Have you planned your getaway for the summer holidays yet?

Colour by numbers - the Pantone Hotel

In my pursuit of colourful design ideas my attention was drawn this week to the Pantone Hotel in Brussels. The ‘Pantone Hotel Experience’ invites you to travel to a “colorific world – experienced through a lens of colour and spectrum of comforts”. The design ethos is described as an ‘exceptional use of contrast where a white canvas provides clean space for saturated colours to pop’.

Quite startling in design, definition and drama are certainly created by the space and reflective qualities of white married with intense bursts of colour in the furnishings and artwork.

The feeling among many designers of different disciplines about including white in design is that it adds impeccable, classy, elegant, clean, simple, peaceful, sophisticated qualities; whilst making other colours in its space appear more intense and vibrant. As white doesn’t alter the reflection of light from its surface it will appear ‘bright’ compared to its surroundings and appear to open up a space.

Citrus at the Semiramus

Another eye popping colourful hotel worth a look is the Semiramis in Athens. Designed by Karim Rashid the look is ultra contemporary and I like the way that colour is used to define space. The colour palettes are sugared almond  (complete with squishy looking marshmallow chairs in the lobby!) or bright and citrusy countered with a lot of white.

Other colourful hotels worth a look are the Mykonos Theoxenia, Greece and the Hi Hotel in Nice

Want to brighten up your space? The Dulux Light & Space range offer a range of ‘whites’ (with a hint of colour) that reflect up to twice as much light around a room.

I was asked this week by a journalist about suitable colours for ‘men’s bedrooms’. Should there be a difference in the way that men or women decorate their bedroom?

Well… yes and no.

I had to comment a few years ago on the décor chosen by a TV designer for just such a room. Whilst it ticked all the boxes for gadgets and hardware, the colour scheme used for everything from the walls, to the floor to the bedlinen was red and black. Everywhere.

We respond to combinations of colour. The heated energy of red together with the power and mystery of black could be perhaps one of the most uncomfortable pairings I can think of for a bedroom. The interviewer was waiting and I was kind of lost for words as I was thinking that most female of the species when seduced in to this lair would want to run for their lives.

It can be a common mistake to go for what we might associate with ‘male’ or ‘female’ colours when the better approach to take would be to ask yourself how you actually use the room. Sometimes our bedroom can be more than just somewhere we go to sleep and then wake up to dress for the day.  It can be our personal sanctuary to read, meditate and relax. Consider how well you sleep, do you wake up refreshed and ready to go in the morning? Do you study or watch TV in your room? A tint or less intense shade of the colour that you wish to use can enable you to fall asleep more easily, and then balance it with a secondary colour that is stimulating enough to wake up to. Much like creating a

sensual and romantic?

recipe for a favourite dish, interior decoration requires a careful balance between the ‘ingredients’ of colour.

Shades, tints or tones of pink/peach are physically soothing. The more orangey they are the more ‘sensual’ they can seem and this could be quite an attractive quality to have in a bedroom.

calming but too cool?

Light blue which can be calming for the mind whereas the right colour green can be refreshing and restorative.

However be aware. Yellow although a bright, cheery colour is also emotionally stimulating and it’s quite likely that you may find it more difficult to drop off to sleep than usual. If you don’t want to banish yellow all together and quite like seeing it in the morning for it’s ‘wakey wakey’ properties then I would suggest keeping it on one wall and painting the others using a balancing colour in your room such as a soft or toning purple which will make it much more restful.

Find out about an interior colour consultation for your home

NEW – Bookable online spring/summer  workshops!

What is colour? Why does it have an effect on us and how can we harness its benefits? The Power of Colour Psychology Weekend Workshop 24th/25th July

If colour is a language – what are the colours of your business communications saying about you? Colour Your Business Workshop 8th June and 6th July

Well it’s been a little late in coming but we seem to be sliding in to the typical spring ‘four seasons in one day’ kind of weather!

Have you noticed the effect of  rain when the brighter sun shines through it? It’s as if  everything sparkles with more clarity! The colours of  spring time flowers and leaves when they finally blossom will appear fresh and lively. These colours share some ‘characteristics’; they’ll have more yellow in them and appear clear and light. These natural colours perfectly capture the upbeat ‘feeling’ of spring; it’s life, energy and optimism. The youthful spring colour personality suits wearing this palette of colours that will support their natural vitality and zest for life.

If you’re a web/graphic/ product designer or branding expert consider using this light, fresh, clear palette. It accurately conveys qualities which relate well to any design concept or proposition that have the associated ‘youthful’ aspects of fun and energy. Some of these colours are quite ‘primary’ so they may work well in a design for a child or youth orientated product, or any design that needs to express fun, lively, sociable, friendly and confident qualities. Have a look at some of these Pantone references and see how well these colours work together then check the colour psychology effects here.

Red Pantone 032, 1787   Orange Pantone 1365  Yellow Pantone 106  Green Pantone 353, 359

Blue Pantone 285, 299 Pink Pantone 706 Purple Pantone 2715 Grey Pantone Warm Gray

Anther part of the spring colour palette are the light ‘Easter’ pastels. Other interior designers and home decorators and enthusiasts might enjoy this lovely blog site that I was recently introduced to  www.decor8blog.com where Leslie writes in her column about how she puts spring colours together illustrated with lovely pictures of inspiring colour story mood boards in the Color Me Pretty post. Enjoy.

Previous spring posts you might enjoy

Applewood – colour in the community

Sparkle in spring

Last week I had the opportunity to visit a recently completed project that I worked on last summer. Applewood is a respite care facility built in the community in Tadworth, Surrey by Surrey County Council for children and young people with disabilities aged 5-18 years. Accompanying me was Susannah Mathieson, National Account Services Manager for Dulux who was interested to see how I had used colour on this project.

When working with colour psychology the key to selecting a palette of colours is to identify the ‘colour personality’ of the environment. What is it used for – who will be using the space and how? A family of colours is then selected accordingly that best captures, expresses and supports the required qualities of the environment. The brief from Pat Williams, manager of Applewood was to create a bright, lively, fun and ‘funky’ living accommodation that would inspire the young guests who will be able to stay at the facility for between 2 and 6 nights

To convey these qualities and the feel that Applewood wanted to create I specified colours that had warm, clear and bright characteristics. The ‘personality’ of this family of fresh spring colours captures perfectly the qualities of youth, vitality, energy, creativity, activity, motivation and fun! It also identifies particularly well with professions, institutions or businesses linked with children and ‘youth’.

I then looked at the individual colours to select the ones which would best support an activity or create an ambience within each particular room. For example in the recreation rooms where the youngsters would be perhaps socialising and conducting activities I specified yellow to encourage optimism and confidence. Other colours I specified for the Applewood palette were green, turquoise, purple, orange and blue. Each of these colours selected contribute to an upbeat and engaging environment both for the young people staying at Applwood and for the staff working there.

Interior Designers – Would you like to learn how to apply the power of colour in to interior design? Our courses may be just what you’re looking for! http://www.incolourconsultancy.com/interiors_training_in_colour.htm

Leafing through the current crop of fashion magazines and reading various fashion editorials you can’t fail to have noticed a theme of bold colour this season. As the worlds of fashion and interior design seem to become more entwined it appears that that like fashion too, there is also bit of a ‘thing’ for bold colour in the interior decorating world at the moment.

As with what you wear, consider carefully the impact of a colour that you may choose to surround yourself with – after all it’s easier to return your garment to the shop and change it than spend several hours re-decorating your four walls!

Colour is the most economical way to transform a room, give it a fresh new feeling, even disguise irregularities and highlight the best features! Colour can change the apparent shape and size of spaces and objects. ‘Advancing’ colours such as reds, yellows and oranges appear to make a surface closer to us or make an object look bigger. ‘Receding’ colours such as blue, violet or green can make a room seem larger because they make surfaces appear to move away from the eye. And of course it goes without saying that colour affects how you feel. Look at the effects of some of the colours here.

If you want to try out some of the new bold paint or paper colours for decorating I suggest that you may like to try painting one feature wall first. Add more colours to your scheme by adding ‘accents’ in the form of accessories; cushions, lamps, pictures, and furniture, as you feel comfortable.

The stores listed below offer different products, style and decorating tips and pictures of inspirational room sets. I hope you will find them helpful.

Laura Ashley Inspirational Room Sets http://www.lauraashley.com/icat/inspirations
These room sets give an interesting guide to the decorating elements that might appeal to the different colour personality types.
Garden Room – light, fresh, clean. Floral elements and small patterns (spring)
Enchanted Forest – elegant, soft, serene, shimmering (summer)
Decorative Living – berry shades and textures (autumn)
Country Pursuits – substantial rich, muted palette (autumn)
Black & White Living – mirror, lacquer and glass (winter)

Laura Ashley

B&Q online brochure
http://www.diy.com
This is online guide that you can pick up from stores too. It contains pictures of styled room sets for inspiration and is full of designer tips and products.

Homebase inspirations pages http://www.homebase.co.uk
Offers tips on different paint effects to try and how to make a mood board.

Uk Home Ideas
http://www.ukhomeideas.co.uk/
An online home interior decorating magazine with articles, featured products, tips and ideas for everything to do with decorating and the home

Do you have any comments or questions? May be you have some great decorating tips and advice to pass on!Please do send them in I’d love to hear from you! If you know of anyone else that you think would enjoy the content of this newsletter please do forward it on to them. You can sign up here to receive editions. Thank you.