The spring season has us enjoying the colorful trends that have made their way through fashion and interior design. This month, the colors themselves are the focus. Let’s take a look at the power of bright and bold interiors to find inspiration for our own spaces.
Color’s influence cannot be overstated. The shades and hues in a space can determine the ambiance of the interior, dictating the personality and feel in a significant way. Every aspect of a room’s color alters the overall look, from quantity and saturation of the color to color pairings and general shapes.
The Art Of Color Blocking
Color blocking allows for the enjoyment of color in its purest form. Clear lines, saturated and solid colors, no prints or patterns to detract from the hue. Abstract artist Mark Rothko demonstrated the power of unhindered color, creating paintings in which the color itself was the subject. Like Rothko, these largely color-blocked and monochromatic interiors let the color speak for itself. The astounding hues give high contrast to specific color accents, taking form in furniture or decor details.
Additionally, many of Rothko’s pieces were color pairings with a dominant shade in a larger space above a smaller color band, emphasizing the unique relationship between the two shades. These paintings illustrate the way colors are profoundly impacted by neighboring shades, as a secondary color field can transform the effect. Adding another color can neutralize, brighten, or emphasize the principal hue.
Hot Pink: A Study In Color
For example, our use of hot pink and neon yellow highlighters demonstrate the way in which some colors draw attention with their stark contrast to surrounding hues. The spaces below display vibrant and saturated pink or magenta shades. Woven within dark blues and bright yellows, the bright pink creates memorable color pairings for a unique and emotional kind of interior signature.
However, just because the color is bold doesn’t mean it’ll steal the show. The energetic hot pink hues we see below play a supporting role when used as an accent. The framing in the door and the wall, as well as the bright pictures and unique chairs, all attract attention without overpowering the remainder of the interior.
Back To Basics
Primary colors are the ABC’s of our visual vocabulary. They’re the basic building blocks, the way we understand more complicated hues and designs, like secondary and tertiary colors. Often, these primaries evoke memories of childhood and an adolescent air. But, with intentional display, primary colors can be youthful without becoming childish. This is done with sophistication in form and complexity we see in both the fashion and interiors below.
Likewise, these bright cabinet kaleidoscopes illustrate a similar color surprise. The careful hue selections work with the conscientious choice of placement and cabinet size so the multicolored kitchens look clean and vivacious rather than something akin to an elementary school art classroom. The proper forethought and design planning makes it possible to create an extraordinary cabinet collage without necessarily calling upon a maximalist style.
Topsy Turvy Details
When large flat fields of color cover the space, the room may lack texture or pattern. In these designs, detailed nuance is left to variations in line, shape, or form. The fashion ensemble below is the perfect example, the bright colors are mostly solid and saturated, and the exciting diversity is found in the different shapes and sizes that create a lively display. Similarly, the colorful interiors exhibit the same method: diagonal lines and cross sections, strangely shaped furniture, bold contrasts and stark stripes. All of these detailed variations add energy and movement.
Homemade Linearity
Another way to add dynamic character to the color of an interior is by embracing the homemade, hand-painted imperfections in contours and edges. Like the varying width and size in the stripes of this fashion ensemble, the slight differences in the scalloped border or the crooked lines in the wall mural make the space look exciting. The lively disparities everywhere feel vaguely uniform and professionally intentional for a one-of-a-kind expressionistic style.
Geometric Color
A smaller form of color blocking comes by way of linear and geometric color. Stripes and shapes, big or small, are an excellent way to take advantage of color, expanding the room’s palette with your favorite shades. Stripes can be utilized in different forms, sizes, and directions. Parallel stripes on the ceiling, diagonal stripes on the walls, even these stair railings and banisters perk up a traditional space with raised visual vibrations.
Beyond simple stripes, the interiors below tap into retro color geometry of the 1960’s and 70’s. These modern reiterations utilize repeated shapes and bright, but limited, color palettes for simple spaces that are never boring. These spaces, like Mark Rothko’s paintings, focus on the relationships between colors. Art pieces, wall murals, and funky furniture cooperate in these unique rooms for a warm, yet electrifying, ambiance.
Whether you plan on a monochromatic interior or a rainbow of color, the successful pairing and use of colors can be achieved in a number of ways. Good interior design doesn’t require a traditional notion of color harmonies or split complementaries. Colors can follow current trends or look in another direction, echoing the past and preparing the future for a space that feels true to you.
