Are you unhappy with your home's interior design? If so, you
may be the victim of a bad color scheme. It's no secret that color can either
make or break a design, but luckily, neither is finding out how to choose the perfect
color palette for you.
When the color's right, it can:
- Enhance
feelings of health and wellbeing
- Modify
perceived temperature — make your space feel warmer or cooler
- Transform
perceived space — make your space feel larger, or more cozy and intimate
- Illuminate
dark areas
- Create
mystery and romance in dull areas
- Energize
static areas
But it has to be the right color for you. Color, and the
psychology of color, is a big design trend says Barbara Jacobs, principal of
Barbara Jacobs Color & Design. "But generalizations — green is
relaxing, blue is soothing, red is energizing — only apply when certain hues
are used," she says. "A sharp, electric green definitely would not be
relaxing; a deep blue-green might feel cold instead of soothing. The wrong red
used in an entire room might create the sensation of entrapment rather than
energy."
Before planning color in your personal environment, make a
mini-questionnaire and poll yourself and your family. Your answers are 50
percent of the project because your color choices depend on them for direction,
Jacobs says. She gives her clients a very long questionnaire with hundreds of
questions, but you can start with these five. The answers will lead you to your
new color scheme.
1. Where is the room?
2. How many windows are there and which direction do they
face?
3. Is there landscaping outside that will have an effect on
the colors in the room?
4. Who will use the room, and what will they do there? Is it
private or community space?
5. Will it be a sociable and active place, or a peaceful
place? How do I want it to feel?
