Colour First Concern

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31921, 24 February 1969, Page 2

Colour First Concern

Colour was usually a woman’s first consideration when furnishing or decorating her home, according to an American interior designer, Mr Karl Schwarz.

Design, then quality and price, were the next things considered.

Mr Schwarz, who now lives in Australia, is in New Zealand for a month to lecture on finishing fabrics. He Will visit the four main centres.

Women were becoming more adventurous in decorating than men and were branching out from the subtle, "safe’’ colours such as beige and “washed out blues,” he said in Christchurch yesterday. “This spirit of adventure has nothing to do with age; it depends on the personality,” said Mr Schwarz. "I think women nowadays are keeping a more open mind about everything, which is a sign of a sophisticated, cultured mind. If they are prepared to look at everything and to listen, they are bound to find something they like."

In New Zealand, he will be showing an “African collection” of furnishing fabrics, typical of the latest trend towards primitive designs. “These are authentic designs, put out in a marvellous mixture of colours,” said Mr

Schwarz. “They are suitable for both traditional and contemporary homes.”

Although good design never dated, a room could be made to look different each season by changing the accessories, he said. The carpet and furniture would remain the same, but lamp shades, cushions and bolsters could be changed from a cool shade in summer to warm colours for winter. Plenty of fresh flowers

always brought out the best in a room, and New Zealanders should make the most of those available all year round, Mr Schwarz said. He is convinced that noone really has bad taste. “If they dress in, or surround themelves with, things they like, in their favourite colours, then it is their own good taste. It is important to decorate to your own personal taste, not copy from a neighbour whose taste you admire.”

Sometimes a person could be guided on how to team correctly different shades of the colour he wanted. For this, it was important to get advice from only one qualified person. “If you are not happy, go

:I to someone else. But if you (go to several stores for opinions on different items, your ! room will not make a complete, over-all picture,” said .Mr Schwarz. , “A thing is either right or wrong; there is no in-be-tween. If you are not quite satisfied, do not buy.” Mr Schwarz attended a design school in New York and , worked as an interior designer with W. S. Sloan, a leading New York furnisher. (He has designed showrooms and homes all along the west coast of the United States. In Sydney, his apartment, at Woollahara has a large! patio overlooking a garden! with fuchsias and ferns in hanging baskets and other blooms in big, white pots. He has just redecorated his apartment in black and white. The carpet is black with large white lambskin throw rugs, and the furniture is paisley with black and white patent leather-covered cushions.