A little bit of basic colour theory, a colour wheel and something called the
60-30-10 rule will have you combining colours like an interior design pro.
- By Douglas Trattner
As a residential interior designer, Michelle Pollak, president of The Lollipop Tree, an interior design firm in Charleston, S.C., makes her living by combining colours to achieve a desired mood or effect. By following the traditional rules of color theory, she can produce kitchens and bathrooms that jump with energy or soothe the senses. Colour theory tells us what hues give us that warm and cozy feel and which ones foster a cool, peaceful serenity.
“But before you can successfully apply colour theory to interior design, you have to understand how it works,” Michelle says.
Theory in Practice
When coming up with a room’s colour palette, Michelle takes three important things into consideration: her clients’ personal preferences, their lifestyle (how they intend to use the space) and the room’s physical structure (lighting and architectural details). With this information, she then can determine which colours and colour scheme will best match her clients’ objectives.
“There are just some colour schemes that work better than others,” Michelle says. “Like if I walk into a country farmhouse kitchen, I automatically think of a monochromatic or analogous colour scheme of creamy pale yellows or deep rich reds.” Conversely, a kitchen in a contemporary or modern house might be best served by bold, bright colours used in a complementary or triadic colour scheme.
If her clients are looking to achieve a feeling of peace and tranquility, Michelle immediately considers a monochromatic or analogous colour palette. “Think about the colour scheme of a Hawaiian island and how restful it makes you feel,” she says. “The lush green hills, the blue ocean water and the pale blue sky — that is a classic analogous colour scheme.” Bathrooms and spa rooms are ideal places to take colour cues from nature, she adds.
To introduce a little bit more spark into a contemporary design pattern, Michelle moves to a complementary or triadic colour scheme. “With each step up from monochromatic to analogous to complementary to triadic, you add a little more energy and a little more interest.”
Michelle cautions against injecting too much of a bright color in any room. “It is extremely important to balance colors with a lot of energy, because what might seem fun and exciting can become exhausting over time,” she warns. This is where the beauty of a complementary colour scheme really shines. Because the colours are opposite each other on the colour wheel, these colour combinations always balance a warm hue with a cool hue.
Formula for Success
As an interior designer who specializes in what she calls “integrative lifestyle design,” DeAnna Radaj, ASID, uses feng shui and colour to achieve harmony and balance in one’s home environment.
Colour is a powerful influence on our daily lives, explains DeAnna, owner of Bante Design in Milwaukee, Wis. By understanding the psychology of colour, which identifies the psychological effects individual colors have on our minds and bodies, we can design rooms that foster health, well-being and prosperity.
DeAnna divides rooms into active spaces and passive spaces. Kitchens fall into the active category, while bathrooms tend to fall into the passive group. Because warm colours like orange and red represent energy and tension, they are best suited for active rooms like the kitchen. Alternatively, cool colors like blues and greens have a soothing and calming effect, making them ideal for passive rooms like the bedroom and bathroom.
“The kitchen is considered a fire room and the bathroom is a water room,” says DeAnna. But that doesn’t mean she recommends painting every wall in your
kitchen red or every square inch of your bathroom blue. As in life, balance is key. “Too much of one colour can create a numbing, exhausting affect on you and your family,” notes DeAnna.
DeAnna suggests following a color principal commonly referred to as the “60-30-10 rule.” For example, 60 percent of a bathroom or kitchen, typically the walls, should be one colour of a colour scheme. The colour of the cabinetry and/or furniture accounts for the 30-percent figure. And accents and accessories such as plants, artwork and linens make up the remaining 10 percent.
And taking a lesson straight from the feng shui playbook, DeAnna strongly advises against painting your kitchen a vivid orange. “In feng shui terms, orange increases one’s appetite,” she says. “So unless you want to get fat, stay away from orange.”
RESOURCES
DeAnna Radaj, ASID
Bante Design
Michelle Pollak, ASID
The Lollipop Tree
Doug Sanderson
Associate Professor of Art Kent State University