Click the play button on the video window to the right to see the show segmentDo you want your home to look FIERCE? Well you might as well say goodbye to your boring white walls.
Interior Designer Jewell Blair offers 4 tips for creating a colorful home for those of you who need a little bit of direction.
1. The Basic Color WheelThe basic color wheel is designed so that any color you pick will look good together. There are 3 levels of hues on the wheel:
Primary hues - red, yellow, blue
Secondary hues - green, orange, purple
Tertiary hues - red-orange, blue-green, yellow-green, red-violet, blue-violet, yellow-orange
2. Types of SchemesComplementary Schemes match your dominant hue with 1 other hue that is on the opposite side of the color wheel i.e. Blue & Orange, Purple & Yellow.
Complementary schemes or harmonious schemes are high contrast and remain harmonious regardless of the rotation on the wheel.
Analogous Schemes use hues that are that adjacent to each other on the wheel. They will match well and create a serene and comfortable look.
One hue is dominant and the other one enriches the scheme. You may combine two or three hues to create this type of scheme. i.e. Green & Blue Green or Red, Red-Orange & Orange.
These combinations are often found in nature and are harmonious and pleasing to the eye.
Traidic Schemes use three hues that are evenly spaced around the wheel. These schemes are vibrant and need to be planned for balance.
The scheme creates strong contrasts yet they are harmonious and rich. Purple-Green-Orange or Yellow-Red-Blue combinations are triadic.
Monochromatic Schemes use variations in lightness and darkness of a single color. This scheme is clean and elegant.
They colors go together, producing a soothing effect. Monochromatic schemes may start with any hue or saturation. They are achieved by:
a. Shades - adding white to the base hue
b. Tints - adding black to the base hue
c. Tones - adding gray to the base color
Most of the interior paint colors are shades or tints of primary hues. Paint chips available in paint stores and paint departments show monochromatic schemes.
3. Beware of NeutralsColors that are considered neutral seldom are - they all have undertones. Whites, tans, grays will show a pink to a yellow undertone.
This is where the color scheme can fall apart. If you are looking for a cool scheme, adding a neutral with a yellow undertone can make the scheme appear unbalanced.
4. Try before you buy!Now that paint manufacturers are offering small containers of paint, you can try before your buy. Paint large squares of color on one or two walls in the selected room.
Watch how the changing sunlight and interior light effect the color throughout the day. It will be easy to paint over these trials with a primer before you apply your final color.
Your final selection should be at least one shade deeper than what you select on the chip because the color will look lighter when applied to the larger wall surface.
Check out Sherwin Williams website for a variety of interactive color choice tools.
Jewell Blair - Interior Designer, Allied ASID
Jay B's Interior Design
jaybeeaz@qwest.net
(623) 825-0105
