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| Interior Designs |
Your house is built, the dust is just settled and your thoughts are turning to enhancing the look and feel of the place. Basically, you want to turn a house into a home. Colour and light will be some of the most important considerations.
The good thing about decorating your own home is that you call the shots. Potentially a disaster, you say, but a good place to start is by compiling a list of what you want to do with each room. What function is it going to fill? Do you have any particular style in mind? This is where ideas you may have gleaned from books and magazines come in, but ignore the impulse to adhere rigidly to any particular inspiration. The more of you that goes into your interior design the more comfortable it will sit later on.
Wall finishes
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Colour, texture and light are probably the most important elements in any decorative scheme. It is worth considering a number of points when deciding on the finish and colour of walls. What direction does the room face? The amount of natural light that enters the room can have a profound effect on your choice of paint shades.
If, for example, your room is north facing, the lack of direct sunlight will make it feel colder and you should consider using warm colours like reds and yellows to compensate. When your room faces south, the advantsge of natural light allows you to use paler colours without making the room look cold.
If the supplier makes sample colour pots, use them, because there has not being a colour invented that looks the same on a large wall as it does on a tiny, laminated card. After this, it’s a good idea to gather samples of all other colours you plan to use in the finished room, as colour is influenced by the close presence of other colours.
Colour Choices
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White
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Texture is important in one-colour schemes. Where a room lacks colour contrast add rugs and fabrics to create warmth.
Avoid brilliant white which takes on a tinge of grey where light is limited.
White is often used to match bathroom ware but it can cast a chill in poor lighting, add in ivory as a warm compliment.
Paintwork should be part of the colour schemes, so use a white, which relates to the walls when painting the woodwork and radiators.
Pink
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Because of its prettiness, pink is usually associated with feminine colour schemes but its potential is too great to restrict it to the boudoir.
Rose-peach warms up a chilly living room, rose-beige looks distinctive in the hall, and cranberry makes a dramatic dining room.
A bright pink is surprisingly successful in the kitchen where it offsets the formality of wood while the palest shades of blossom pink are the classic choice for bedrooms.
As pinks vary from those with a blue tinge to those with yellow it is important to choose co-ordinates, which have a similar emphasise.
Green
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Forget the maxim ‘blue and green should never be seen’, blue is one of the colours which have a natural affinity with green (the other is yellow)
Blue and green together create a cool restful interior while yellow adds warmth and brightness.
For contrast use green with red or tones of pink or choose green on its own, offset by brilliant white for freshness.
Yellow and orange
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Yellow and orange are bright cheerful hues, which create a stimulating environment. Use clear, citrus colours to add sparkle to dull rooms, but choose paler tones of primrose and apricot for a less demanding background. Deep, rich shades of burnt orange and gold help to create a tranquil atmosphere.
Use yellow and orange in rooms with a cool (north or east facing) aspect to add warmth. Choose paler shades to increase the amount of light.
Take care to avoid clashes between lemon and golden yellows and between pink and yellow shades of orange.
Brilliant white makes a refreshing contrast to the intensity of yellow.
Use Yellow
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In dark living spaces where you want to create a sense of light and an atmosphere of cosy optimism.
In rooms that have plenty of natural light to maximise the colours uplifting properties.
Use to brighten kitchens particularly combined with blue.
Wake up a dull bedroom with buttercup hues.
Combine lemon tones withy grey for a chic urban lounge.
In eating areas to create a warm, sunny, inviting atmosphere.
Red
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Red is the most dramatic of colours. Use scarlet to attract attention; choose a darker shade , like terracotta or burgundy, if you prefer less intense colour; or consider flame red to add warmth.
Red walls appear to reduce space, so reserve them for large areas, such as halls or rooms where you want to create a sense of drama.
Red is a stimulating colour so be sparing with vivid patterns on furnishings and accessories which will compete with the colour for attention and make for a confusing effect.
Use red
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In dining areas or rooms where people socialise. Red is very flattering to the skin.
On one key wall in a home office for a feeling of power and opulence.
As red is the colour of love and passion, what better choice for one of your bedrooms.
Excite the eye with vivid scarlet or crimson, set off by white or contrasted with brilliant green or blue.
Red’s cousin pink can also shock. However, subtler shades can soothe and calm.
Blue
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Blue is the coolest colour in the spectrum but it is also the most peaceful.
When planning a blue scheme it is wise to add a contrasting colour such as gold, pink or apricot, which will provide warm accents throughout the room.
Use blue with greens and mauves of equal depth to create the most restful schemes.
Blue and black can be a striking combination. Look for deep cornflower or electric blues with maximum intensity to balance the effect.
Combine blue with bright red or green for a look that packs a punch.
Use blue
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To create a sense of space and tranquillity.
Combined with white for a fresh crisp look.
In bathrooms and kitchens (always a winner) and you can add yellow to take away the cool edge.
In bedrooms to create a relaxing interior.
Brown
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Mix brown and beige with silver, black and charcoal for a very sophisticated effect.
Use dark brown with care – it swallows light and remember that dark brown carpets will show every speck of dirt.
Brighten up beige and brown schemes by adding accents of orange or blue for contrast.
Making the light choice
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Creating a successful lighting scheme requires an understanding of the effect of different light sources, a familiarity with light fittings and knowing how to assess your interior for suitable lighting. This brief guide should be your starting point.
Hallway
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Must have lights that lead the visitor through to the rest of the rooms in the house. Switches near door, no freestanding lights, flexes can ba hazardous.
Living room
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The most redecorated room in the house. Lighting should be flexible to accommodate change. Atmosphere should be warm and ambient. Choose tungsten.
Kitchen
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Demands efficient lighting at a bright level to perform different tasks. Fitted, mounted or recessed is best. Low voltage halogen lights offer a crisp white practical light.
Bedroom
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Important to avoid glare or extreme light, the bedroom is for relaxing. Need soft ambient light – wall lights, table lights, uplights.
Bathroom
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Requires practical light. Advice should be sought from lighting specialist .
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The above article is courtesy of House and Home, Ireland's favourite interiors magazine which also publishes 'Build Your Own House and Home', the annual 300 page reference to building a home in Ireland.
www.houseandhome.ie
Subscribe now to House and Home:
http://www.houseandhome.ie/subscription.asp
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