COLOUR IN YOUR HOME

Do you know what colour makes you feel happier? If you can select a dress that complements your natural colouring, then you will have no difficulty in selecting the key colour for the interior of your home.

Choose a colour that you want to live with and it will be the key colour throughout your home. This is what interior designers call colour continuity. In a single room or all over the house, this repeating of a colour brings unity.

Colour continuity is important. When one room opens into another, the colours may change places in the second room but a colour continuity must be preserved. For instance, the blue of the wall in one room may drop to the floor or rise to the ceiling in the other room. But, there is a reason to break the sequence, the major colour scheme should be carried through to the adjacent room.

Colour is a wonderful tool in interior design. It can camouflage bad architectural detail, it can emphasize the beauty of good architectural detail. Colour can make a room appear smaller. It can make a room appear larger.

We have said that you cannot use a colour once, then drop it, you cannot use a colour high on the wall without bringing it down into the room. Remember this when you are contemplating a contrasting valance at your window. The valance will turn out to be an eye-catching, objectionable room feature if you do not make it a part of the room by covering some pieces of furniture, not necessarily in the same fabric, but in the same colour.

And this brings us to say that colour used intelligently can do more to make a room both comfortable and beautiful than any other factor, almost as much as all other factors used in its design.

Colour, texture, and pattern contribute to the home´s liveability because they, too, were purposefully planned. Cheerful, light-reflecting colours predominate. White on the ceiling increases the sense of spaciousness and reflects light down onto the subtly textured tawny carpet. Walls of very pale yellow become harmonious backgrounds for the natural birch of the chests, television, desk and for the greyed orange covers on the studio couches. Against this warm colour scheme based on yellow and orange, the black frames of the two chairs and the clear blues and greens of the curtains, the pillows, and the chairs’ upholstery are refreshingly cool, subordinate accents. Walls and ceiling are smooth plaster. The birch in the furniture is also smooth to touch, but the grain brings a visual texture. Textures that you can feel as well as see are introduced in all of the textiles. Small-scale, unobtrusive patterns in draperies, pillows, and upholstery add interest and variety. Paintings, sculptures, books and magazines, accessories, lighting fixtures and the occupants’ clothes bring additional contrast.

This room is comfortable and attractive. Why? Because it was developed to fill basic human needs. No matter what the art form may be – a modest home or a magnificent mansion, a kitchen chair or a community mural – human needs and interests deserve first consideration.

ACCESSORIES

Furniture and accessories work together in defining the style and feeling of a space. Because accessories can do so much to enhance a space, the process of selecting and arranging accessories for both residential and commercial settings de­serves thoughtful consideration. Accessories add the finish­ing touches to a room, reflecting the personal taste and indi­viduality of the user more than any other element.

Accessories may have sentimental value to the client and may incorporate personal collections. Accessories can also bea powerful tool in establishing the design theme or ex­pressing a cultural background. Interiors are enriched by the addition of both functional and decorative accessories.

Functional accessories serve a utilitarian purpose but may become an interesting display item as well. Some items, such as towel racks, draper rods, door handles, or accent plumbing fixtures, may be attached to the architectural background. Other practical accessories such as a mirror, lamp, clock, or tray may be moved from one place to an­other within the space.

The purpose or use of the room should be the prime con­sideration when selecting functional accessories. For example, if lighting is required beside a lounge chair in a living room, choose an appropriate lamp that will meet the needs of the user.

Lamps, known in the industry as portable luminaries,are at­tractive accessories serving the purpose of providing light when and where needed. Common types of lamps include table lamps, floor lamps, sconces and pendants (chandeliers). Lamps are available in a wide range of styles— traditional or modern, decorative or structural. A lighting fix­ture that is carefully chosen for a specific room, style, mood, location, or purpose can be an important contributing ele­ment.

Cicero said, “A room without books is a body without a soul”. Books add friendliness to a home. Usually no room has a mood that precludes their use, or a colour scheme so complete it could not benefit from their warm tones and tex­tures. Bookshelves can go in almost any room, require little space, and create a warm, friendly atmosphere. Children need bookshelves in their rooms at a height they can easily reach. Other bedrooms can accommodate shelves where space permits- usually close to the bed for night-time reading. Kitchens need handy shelves for reference books and cookbooks. Conference rooms benefit from shelves used to display company memorabilia, awards, and reference books.

Additionally, books can add a decorative quality to a room with their textures, colours, and shapes. They also mix well with other accessories; for example, a few books flanked with interesting bookends, next to a plant and a small sculpture, or placed on a coffee table with other items add interest to a room.

Since the 14th century mirrors have been used as functional and decorative objects in homes and public places. Mirrors are available in almost any size and in frames to fit any decor. Mir­rors are a helpful tool for the interior designer. They can add beauty, multiply space, conceal unattractive structural features, distribute and double light, brighten dark areas, and bring life into an otherwise drab room. Mirrors have steadily increased in popularity and now play an indispensable role in all styles of interiors.

Clocks have long been important accessories in the home and office. Naturally a clock must be placed where it can be seen easily. Outdoors, clocks frequently serve as landmarks in metropolitan settings. In smaller com­munities the chime of a clock tower helps to define the “sense of place”.

In addition to its decorative value, a screen may serve many functional purposes. Screens can set off an entrance where the front door opens directly into the living area, act as a divider between living and dining areas, close off a kitchen, or set off a private area by making a room within a room. They also can redirect traffic when strategically placed, extend the apparent size of a room by replacing a door, control the flow of air and lie direction of light, camouflage an old-fashioned radiator or conditioning unit, or conceal storage. A decorative screen can give an architectural quality to a room, enhance the room's decor, provide a backdrop for a furniture grouping, substitute for side drapery, or serve as the room's focal point.

A contemporary room can be made strikingly modern and a traditional room can take on an authentic feeling through the discriminating use of small accessories such as doorknock­ers, doorknobs, switch plates, curtain rods, and tiebacks. Drawer pulls, escutcheons(the plate behind the pull), and hinges can give a piece of furniture the feeling of a particu­lar period.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16