Choice Of Colours In Home Decorating

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28629, 4 July 1958, Page 2

Choice Of Colours In Home Decorating

Although July is too cold and damp even for painting the interior of a Christchurch home, it is the best time for sitting by the fire and making plans for the spring. Amateur painters have gone wild with colofir in their homes in recent years. Enthusiasm with the paint brush does not necessarily go with colour knowledge and most of us have at some time been called upon to admire four walls ablaze with contrasting colours that have made us wince and want to shade our eyes from the garishness. This is a common mistake with amateur home decorators, according to Mrs Vera Mac Kay, a Christchurch colour consultant and interior decorator of long and wide experience in Australia and New Zealand.

“The use of colour is a science and. as such, produces a scientific reaction on persons. Therefore, it should not be played with, but seriously considered with a view to making surroundings as harmonious and suitable as possible.” said Mrs Mac Kay, who is conducting a course on interior decoration under the auspices of the W.E.A. “The underlying principle of the whole course is the wise use of colour.” The use of more than one colour in a room whose walls flow uninterruptedly is quite without point and should not be attempted unless the walls actually dhange structurally. Walls broken by contrasting colours can have a box-like effect on the room. Blending Colours It is wise to try to understand the effects of the different colours before planning their use. The three primary colours are yellow, blue and red and these used as true colours all in one room can have a highly-irritating effect. In an ideal room one should not be too much aware of the wall colours. It should be impossible to isolate one colour from another, however many tones are used. Blending colours so that they change in their tones and depths provides sufficient contrast. When more than one basic colour is used, they should be of the same depth so that one will not be overwhelmed or absorbed by another.

Another common mistake amateur colour planners make is in not realising that a small strip of paint as seen in a colour chart will become magnified hundreds of times and will give an entirely different effect than when held in the hand.

Even the terminology of colour should be understood a little, as it is frequently wrongly used. Shades mean the range of a colour as it darkens, and tints mean the very opposite—its range as it pales and becomes lighter, just as in the well-known saying light and shade. Yellows and lime greens reflect light as does white and they should be used with this need in mind. True greens, blues and teal blue-greens are cool colours and should not be used where the effect of warmth is wanted. The receding colours are blue, blue-purple and deep purple. Dominant colours are red, redpurple and orange. Where both warm and good light-reflecting colours are wanted, yelloworange and the pink tints are best. They use the warmth of red without its brilliance. These reactions from the colours named can be relied upon no matter what grades of them are used from the faintest tint to the true basic colour. Coldness in a colour like white can be offset by using mushroom to give’ warmth without detracting from reflecting power. Restful colour schemes are produced from monochrome colour gradings. That is, the use of various depths of one colour only, from its brilliance, right through to its pastel tints. Help from Wallpaper

Colours recommended for rooms with a southern aspect would be the warm light reflecting colours and for a north room the cool, receding blues, blue-greens or muted true greens. When contrasting colours are used in touches or in furnishings, the golden rule should be the brighter the contrast the smaller the quantity of it used. An error some panic stricken home painters have fallen into is the fruitless attempt to tone down a ‘‘hot’’ colour, such as brick red, with a contrast such as grey. This departure from the same shade, to a cool light contrast merely has the undesired effect of one playing-up the other. I Because paint is a mass of solid

colour it is much harder for amateurs to plan colour schemes than with wallpaper. Wallpapers have a built-in colour scheme which provides the clue to a colour scheme. If amateurs follow the tones suggested in wallpapers and carpets when planning their rooms they can seldom go far wrong. Colour in Industry Factory management and office employers have made great strides in recognition of the value of the wise use of colour in interiors. Department of Health officers are available for consultation on colour and lighting and have suggested brighter schemes for many interiors. “Dental clinic green” was a special colour designed some time ago for the Health Department as a soft, restful shade for factory and office use The colour was first used for the interiors of dental clinics. The choice of colour for office and factory goes hand in hand with the type of work being undertaken. Mrs Mac Kay’s first question when she is asked to plan the colour scheme of an office is “What work do you do?” If solid concentration or lengthy interviews are the work, automatically plans receding, restful colours. For the office of a salesman she would go to work with a more sophisticated, peppy colour scheme. Office girls need a restful wall on which to cast their eyes from the tedium of close work, as do schools. Bright colours should not be within vision where deep concentration is called for. In factories however, where women work at an automatic tedious routine, surroundings should be very interesting lest the dullness of the job combined with the dullness of the walls give rise to a discontented dull feeling of boredom. Precision work in factories must be accompanied by restful walls that will not irritate or disturb, but relief from close concentration should be provided by the gayest and brightest recreation room possible. It is no exaggeration to say that many a staff has had its attitude, its pride in achievement and production completely rejuvenated by the wise use of colour.

Mrs Mac Kay has designed the interiors for churches, doctors’ and dentists’ rooms (where she designs interesting ceilings to detract from pain), professional and trade rooms of all kinds and recently she was consulted on the colour scheme for the Canterbury Museum.