Transforming Space with Color and Light
By PAMELA DITTMER MCKUEN
ON HOME
Living spaces tend to feel a bit drab these days, now that daylight
savings have been spent and sunshine is iffy. It’s a seasonal
happenstance. It’s also one that can be reversed. We can elevate the
mood of our environments—not with fancy new furnishings—but through
strategic application of two design elements: color and light.
“Color and lighting can change the dynamic and atmosphere of any
space,” said Sue Kim, color strategist for Valspar Paint in Chicago.
“The outside can be dreary, but that doesn’t mean your house has to be
doom and gloom.”
As for color, different hues elicit different emotional responses.
Greens, blues and neutrals are calming influences while red demands
attention. Black is sophisticated and orange is playful. How does one
choose? Valspar alone offers more than 2,000 choices.
Our homes are a representation of how we live and love, and our color
palette reflects who we are, said architect and interior designer
Elissa Morgante of Morgante-Wilson Architects in Esvanston. “Like a
Renoir painting in soft pastels versus a Frank Stella painting that
says, “don’t get too comfortable in that chair because I’m going to
insult you with color,’” she said.
Kim speaks in terms of color schemes rather than singular hues.
Combinations of three or four harmonious colors create balance and
space, she said.
“No room has only one color except for clinical areas and special
offices,” she said. “Start to think of combinations of colors along with
your furniture and décor items, all the things that make your space and
won’t be changing. Maybe you start with basic beige, but bring in warm
gray and a touch of orange. Now you have a story of the background you
want to share.”
To build a palette, choose one color that appeals to you, and
travel to neighboring colors on the color wheel, she advises. For
example, blues, greens and purples go together well. As you feel more
confident, go to opposing colors like orange and yellow.
Sometimes it’s nice to put a pop of color like red or purple into a
neutral palette because it wakes you up and says everything is
copasetic, said Morgante.
The Valspar website, www.valsparpaint. com, provides loads of
inspiration with how-to videos and color schemes to portray various
moods. Viewers also can upload photos of their rooms and color them with
virtual paint.
Just like the Val and Jon, the chameleons in Valspar’s television
commercials, you can change mood by changing color. If you wish to
explore bolder hues, start small, said Kim. “If someone has had beige
walls for ten years, it’s hard to push them to a deep teal that makes a
statement,” she said. “But an accent wall or an interior door or a tray
ceiling, a single project that can be done over the weekend, is a great
place to start.”
Carolyn Tracy, a Chicago interior designer, uses deep hues to direct
attention and to enlarge spaces. For example, a window wall in a warm
chocolate brown captures the view, but the wall optically disappears.
The same technique can be used on an interior wall to showcase a
painting or framed poster. Meanwhile, the remaining walls are painted a
pale neutral to make the room feel more spacious.
In hallways, Tracy often paints the long walls in different shades of
the same color. The darker wall recedes, and the hallway appears larger.
Tracy also uses textured accessories to soften winter’s wrath or to
spike the holiday cheer. Pile fluffy, fuzzy and silky throws and pillows
atop sofas and other seating pieces. Choose accent colors if you like
or stay monochromatic.
And Morgante brings in live trees. No green thumb? No worries.
“You’re not going to kill it right away,” she says. “I’m not a great
gardener, but it’s going to take a good six months to make a plant look
bad. You’ll spend between $150 and $300 for a tree that will last six
months. Then you throw it out. That’s not such a horrible investment.
It’s way less than fresh flowers every week.”
As for those problem areas like alcoves and dead ends, don’t ignore or try to hide them, she said.
“Paint them purple or some really vibrant color that says this is a
quirky space. Just engage it and make it more quirky,” she said.
Lighting enhances colors and influences
Published: December 07, 2013
Issue: 2013 Philanthropy Guide