Colour in Decoration

Interior Colours

Colour in Interior Design

The colours can provoke feelings in people. Warm colours are active, exciting and sometimes irritating. Cool colours are passive, soothing and intimate. The physiological effect that each colour produces in people can be summarized in the following list:

• Red: active effect
• Green: passive effect, it calms the nerves
• Orange: warm effect
• Blue: cold effect
• Yellow: light effect
• Violets: dulling effect (the feeling of heaviness or lightness depends on the proportion of basic red, in addition to the relative obscurity)
• Yellow-green: intimate effect
• Purple: proud effect

The Location of the Colours

The effect produced by the colours can be intensified or attenuated because of its location and the lighting.

• Warm-light colours produce a feeling of excitement when applied to the pavement, seclusion when applied to the walls and lightness when applied to the ceiling
• Warm-dark colours produce a feeling of dignity when applied to the pavement, closure when applied to walls and security when applied to the ceiling
• Cold-light colours produce a feeling of luminosity when applied to the pavement, remoteness when applied to walls and dynamism when applied to the ceiling
• Cold-dark colours produce a feeling of menace when applied to the pavement, of sadness when applied to walls and heaviness when applied to the ceiling

The Power of the Colours

Orange is the strongest colour, and it’s followed by yellow, red, green and purple. In contrast, the weakest colours are blue, teal and violet (cold and passive colours). Stronger colours should be applied only on small areas, while the weakest ones are more suitable for large surfaces.

The Weight of the Colours

Dark colours are heavy; the higher rooms seem lower when the ceiling is accented with a dark colour. In contrast, light colours can rise; the lower rooms appear higher when the walls are darker than the ceiling. A long corridor can be seen shortened if the end-wall is highlighted with a darker colour.

Decorating in White

White is the colour of purity, cleanliness and order. While designing the colour composition of a space, white colour may play a key role in separating and neutralizing other colour groups.

Architect Daniel Trujillano
http://www.arquitectotrujillano.com/interior-design/home.html
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