BRIGHTEN UP YOUR WORLD

ARE YOU CONFUSED BY COLOUR? NOT SURE WHAT’S A COOL OR WARM HUE? SHAYNNA BLAZE SHARES HER TIPS ON THE HOT AND COLD OF COLOUR THEORY

When it comes to decorating, probably the one thing people stress about more than anything else is choosing colours. That’s because colour is complex. It can manipulate a space, create a certain mood, be calming, frustrating or make you happy.

One of the most important things to remember about colour is that warm colours advance (they feel like they are coming towards you) and cool colours recede (they move way from you). Remember this and you can easily change your interior without doing massive renovations.

A cool colour scheme helps walls disappear and makes the space feel larger, so cool

colours are great for small rooms. Of all the colours, white reflects the most light, so mix that in with your cool colours to give the smallest room in the house the biggest chance of appearing larger.

MAKE A LARGE SPACE FEEL MORE INTIMATE

When it comes to interiors, having the luxury of a lot of space is not always a good thing. Large rooms can feel impersonal, especially open-plan living spaces that typically combine three spaces into one.

As warm colours advance they can help large spaces feel cosier, so by painting all the walls a warmer colour the open-plan space will feel more intimate and the separate rooms come together more as one.

LET THERE BE LIGHT

Remember that light really impacts on colour. You can alter the strength of warm and cool colours by the colour of your lighting. A cool interior with reflective surfaces and cool lighting could result in a clinical or stark feel. Changing light globes to a warm white can warm up the space. On the other hand, if you love warm, rich colours but live in a hot climate, putting cool light globes in brings down the intensity of the heat in the colour.

Light can also really change the mood of a room. Table and floor lamps are great as they help you dim the light to make a room cosier at night or they can brighten up a room that doesn’t receive much sunlight.

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