Time for a colourful outlook on life
Steering away from painting your walls a different colour in favour of neutrals seems easy - but what looks a calming khaki to you can appear the colour of sludge to others. Spatial Concept director Gary Lai says coloured paint can be inspirational.
'Colour can dramatically alter the mood of a room,' Lai says. 'A couple of years ago, people went for very minimal white. Now they are more sophisticated and willing to work with colour.'
Lai says he has painted a client's study a bold, punchy red. 'The client wanted something lively, so that when she works in the room the red gives off lots of energy.
'Colour is very personal, but generally blue is calming, green references nature and red is energetic,' Lai says.
For those who have never used colour before, Lai suggests white contrasted with dark brown or black, which keeps things neutral, and then bringing in other colours such as burgundy or apple green.
He also recommends lighter tones to make a room look bigger while darker colours provide depth and perspective.
Lai says to take note of the amount of natural light your room gets. If the room has lots, the colour will be truer to the original. However, if the room is dark it will significantly alter the colour.
Try not to pick colours from a chart, as they always look different on the wall, Lai says. Depending on whether your walls are wood panel or plaster finish, use a one-foot sample board on which you can paint your selected colour. Lai suggests living with it for a couple of days and rotating its position around the room. 'A lot of people, when they look at a paint sample, will examine it on a table, but the paint will be applied to a vertical wall, so you should consider it vertically, as this provides the most accurate sample,' he says.
Lai also recommends choosing an eggshell finish for walls because this will provide a slight sheen and, with natural light, it will have a silky look. And for ceilings, he advises a matte finish which is more subtle. Matte finishes also hide wall imperfections. Lai advises taking care not to put too many different colours in one area. 'Choose one colour, and make the rest complementary so they don't compete with each other,' he says.
'Also, try not to have all primary colours unless you are looking for a specific pop art look.'
Becoming accustomed to a new bold room colour may take time, Lai says.
Bring in the rest of your furniture and fabrics and you'll probably be pleased you were bold enough to try.
