Colours that Alter Rooms

Evening Star, Issue 21900, 11 December 1934, Page 2

Colours that Alter Rooms

Interior Decoration a Seasonable Problem Selections of /Shades and Fabrics Shop windows in Dunedin to-da.T I‘oflccfc the increasing interest being displayed by retailers in the campaign to encourage building and more renovation. Emphasis lias been laid publicly on the present-day cheapness of structural work. Hand in hand with this, however, goes the business of indoor renovation —the freshening of paint work and the renewal of soft furnishings. In responding to the timely innovation of merchants who are stocking so wide a range of modern materials, home-makers must consider how best to take advantage of conditions and prices. Here is the problem of colour, in paint as well as in fabrics tor walls and lloors, and it is one deserving of detail consideration.

Long experience in the blending of colours is the best teacher, and unless one’ is compelled to think and study colours, either as a hobby or commercially, some of the desired peculiar and surprising results in blending are failures.. . ' For this reason the services of an expert arc worth obtaining, even in an advisory capacity. , Nowadays there is a tendency to save money by 11 doing it yourself.” . This can be carried too far.

Correct blending of , colour does not mean that -one can use the same colour in a room in a variety of shades, and colour relation does not mean that a dark green will blend with a light green or even a 'darker shade. A decorator is asked to decorate a room. The first question is the kind of room. The next and more important question is very seldom considered, and yet is the most important factor. This is the size, shape, and exposure. Vital consideration is to be given to these points if the room is to he -successfully decorated, because when it is finally completed these will be more or less the basic points on which it is judged. . Long and ■ narron H rooms or small, irregularly-shaped rooms with a southern exposure arc hard to treat. So many rooms are decorated and a great

deal of money and time spent, and while the room looks well there is something wrong with it. Nine times out of ten this-is because the wrong colour has been iised in the room. Some colours have a tendency to be more or less pronounced in a small area, and if one uses a certain colour scheme simply because one has a peculiar liking for it, without giving the proper consideration to the weight of the colour and the size, exposure, etc., of the room, the colour combination will never he successful. The colours alluded to are the very heavy shades that have a tendency to reduce the size of the room and make objects stand out. This, of course, has a very bad effect on the decorations in general, and the job, when finally completed, will not he a success. On the other hand, there is the so-\ called neutral shade, with which it is always easy to blend and decorate. The great trouble with these colours, however, is that the decorator is likely to assume a semi-serionsness in decorating with them,’ and, as a result, the room is’ too uniform and lacks individuality. Some of the most charming rooms have been decorated with these colours, and colours foreign to them; hut Ayith the proper balance of colour relations have produced an effect that is both restful and fascinating. A few of these neutral shades are taupe, sand, putty, beige, warm cream, eggshell, light tan, ecru, egg-plant, raisin, and tete de negre. Again careful consideration should-be given to the size and shape of a room when using these last three shades. Small rooms cannot stand much colour, and, if neutral colours are used, have a decided tendency' to appear normal or largq. ‘ ’ Many colours that need; serious consideration in their relation with others are grey, rose, pink, violet, mauve, purple, and terracotta. Grey is a tricky colour, as it tends to make the room look cold, because' .most of the greys have a bluish cast which giyes off' a cold appearance. Dose and pink, in soiling, take on a most undesirable appearance.* Terracotta has a tendency to produce a reddish effect that is not often considered, but it is very noticeable when the colour is used in volume, and one should be most careful in using this in a very bright, sunny room. Mauve, violet, and purple, or any of the shades belonging to this family, fade or tone down more than any other colours, and these must be considered as extremely delicate shades.

Another thing that should be carefully considered with colour is the background. The colour of the floor covering should therefore he taken into careful consideration, because it is more or less the background or foundation of the room.

When studying colours from samples, it is much better in every instance to use largo samples, and the respective samples, when used in trying to ascertain whether or not the colours will blend or harmonise when being considered for decorative purposes, should be studied in as near a manner as ‘is possible to the way in which they will be used in the room.

This applies to hangings. One cannot possibly hold in his or her hand a piece of silk or some hanging that is intended for a room, look-at it, and get a true idea of what that colour would look like hanging up, unless the sample is looked at from a short distance and studied from every possible angle. in the study of colours, a great many people will also make the mistake of concentrating their view on one particular spot, when the vision should be focussed in every instance from the top with the view downward, then upward, and repeated. In this way one can obtain an idea of the true balance of colour, and, if there is any hidden shade in the sample, it can be detected in this way. IF ONE IS IN DOUBT. Whenever in doubt about a shade that might not be perceptible in a fabric or floor covering, the proper way to detect it is to place this-particular colour against a different shade of the same colour. Neutral tones also have a tendency,' if used with other colours in close relation, to bring out certain shades that are not often noticed. A few more interesting combinations are amber, smoke and violet, dclf blue, beige and .mauve, egg-plant, wine and moss green, henna, medium blue and jade, mulberry, plum and soft antique rose, warm grey, dclf blue and antique rose, black, jade and henna, putty, grey green and soft blue, bottle green, old rod and cinnamon, and a great many more. While one is apt to like or dislike some of these combinations, they are all good for decorating if used in (ho proper setting, still hearing in mind the size, shape, and exposure of the room.