Should I choose warm or cold colours for my room?

Chloe Hines Chloe Hines
Entrance Hall , Studio Hooton Studio Hooton Koridor & Tangga Modern
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Colours, colours, colours. They're interesting, beautiful, powerful and when it comes to the interior design of your home, they're both strategic and stressful. With companies like Pantone making their way through the world of colours, not a day goes by where you aren't surrounded by them – and whether you like it or not, they have an incredibly impact on your mood, life and decisions.

Vasily Kandisnky established his entire professional art career on one concept: Colours are both emotive and powerful. Kandinsky also believed in the importance of the primary colours establishing three ideas: Blue = intellectual, red = physical and yellow = emotional.  Of course, depending on who you are and what you believe, you might think these theories and concepts are a little too much, however, as interior designers we believe you should establish how you feel about colours and create a scheme within your home that specifically resonates within each room.

In the kitchen: Is everything allowed?

homify Dapur Modern

The kitchen can be quite a versatile area and, with the focus being more on function and design than decor, you can get away with a lot colour-wise. With stainless steel appliances being the most popular, working around the functional areas of the kitchen is no issue. However, it seems as though a light and brighter kitchen is still the preferred choice. As seen in this example, why not combine the brighter kitchen with dark sub-structures and design details for a dynamic look?

If you wish to bring colours into your kitchen we suggest you do so through the small details and decor.  Think about cabinet handles, lighting fixtures and flooring. These items, when combined, can add a colourful punch to your area, without getting in the way of the appliances and functional atmosphere.  Also, if your kitchen design is similar to the one seen here and it's connected to the dining room, then use this to your advantage! The stark black-and-white contrast of this dining room fully affects the look of the kitchen even thought the kitchen itself is kept rather minimal.

Warm colours in the dining room

The dining room is a place to settle down and enjoy life, food and family games. Warm colours bring an inviting feeling to any room and this is particularly true in the dining room.

When thinking about warm colours for your dining room, consider warm hues like salmon pink, dusky grey and butter yellow as they lay in accordance with the rest of your home and your personal taste.  Also make sure that the colour palette you choose will look great in almost every season and bring a fresh vibe. The dining room seen here has properly utilized a mixture of off-whites and greys for the walls as well as eclectic matching furnishings and decor.  The light fixture offers a modern vibe to the rather rustic room and black mismatching chairs that complement the black stairway railing show close attention to detail.

Want to know other ways that warm colours can add to your dining room? Add an eclectic mix of warm palette crockery and table decor for a finished and polished look!

Living room: A mix?

The living room is an incredibly important room as it will not only house you for the majority of the time, but your guests as well. The living room will include some of the most comfortable furnishings you own, as well as some electronics and hobby-based materials like books and art. With this eclectic mix, it only makes sense to colour and decorate your living room in a way that matches. 

We suggest that smaller living rooms should stick with brighter and lighter colour palettes as to add a sense of depth and height. With larger living rooms, consider adding bold colours to at least one wall, if not all of them. Check out this ideabook for tips on how to properly integrate bold colours into your interior to create the illusion of more space!

Not only can living rooms be mixed by colour, but they can also be mixed by means of decor and accessories as seen in this example. Whether it be a cool lighting fixture, a vintage sofa, or a geometric, colourful rug – bring truly unique elements into your living room for a special touch.

Children's room

If you're blessed with the need for a nursery or children's room, then consider yourself lucky  This is a stressful time, we know, but one of the most exciting parts of a child's arrival is how you will integrate them into your home and create a space perfect for their development. 

Children's rooms should be kept minimal, yet creative, with most of the colour originating not from the walls, but the accessories: books, mobiles, bedding and creative toys.  If you want to include some bold colours in your child's room, then try using a pop of colour on one of the walls, but not all of them.  Use shelving and hook systems to display large-format children's books and graphic prints for a fun and lively atmosphere for your child. You also want your child's room to be super-cosy, so think about throws, bedding, rugs and any other textile-based design features that can add a multiplicity of colours without overdoing it.

An interesting aspect of a child's room is that they should be versatile in design as the child grows and evolves, so we also suggest that you stay away from fixtures that are too permanent, or too defining of a certain age range or gender. 

Bedroom

As the bedroom is an incredibly personal space, the options are rather open with colour coordination and decor. As seen here, feel free to experiment with not only colours, but textures and patterns as well! We highly suggest that, when thinking about colour palettes, you base it off two things: your tastes and the size of your space.  This bedroom is a great size, but if the whole room was painted in the colour of the dark blue accent wall, then the illusion of the size would greatly depreciate.

If you think that adding some bold colours to your home is something you're willing to try, then check out this great, instructional ideabook for your first in-home colour experiment!

Home office/study

homify Ruang Studi/Kantor Modern

As more and more people choose to work from home, the office or study has become a central part of the modern, 21st century home.

If you tend to use your office a lot for work or other hobbies, you need to be strategic about the designs and inspirations you place around yourself.  Home offices are great because even if you don't have a spare room, you can still easily designate an area of your home to be a home office! Keep offices, bright, fresh and inspirational with lighter colours and bright, unique accent features and accessories. 

Offices are a great area to include functional, yet unique design features in order to keep you active and productive all day long – just check out the exposed wood beam and colour desk-top fan in this example!

Bathroom

Bathrooms are interesting when it comes to choosing colours and decorative features because as you know, they come in all shapes, sizes and orientations. Similarly to what we suggested with bedrooms, we suggest that the smaller your bathroom is, the lighter and warmer you keep your colour palette and accessories. Lighter colours also play another role within bathrooms – they can keep your bathroom looking clean, organized and hygienic – another important aspect of any bathroom.

The bathroom seen here is larger, and even with the rustic feel with accessories and the beautiful hardwood floor, the lighter colour palette makes the space look fresh. To add a mix of colours – even bold ones – to your bathroom, think about the accessories and most importantly, the use of tiles. Tile work, whether in the shower, on the walls, the back splash or on the floor, can offer a world of wonderful colour options without scrimping on functionality and charm.

Hall/entry way

Last but not least and perhaps the most influential area of your home – the hallway.  If your home has a designated space for the entrance, including stairs, a large lobby-type area and grand ceilings before allowing access to the rest of your home – make it count!

The hallway seen is here is absolutely stunning and plays with multiple design features – great stairs, high ceilings, and a wide opening to include tables, lamps, decor, rugs and functional areas to hang coats and scarves and place shoes.  In your hallway, any colour palette can work if your use it as a design scheme with the rest of the decor and accessories. The look and feel you create in the entry way is what will define the first glance of both your home, and your life, for your guests, your family and even you! 

Keep things fresh, interesting and detailed. The darker colour of this entry way works because of it's large size, however, with lighter colours the space could look so huge that it might give a cold feel.

Tip: The most important aspect of any entry way is to feel inviting and welcoming and give everyone a real sense of who you are and what your home is about – so anything goes!

For more tips on choosing a good colour for your home, check out the top 10 Pantone colours for 2016!

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