Paint Café : Playing with Space

Learn to use colours to create the illusion of smaller or larger rooms, higher ceilings, etc.

Configuring space with colour

You can affect the perception of your space using colours. In fact, knowing the effects of colour is essential in matters of decoration. Decorators often draw liberally from The seven contrasts of colour by Johannes Itten, painter and colour theoretician, who wrote Kunst der Farbe, studienausgabe (The Art of Colour) in which he explains his concept. You'll find a summary of Itten's ideas in the Paint Café Colours section.

Illusions space

To create the impression that a room is larger than it is, paint it in a pale or cold colour. Pale colours seem lighter and more distant than dark colours. As for cold colours, such as blue, green or lilac, they always appear more removed than warm colours. Use these decorator effects to make a room seem larger and airier. The illusion of space rests on warm-cold, bright-dark and quantity contrasts.

Intimate effects

If your are looking for a warmer ambience, choose a warm or dark colour. Tones of orange, brown and red warm up a room and contribute to making it friendlier while darker hues give it intimacy. The intimate effect rests on the warm-cold and quality contrasts.

Ceiling effects

If the ceiling seems too high, lower it visually with a darker, warmer hue or one that is more unsaturated than that of the walls. As a bonus, you'll find the room more intimate.

If the ceiling seems too low, paint it in a lighter, colder or more saturated colour than the walls. This will create an illusion of height. The effects that make a ceiling appear higher or lower rest on warm-cold, light-dark and quality contrasts.

Architectural details

Architectural details such as mouldings, baseboards, window frames and ceiling ornaments constitute assets you should not neglect. To set them off, paint them in a colour that is lighter than that of the walls, and in a paint that is glossier that that of the walls. This way, mouldings will better reflect light. The setting off of architectural details rests on light-dark contrast and on the contrast that arises from the juxtaposition of different finishes.

If a room includes architectural details that bother you, such as crannies that are too numerous in a small room, paint the entire room in the same colour. If the ceiling is the culprit, do not hesitate to paint it in the same colour as the walls. This way, incongruous elements will stand out less. This is a case where you must avoid contrasting effects.

Dividing space

You can symbolically divide your space with colour. In this room, we have created a well defined bed corner simply by using a different hue at the head of the bed. This chocolate brown wall, with its mural, is enough to create a clear division between the reading corner and the space reserved for resting. To achieve this symbolic division, we have relied on light-dark and warm-cold contrasts.

Open areas

If you live in an open-plan house, try using a chiaroscuro, a palette made of a single colour used in different hues that are more or less dark or more or less saturated. This way of working your colour scheme allows you to create an integrated ambience and a smooth transition between rooms that connect directly. The resulting impression will be more uniform than what you would get from a multi-coloured palette. You can also create a chiaroscuro with any hue, as long as it harmonizes well with your furniture, carpeting and other decorative elements. The chiaroscuro relies on light-dark and quality contrasts and on the use of different hues in the same colour, such as a blue-green or a navy blue.

Finding a colour palette for the entire house

If you are planning to redecorate the entire house, you will need to find a palette that is restricted enough to unify the whole décor, but complex enough to underline the unique personality of each room. The Paint Café Harmony Collection suggests magnificent palettes that can address both these needs marvellously well. Most are made up of two to three colours within the same family and accent colours. Using the Harmony Card you will have selected, you could choose hues from the same family to apply to most surfaces and use the other hues on the palette as accent colours to set off the unique character or vocation of each room.

The effects of stripes

Use vertical stripes to give walls more height and make the ceiling look higher.