Trend Watch Paint Colours

Date Published:

20/06/2008

The hitch in our personal colour palettes is that other people share our living space. Finding your season might have given you the urge to rush out and buy a tin or two of paint, but what if our significant other resides in a different part of the calendar year?

While you're likely to feel a pull towards one season, you're likely to be attracted to at least one other. You might be 75 per cent spring, but still crave the texture and warmth of the Autumn palette, in which case psychologists refer to you as 'Spring with an autumn subordinate'. Thankfully, this kind of fickleness means sharing your home needn’t be problematic.

If the personalities in your household have a fundamental season clash, the first thing to do is agree not to go anywhere near the DIY store until you’ve decided on a colour scheme. Wandering the paint aisles 'just to see what's about' rarely ends in a purchase satisfactory to all parties.

Instead, ask each other which primary and secondary colours they envisage in the room in question, what should the interest be (an unusual wallpaper, a piece of furniture?) and how should the room make the inhabitant feel (peaceful, stimulated?).

Which Paint Colours Work Best In which Rooms?

If negotiations end in a stand off, it may be worth adapting all palettes in question to what colour psychologist Angela Wright proposes as a tried and tested colour scheme for each room in the house

Living Room

The living room represents many things to many people so virtually any colour will work here, depending on what you hope the result will foster. If you want a sanctuary after a hard day at the office, go for blues and greens. Pinks and soft blues are soothing, and violets great for meditation.

Kitchen

Avoid red in the hottest room in the house; use greens for a cooling atmosphere. Going for orange (a hunger stimulant) or yellow (proven to encourage creativity) would be a wise choice. Blue suppresses hunger so avoid.

Dining Room

Yellows are not so good for the digestion, while blue is and would be ideal for a soothing dining experience. Oranges and reds make for lively mealtime discussions and add warmth to a drafty or relatively unused room.

Bedroom

Again, forget yellow. It's far too emotionally demanding and doesn't make for a good night's sleep. If you like yellow, balance with blue, mauve or violet to ensure a refreshing wake-up. Flesh tones, pinks, reds and oranges support romance. Black, although sophisticated, is unlikely to lead to love.

Bathroom

If bathroom hogging is a problem in your house, strong reds, oranges or greens (colours scientifically proven to increase the perception of time passing) are a must. For a more soothing atmosphere go for blues, turquoises and watery greens - all of which have a fresh quality inductive to hygiene. Pink, the most sexual colour, supports positive body images so work well here.

For more on colour psychology and the home, see The Beginner's Guide to Colour Psychology, by Angela Wright. ISBN: 0954065700