories. But have a budget in mind for your accessories to avoid overspending.

But when it comes to colour, Cook and Crowley Couse suggest following the 60-30-10 rule that will help you balance the colours in your space. Sixty-per cent of your space will be the dominant colour, 30 per cent a secondary colour, with the final 10 per cent being an accent colour.

And when it comes down to colour, follow your instincts, not trends or how your neighbours decorate. Every person reacts to every colour differently. Crowley Couse says choose colours you find soothing or inspiring.

“You have to live with it. You don’t want it to feel outdated in a year, but you also don’t want it to feel like a trend either.”