Shed a Little Light!
Light has the largest impact on color
and one cannot exist without the other. A color hue looks different depending on
the light that it's exposed to. Here’s the tricky part!
Light is never consistent and how it
shines depends entirely on time, season’s change and context. For instance,
recessed lighting, at night on full blast, has a completely different
appearance than a couple of lights softly flickering.
The human eye interprets color by the
amount of light that the color absorbs or reflects. In fact, if you painted
your family room the same color as the kitchen, the color may look completely
different in each room depending on the amount of light available.
Amazingly enough, the appearance of color
even changes if your room faces North, South, East or West. North and East
facing rooms tend to be darker and cooler because they get less sunlight,
whereas South and West facing rooms tend to be warmer.
Get this! The appearance of color even
changes throughout the day. The same color can appear pink at dawn, blue during
mid-day, and purple blue in the evening. For this reason, it’s best to look at
the proposed color at different times of the day before making a final
decision.
Northern Exposure: This room has indirect sunlight throughout the day,
which makes it feel cooler. Colors in this room may also
appear grey
depending upon where you live. Whites can sometimes look
flat and dingy
in this kind of lighting. To warm up this type of room, you
might consider
using warmer hues, such as peach, coral, yellow, or cream to compensate
for the room’s cool light.
Southern Exposure: This
room gets more light throughout the day, and is
the sunniest place in the home. At mid-day, this room can
become intense,
especially with highly reflective surfaces. Colors are
intensified in this room.
That’s fine if you want to feel energized, but if you want
to soften the warm
rays, consider using cooler hues, such as blues and greens.
Browns and beiges appear less somber in southern light.
Also, mid-tone
colors such as taupe and lavender look fresh in the daytime
and become
richer at night.
Eastern Exposure: This room gets the most light in the morning and has an
energizing yellow hue, making this exposure ideal for high-activity rooms such
as kitchens, family rooms, and play rooms.
Pastels and off-whites look fantastic
in this space. Warm corals, pinks, and yellows will enhance the light, while
cool blues and greens will temper it. If this room will be used later in the
day or evening, consider using a warmer palette to offset the lack of natural
light.
Western Exposure: This room benefits as the sun sets due to its western
exposure to the sun’s rays. In
the morning, a west-facing room may appear dull, but during the evening the
same room will have a warm glow.
Warm interiors can be overwhelming in
the late afternoon. So if you work at night and sleep during the day in a
bedroom with west-facing windows, use
cooler colors.
Reds appear richer because they absorb
light, making it a great color
palette for rooms that require drama and intimacy, such as dining
rooms.
But if have enough drama in your life,
consider using silvery, cool colors, such as silver-blue or silver-green.
Be Mindful of Color Reflection
When adding color to any room, the
other colors in the room can reflect the new color and change the room’s
colors. Highly saturated colors, for instance, are notorious for reflecting
their color on unsuspecting surfaces.
For example, if you were to carpet a
room in dark blue, there’s a good possibility that the color will reflect on
everything in the room, and give the walls and everything else a blue cast.
Just when you thought it was safe to
go outside, colors sneak up on you again. Exterior colors reflecting in from
the windows can also affect the interior colors. Many home design color schemes
have been derailed due to the effect of a lush green landscape
outside turning everything green when the drapes were opened.
To get the expert’s perspective on the best paint colors to use for Arizona’s diverse
climate, I interviewed Dede Radford, with Dunn Edwards Paints. She’s an
authority on color and paint.
What are
the best colors for Arizona’s exteriors?
“NO, 30-50
LRV range of medium to dark hues are still used and also are mandated in
certain areas of metropolitan Phoenix and Tucson.”
What colors
are best for Arizona’s interiors?
“Designers
are specifying an LRV range of 50-60 for interiors, but occasionally the 70 LRV
neutrals are specified for residential depending on which direction the rooms
are facing. We see a lot of grays and saturated neutrals for interiors in Arizona.”
Do
designers and consumers in these regions favor cooler off-white interiors to
neutralize the hot climate?
“Yes. Blue/Grays, Silver Grays;
they use warmer colors in Northern Arizona because of the cooler temperatures
and less sunlight.”
NOTE: A color’s Light Reflectance Value (LRV) measures the amount
of visible and usable light
that reflects from (or absorbs into) a painted surface. LRV is measured on
a scale that ranges from zero (absolute black, absorbing all light and
heat) to 100 percent (pure white, reflecting all light).
Article by Denise Turner, ASID, CID, CMG
Color Turners - colorturners.com
"Thank you so much for sharing this useful information, Keep sharing this kind of information
ReplyDeleteBest Interior Design Company in Bangalore | Home Interiors | Modular Kitchen | Bedroom "