Interior Wall Color
Schemes
It's all about
Choices - Your Choices
We have touched on the importance of wall design and interior wall color schemes in almost every page of this website but here we are going into more depth on how color can be used not only to bring interest, warmth, light and mood to your rooms but how it can also be used to hide, disguise, deceive and repair room and wall imperfections.
For this reason color becomes a powerful weapon in the armory of interior design.
It’s a fact most homeowners would rather play it safe and live in a neutral home with neutral decorating wall color schemes rather than shake things up a little with vibrant bold and striking wall colors.
It’s not the fact that they don’t like these bold and beautiful colors, but they’re afraid of making the wrong choices.
At the same time the interior color schemes and the wall color that you choose to have around you should be those that not only suit your temperament but your lifestyle as well.
Although bright colors may seem cheerful and you might admire them in homes you’ve seen, not everyone can live with them in their own homes. You might be one of those people that are simply happier with muted tones. If this describes you, then you can always add color by hanging a beautiful framed art piece on your wall or pick up color with pillows, linens and other accessories and home accents.
We are not going to try to explain color as a scientific phenomenon here with all kinds of measurable rules and boundaries because in the world of interior design color is subjective and no two people see color exactly the same way.
The way we experience color is very personal and firmly tied to our emotions, and because of this, the choice of room wall color and interior color schemes can be one of your biggest decorating challenges. For example, a pale blue room might look icy to one person while another might absolutely love it and find it relaxing and soothing.
One way to acquire color scheme inspiration and to ease into the world of color is by using a color wheel. The color wheel lets you see what colors work well in combination with other colors and the relationships between primary, secondary and tertiary colors.
The color wheel Explored:
- Primary Colors: Red – Blue – Yellow
- Secondary Colors: Green – Orange – Violet (Made by combining and mixing two primary colors)
- Tertiary Colors: (Made by mixing a primary with a secondary color) For example, the tertiary color turquoise is created by mixing primary color blue with the secondary color green.
- Tint: By adding white to an existing color.
- Shade: By adding black to an existing color.
- Tone: By adding black and white to an existing color.
The large paint companies are experts at creating decorating wall color schemes by mixing modern synthetic pigments together, as well as mixing them with white or black to arrive at any color your heart desires.
It helps if you remember that every color is simply a combination of other colors and that, depending on the strength and the color value of the original color, different new colors can be created in profusion.
Colors Explored:
- Classic Neutrals: Off white, beige and taupe are very popular interior wall color schemes, very safe and always in style.
-
The neutral range continues into the warmer spectrum with
creams
and browns – earthtones are literally the most natural of all colors.
These colors are easily accessorized with a variety of colors.
There should always be a touch of color somewhere within a neutral palette.
-
Whites, grays and blacks – they are not primaries
or secondaries or
even complementary colors – they are nuances of color.
- Tranquil Colors: Soothing and calming these colors tend to be softer cooler tones. For example, muted greens and blues such as sage green, hazy blue and steel gray make lovely decorating interior wall color schemes.
- Bright Colors: These colors are strong and exciting. For example chartreuse green, tangerine orange, fuchsia pink and electric blue. These colors can be used sparingly as accents in neutral and tranquil settings to create some excitement and pop.
-
Blue:
Of all the colors blue is most cited as being a favorite color for
interior wall color schemes.
There is a
huge variety of blues and with such a range available, it would be hard
not to find a blue color scheme that appeals to you.
When using white make sure it’s a soft warm white. Warm grays make a very flattering background color especially in a bedroom accessorized with shell pink.
.
-
Blue is serene, quiet, rich and dependable. It is the color of the sky
and the bluer the sky the more cheerful you feel. It is also the color
of the sea which makes many of us feel alive and close to nature.
-
Red:
Red is a very powerful and positive color. The
color of life! It is a symbol of true love as well as
passion and
anger.
It is exciting, energetic, appetizing and dynamic. As a primary color red becomes varied when it is mixed with other tones.
Red demands to be noticed and notice it you do! If you do not use it as a dominant color just a touch of red will complement and coordinate with many other interior color schemes.
-
Yellow:
Yellow is a stimulating color – the color of the
sun! A warm yellow brings warmth into cold dark rooms lacking in
sunlight. Conversely
cool yellows should be used in sunny rooms. -
Purple:
Purple derives from red and blue and depending
upon the strength of
this color, it can vary from brown purple to blue purple.
Cool yellows and cool blues make a great decorating combination and a beautiful interior wall color scheme for any room in your home.
Warm yellow is also interesting with dark warm colors such as chestnut, chocolate and black.
-
Purple
harmonizes with many colors including yellow, blues and pale orange.
Mauve and lilac are variants of purple.
-
Green:
Green is a color we notice everyday in nature whether you
are a country dweller or a city dweller.
Often times purple is thought to be passionate, theatrical and artistic making it a very elegant interior wall color scheme to consider if you're the artsy type.
Bright pale and fresh yellow greens signify spring is here, darker deeper greens summer and changing fading greens signify fall has arrived..
-
No other color presents so many variations. For example there is yellow
green and blue green and every other shade of green in between.
-
Orange:
Orange is a great wall decorating color. It can look
deeply traditional as well as boldy contemporary.
When it comes to choosing interior wall color schemes, green can be a very beautiful but challenging color choice for this reason.
With green the grass is always greener it seems!
When it comes to selecting home decorating wall colors, It’s very easy to get the wrong shade of green so if you want to decorate with this challenging color it’s very important to test your choices before making a final commitment.
It conjures up images of the rich orange brown tones of Africa or the American southwest. Due to its affinity to the color of red earth, the browns and reds of wood and brick, it is a color that can look
very fitting in a room with paneling and a lot of wooden furniture.
Orange works very well also as an accent color complementing othe interior color schemes such as various purples and mauves, darkest green, gray-olive green as well as gray and brown.
The color orange is a life-enhancing color that can bring life and warmth into your rooms that evoke feelings of sunshine and pleasure.
Color Terms:
- Hue is what we call color. Red is the hue; blue is the hue.
- The value of the hue is how light or dark it is.
- Saturation refers to how dominant the hue is. As we go from red to Pink, the red hue becomes less dominant.
- Intensity is the brilliance of the color. For example, the pure color red is more intense than combined colors such as yellow-green.
Now that you have a breakdown and a description of the meaning of colors, now is the time to discover how light, size and room shape also affects your color choices as well as all your interior wall color schemes.
Explore how light can affect your interior wall color schemes and more tips for choosing the right wall color for your home or office.
