Decorating your living room can be a bit of a daunting task, especially if it’s not something you’re particularly knowledgeable about. You might be asking yourself questions like ‘what sort of furniture shall choose?’, ‘Should I implement a theme?’ And ‘how much space do I have?’. It can all be a bit much, especially if you’ve not got tonnes of experience with using colour to create a backdrop for your design.
Generally when decorating a full room, it’s best to start with one colour as your main inspiration, and go from there. But, you might be asking, what goes with what? How can you match up your sofa covers with your walls? Well, that’s where we think this might come in handy. Introducing the Plumbs what goes with what infographic!
Colour theory
Now, most of us have out own tastes and preferences when it comes to the colour of our interior space, but did you know that there’s actually a process for understanding colours and pairing them well?This is basically the essence of colour theory.
Colour theory is a series of theoretical practices that were developed by scientists and artists (including the great Sir. Isaac Newton), that explained which colours go well together, and the various reasons why. In a nutshell, it’s all to do with how our brains process different colour spectrums. Certain contrasting colours (those opposite each other on the colour wheel) tend to look good together basically because together they simultaneously stimulate different parts of the eye.
The colour wheel was derived from colour theory – the wheel shows us how certain colours and hues can influence moods, add to the ambience, and affect how the viewer feels.
That’s the simple explanation, but what are some of the key points that colour theory suggests? Let’s break them down so they’re easy to digest.
Colour temperature
One of the key concepts brought to light by colour theory is that colours give off certain moods depending on where they’re located around the colour wheel. As a general rule, warmer colours tend to be more on the red and yellow side of the wheel, whereas blue and green tend to represent the cooler side of the wheel.
But why are some colours deemed as ‘warmer’ than others? Well, it’s partially a matter of human psychology. You see, colours play quite a large role in the psychology and emotional state of people. Certain colours invoke certain emotions within us. For example – warm colours like red, yellow, and orange are often associated with love, passion, anger, and happiness. On the other hand, cool colours like blues and whites are usually associated with peace and tranquility and have a calming effect. All that is exactly why they’re so helpful in establishing different moods for your interiors!
As a side note – brighter colours create a calm and open feeling in a room, whereas darker colours are usually reserved for those looking to make a bold statement.
Colour schemes
So why does any of that matter when you’re trying to curate the perfect setting for your lounge? As we’ve already touched on – if you want to give off certain impressions and invoke certain emotions within people, colour is an immensely valuable tool for creating the atmosphere you want. If you’re looking for some inspiration, we’ve collected a few helpful schemes that you might want to consider incorporating into your living space:
• Monochromatic Рinvolves a variety of tones out of the same hue
• Analogous colour scheme Рuses colours that find a place next to each other on the colour wheel; for example, an ombre colour scheme
• Triadic Рdenoting colours that are spaced out equally on the colour wheel.
• Complementary Рthese are colours on opposite sides of the wheel
• Tetradic Рdual colours are distributed evenly across the colour wheel
• Split Complementary Рrefers to two colours on opposite ends of the colour wheel, with one of them split into two more adjacent colours. (For example, yellow-green)
When it comes right down to it, there’s no objectively right choice for your colour scheme – it all depends on what sort of mood you’re trying to create! But whatever you have in mind, rest assured we’ve got exactly what you need to help make it a reality here at Plumbs. We supply a beautiful range of sofa covers, curtains and reupholstery – all perfect for complementing your picture-perfect design scheme. Come and see how we can bring a new lease of life to your furniture!
