Interior Design | Upholstery | Curtain Making | New Forest

Colour schemes - perfect design

Catherine Brennan

Colour schemes and how to create a perfect design....

We all have our favourite colour and a colour scheme that feels right whether it is for our clothes, things we observe and see within the nature or items that we surround ourselves with. The right selection of colours will make us feel happy, confident, calm and comfortable. It's important to acknowledge it and remember that there are no wrong or right colours so trust your instinct.

It's more complicated to create the right scheme for the interiors but it's absolutely achievable when you have time and want to take the few steps that will help to start the process.

Find inspirations. These are all around us so pause and observe. You never know what may grab your attention when we open our hearts and minds. Once you find something you like than take a photo or pick that pebble, twig, bird feather or a shell that has drawn you in. Then look for textures and soft furnishings - fabric swatches, a top you love wearing, shoe laces or a thread... Look through interior magazines and tear out photos that talk to you or go to an art gallery and take a snap of your favourite painting. These treasures will reflect what you love and where your heart sits once it comes to colours and textures.

Next step is to define your own home style which sometimes can be tricky and takes more than just collecting inspirations. Transforming your home is a big investment and requires more thought. Look around the room you wish to transform and spot the items you love and want to keep. Which ones are you happy to let go off? Donate them to charity or recycle. Declutter before making decisions on what colours you will add into the space. The items you wish to keep will be added to your mood board. Begin by layering colours and textures - order fabric swatches, paint and wallpaper samples. Observe how the colours work with each other, identify your favourite palette and hues. Are you drawn to natural, matt, linen objects or vibrant, shiny and full of colour? As you lay them together you will notice that these look different in full sun and very different in the Evening once the artificial lights are on. Look for harmony in colour combinations and shades. If you love it, then it will be right.

Colours affect our mood and emotions so it's important to consider it. This subject is pretty extensive so I will talk more about it in my next blog. We will discover calm and pale colours, dark and deep, bright pops of colours and how to use them well, harmony of warm colours, nature of cool colours. I will also write more on subject of hue and tone, contrasting and complementing colours, influence of light and architectural features.