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By Anne Krueger, HGTV.com
When Barbara Jacobs moved into her antique Massachusetts home, the living room—with a wall of windows and a large tree in front—was painted a cool dark green. It would be easy to think green is soothing, and that may have been the former owners’ intention, but Jacobs, who is a professional color consultant and interior finishes specialist, says that was definitely not the case.
Thanks to that green, the Jacobs family avoided the living room. “For years, as we worked on other areas of the house, the living room remained green. Despite the many activities of our large family, we rarely used the room,” she says. “Somehow it was just not inviting—and obviously not soothing either. When we finally had time to consider a color change, we experimented with four completely different palettes.” The end result was a warm, flat mocha hue on the lower part of the wall. The upper wall has a sand-colored glaze with a subtly layered four-color finish (one of them is a glaze of the mocha color) with a pale terra-cotta overglaze to tie it all together. The final result is a comfortable space that feels inviting throughout the day and evening, Jacobs says.
What is the lesson here? Color is a wonderful tool for creating an effective space in your home. It can help you create an interesting, personal environment that highlights your existing furnishings, artwork and objects of importance as well as develop some continuity in your home from room to room.
When it’s right, it can: |
Before planning color in your personal environment you need to do a little self-analysis. Make a mini-questionnaire and poll yourself and your family. Your answers are 50 percent of the project because your color choices depend on them for direction, Jacobs says. She gives her clients a very long questionnaire with hundreds of questions. But you can start with these five:
- Where is the room?
- How many windows are there and which direction do they face?
- Is there landscaping outside that will have an effect on the colors in the room?
- Who will use the room, and what will they do there? Is it private or community space?
- Will it be a sociable and active place, or a peaceful place? How do I want it to feel?
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• Enhance feelings of health and well-being
• Modify perceived temperature—make your space feel warmer or cooler
• Transform perceived space—make your space feel larger or more cozy and intimate
• Illuminate dark areas
• Create mystery and romance in dull areas
• Energize static areas. |
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| But it has to be the right color for you. Color, and the psychology of color, is a big design trend, says Jacobs, who is the principal of Barbara Jacobs Color & Design, but it is a very complex subject and one that is often misinterpreted. “Take my green living room, for example. The generalization that ‘green is relaxing’ was at work there. But generalizations—green is relaxing, blue is soothing, red is energizing—only apply when certain hues are used. A sharp, electric green definitely would not be relaxing; a deep blue-green might feel cold instead of soothing. The wrong red used in an entire room might create the sensation of entrapment rather than energy.” |
| It’s no wonder then, that most of us are a little nervous about using color in our homes. Here, to the rescue, are Barbara Jacobs’ 10 tips for gaining a little color confidence. |
Anne Krueger is the editor of HGTV.com’s Decorating newsletter. She has written for In Style, This Old House, Martha Stewart Living and The New York Times. |
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