DESIGN A TALKING POINT
How you can create a background in your workspace that’s both inspiring and inviting
Online meetings, seminars or just casual catch-ups — we’re all connecting with each other online more and more. For the most part that flexibility makes life easier to navigate — and has opened up an extra opportunity to show off your design flair by creating vibrant and interesting backgrounds.
Why bother?
There are endless suppliers of virtual backgrounds you can download and add to whatever meeting you’re in to look as though you are floating through space or discussing your pending deadlines while sitting on the bottom of the ocean. So going to the trouble of painting a background to your online work environment in real life is not essential, but it can be a creative way to avoid worrying if your laundry or dishes are visible, or have your coworkers squinting into the camera trying to see what’s on your bookshelf.
The goal is to create a background with conversation pieces that are great for breaking the ice, but don’t dominate and distract. It’s a great way to show off a little bit of your personality and be welcoming to callers who are virtual guests in a small area of your home or office.
But it’s not just about what works for your callers and colleagues. One of the best reasons for designing an eye-catching real-life background is that it’s an chance to create a home workspace that’s inspiring and inviting for you to be in.
Keep it simple
The key to a good, practical background is to have enough items of interest visible, without clutter. Block colours, clean lines and larger format patterns are easier on the eye than intricate repeating designs like polka dots, checks and zigzags.
If you have a separate room for your home office, or where you take video calls, you don’t have to redecorate the whole room. Creating a beautiful background can be as simple as adding a beautiful piece of art against a warm neutral.
Light grey tones such as Resene Concrete or Resene Kensington Grey work well on camera as do warm whites such as Resene Merino and Half Tea.
For a fast transformation, embrace one of the classic interior design tropes: the feature wall. Try a small area of bold wallpaper such as Resene Mason Bamboo
MBB05 in Resene Quarter Foggy Grey, Resene Gold Dust and Resene Cuban Tan.
Simple doesn’t mean dull
Having a clean, simple background does not mean sticking strictly to neutral colour. A great way to add interest and drama is to layer different tones of one colour. For example, your walls could be a pale green such as Resene Coriander, with features such as shelves, cupboards or tables in Resene Paddock, Resene Rivergum and Resene Forest Green. This tonal effect adds interest and depth to a space.
Add the odd pop of contrast to give the whole look a lift, with vases or decorations in a light neutral such as Resene Secrets or something more unexpected such as Resene True Blue or Resene Old Copper.
Alternatively, instead of tonal layers, you can add extra dimension to your background by using contrasting colours to create areas of negative space, or paint bold geometric shapes.
Light it up
Consider how the light in your video call space works on camera and how it impacts the colours in your background. Do you have plenty of natural light or good artificial lighting?
If so, experiment with darker tones for added drama. Try a deep shade such as Resene Blue Night and give it a lift with a light-coloured artwork or a contrasting hanging light shade in creamy Resene Alabaster or copper-toned Resene Twizel.
If your preferred video space is naturally darker, go for lighter background colours and add impact with splashes of light and bright tones.
Add extras and textures
A mix of colours, textures and materials are also great for video backgrounds.