Colour theory
Overwhelmed by paint charts, fabric swatches and trends? How do you put together a successful colour scheme? Start by understanding the basics of colour theory and psychology and your home will reflect you, reveals Jennifer Morgan
How to choose colour to enhance your home life and happiness
Whether you’re looking to refresh your current home or move to a new one, update your bathroom or simply choose a new sofa, there are always plenty of decisions to make when it comes to interiors. But aside from practicalities, the single most important relationship that you need to nurture is that of colour. It can make or break a room. As Ingrid Fetell Lee (aestheticsofjoy. com), designer and author of Joyful says, ‘Colour is transformative. It is energy made visible.’
Angela Wright (colour-affects. co.uk), colour legend and author of The Wright Theory, written over 30 years ago and still taught to professionals today, and The Beginner’s Guide to Colour Psychology, agrees. ‘Colour is such a powerful influence,’ she says. ‘It has had me in a grip of steel for decades.’ But how do we start understanding colour?
Picking a colour scheme can be daunting; how will you know if it will look good in your room? You can start with the colour wheel – a fail-safe way of working out what goes with what, studied by interior designers, branding designers, artists and architects. The ‘wheel’ derives from Sir Isaac Newton’s
first circular illustration for colour in 1666, where he joined the violet end of the spectrum to red.
The classic colour wheel is made up of 12 hues, half of which are warm colours (reds, oranges and yellows) and the other half cool colours (lilacs, blues and greens). You’ve then got primary colours (red, blue and yellow), secondary colours (made by mixing two primaries together – green, orange and purple) and six tertiary colours (made by mixing a primary with a secondary, like lime, turquoise and magenta).
If you choose three colours that sit side by side on a colour wheel, then you create an analogous or harmonious scheme – think yellow with yellow-green and green, or pink with red and mauve. To keep it balanced, choose one dominant colour and two as accents. As interior designer and undisputed ‘queen of colour’ Sophie Robinson (sophierobinson.co.uk), says: ‘Lots of people think that if you want to create a calm interior you have to go neutral, pale and soft, but if you are drawn to bright colours – like I am – just going for more tonal and harmonious colours will help create a calm look. Just pick colours closer together on the wheel.’ Looking for big impact? Choose complementary colours – two colours that are on opposite sides of the wheel, such as blue and orange.
For a triadic scheme, it’s three colours that are evenly spaced on the wheel (red, blue and green), which are great for a bold palette. In a tetradic scheme, it’s four colours – red, purple, blue and green – although the more colours you have, the more difficult it can be to balance, so you might find one colour becomes more dominant.
Monochromatic palettes don’t, as many instinctively think, refer to black and white, but use different shades, tones and tints of one colour that sit in harmony together. A shade is created by adding black to a colour to darken it (becoming richer and deeper), while a tint is created by adding white, making the colour less intense. A tone is created by combining black and white (grey) to a base colour, giving a subtle version of the original colour.
So, in today’s increasingly colour confident world, where does such theory sit? ‘The colour wheel can be overwhelming,’ says Ingrid, ‘so it’s important to break it down into its component parts. If you understand hue (any colour on the colour wheel), saturation (the intensity or purity of the colour) and luminance (the brightness or light in a colour), then you can go to a paint shop and say,
“I’m not just looking for a green, but a dark, saturated green”. You start to speak the language of colour and that’s really helpful in describing what’s right/not right. That’s when colour becomes really empowering.’
‘Colour choice needs to feel more spontaneous,’ says Geraldine James, author of A Pop of Colour. ‘The colour wheel may act as a tool to guide you and you may end up with something
you haven’t considered, but there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to colour – it’s good to be individual.’
Interior designer Amy Jones of Greta-mae (greta-mae.co.uk) finds the colour wheel too restrictive. ‘I work instinctively. First I find out as much as I can about my client, their attitude to colours (and any they don’t like), where the sun comes in, the age and style of the property and how they want to feel in the room I’m designing for.’
‘As an interior designer, I’m constantly looking for clues,’ agrees Sophie. ‘Lots of people haven’t really thought about colour and say generic things like “light and bright”, or “warm and cosy”. So you have to dig a bit deeper to find their colour preferences and what personality they are. That’s where colour psychology comes in.’
Karen Haller (karenhaller.co.uk), a global expert in the field of behavioural colour and design psychology and author of The Little Book of Colour, says, ‘In my experience, choosing colour based on how you feel is much more powerful than using a colour wheel. It allows you to create a home you love.’
Even paint brands agree, as Rob Abrahams of Coat (coatpaints.com), explains. ‘We encourage people to ask how they want to feel in their space. It helps lead the colour choice. Starting with a colour can be too linear because “green” can mean anything from a pale beige-green tone through to a dark olive. It’s better to start with a feeling like “relaxed” or “energised” and explore tones from there.’
UNDERSTANDING COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY
‘When we see colour, we instantly feel something,’ says Karen. ‘We have an emotional response – this is colour psychology. It’s the science behind how colours make us think, feel and behave. When we surround ourselves with colours that we resonate with, we feel good about ourselves; we feel nurtured, supported and happy.’
‘Colour psychology works on two levels,’ explains Angela. ‘On one level, we have the universal effects of the 11 basic colours. Each of them has potentially positive or negative psychological effects and which of these is created depends on personality types and – crucially – the relationships within colour combinations. Red, for example, is not necessarily a danger symbol, though it is in nature: rather, it’s a call to action. It has a property of making things closer than they are, making it useful for grabbing attention – just think of how it’s used to promote a sale. Whether it’s positive or negative depends on the colours around it.
‘Preference comes from the individual,’ continues Angela. ‘If you ask a room of people to comment on whether they like or dislike a colour, this will depend on their personality type. Yet if you then put the colour together with others that work harmoniously, everyone will respond positively. They will either say, “Those are my type of colours” or, “Wow, those colours look good”. It’s a case of identity or admiration.’ There are four colour families in The Wright Theory, within which every colour harmonises with every other colour in the family.
Angela uses music to illustrate her point further. ‘Lots of musicians have equated musical notes with colour.
Each has its own unique properties, but they don’t actually do anything until you put them together with other musical notes or colours. One colour on its own isn’t going to evoke a musical reaction, and yet still it’s the case that lots of people apply colour psychology
in the singular. They say, “Red does this”, which it might do in certain circumstances, but try it with this colour and it does something different.’
IMPROVING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH COLOUR
It’s the fear of making a wrong choice that holds us back, believes Ingrid.
‘We are born with an intuition for colour and by and large we’ve been taught to ignore this,’ she says. ‘We’ve been fed images and inspiration from influencers and brands and are constantly told this is good, this is the colour of the year, this is in or out… and these sources don’t necessarily have anything to do with our own intuition for colour, which is as simple as walking into a store and being drawn towards this pink or that blue. As a way of reconnecting with it, I often ask people to think about the places that have brought them joy, and about the colours that stand out there.’
‘Listen to your instincts,’ says Karen. ‘Trends come and go, but when you create something from within, it’s timeless. Choosing colour based on your personality allows you to express the essence of who you are – your authentic self – and to live from the inside out in your own unique style.’
‘Trends are much more visible than they were, thanks to social media,’ says Rob, ‘but unlike fashion, they last longer and move a little slower. They might still be transient, but feelings aren’t. Pick a shade for your bedroom that makes you feel calm and relaxed, and you’ll always love being in there.’
‘A question I’m often asked is,
“Is this going to be too much?” – yet research shows the opposite is true,’ says Ingrid. ‘We think if we play it safe, the neutral will last for ever, but we get sicker of things that are bland than we do of bold hues and bright patterns. We find more joy in those things over time.’
‘In my own home I have all the colours,’ laughs Sophie. ‘Some interior designers say that you should limit your palette to just three. I couldn’t think of anything worse! To me, it’s about using a family of colours that are different but sit comfortably next to each other. They might all have the same background tone, like warm colours; they might all be chalky pastels or primary brights. If they sit within the same family, you can mix and match to your heart’s content. Another way to be colour confident is to have one or two accent colours that you weave throughout your home. In my house, yellow is never on a wall or as a big piece of furniture, but it appears in artwork, as lamp bases and vases.’
‘There is a decorating rule of 60-30-10, which means 60 per cent should be the dominant colour in a room, like the wall, 30 per cent the secondary colour, which can be brought in through sofas and curtains, and
10 per cent an accent colour, saved for accessories,’ says Amy. ‘If you’re unsure, it’s a way to take tentative steps without getting it too wrong.’
Geraldine is all about the ‘pop’ of colour and the difference it can make to a room. ‘These are small injections of colour worked into a basic palette,’ she says. ‘Pops still need to sit comfortably in the scheme, but you can find inspiration from anywhere – a painting, the clothes you wear or your garden.’
Understanding colour is about trusting your instincts, as Angela concludes. ‘If you think colours go together, then that’s fine – they probably will,’ she says. ‘I always say don’t take anyone with you when you shop for clothes as you’ll end up with things that suit them; the same applies to your home.’