Picking the right colour
Picking the right colour has always been a subtle yet important art form. From the renaissance masters to the interior designers of today, having a colour palette can fundamentally change every aspect of a room and the furniture we covet.
Colour must be seen as a way to accent a room or make it truly stand out for something different. Like choosing makeup to highlight your eyes and cheeks or picking the right pocket square for a suit, colour matters.
Pink, when used in the smallest doses can add a touch of glamour to any room. Contrasted with grey and blue tones, you are left with what is a stylish and accentuated tone that doesn’t try to hide – if anything, it is calling you to see the room for what it is.
Designer Frida Ramstedt famously quipped, “Some like white, gray and neutral colors, because they make them feel good. Others choose them because they are a winning bet if you can’t decide on something alternative.”
Smooth Operator in this context stands proudly in a room that is focused on contrasts of neutral tones and materials. The grey marble floor, the dark chocolate walls and the metallic gold piece together a colour palette that screams of glamour and yet it is subtly done.
Blue and brown are a must in many a designer’s colour palette choice. They are the perfect contrast colour, the incredible accent and even an emotive colour providing movement and grounding to any room.
This delicious palette contrast of grays, black, cream and brown perfectly highlights where earth tones can live in a modern space. Starman in this environment would have been out of place had another colour been selected. Warm and welcoming, the contrast with neutral tones and the designers favourite, dove gray accents makes this set-up one of the most desired.
Auto-Reverse comes in many selections, but when you want to stand away from a neutral palette, it is a piece that understands boldness is a weapon. Blue with cream in the delicate construction and cushioning makes this a piece that fears no room. Combined in a set up that uses browns, dove gray, mottled marble and yellow hues, it helps tone down what is a colour that is a star in its own right.
Again, blue is the colour of choice for the Freedom armchair whilst the sofa uses dove gray in this design focus. When contrasted with warm wood tones, hard marble and cement textures, it acutely underlines the essence of what blue can achieve, an understated softness and a sense of movement in this stylish, modern room.
But what if you were to bring the outside, in? Rust and turquoise would be your starting palette. They are reminiscent of the desert. Bringing together a mixture of metals, such as copper, or natural textures and patterns, such as wood and stone, for an even more authentic feel would be the starting point.
This stunning setup combines both rust and turquoise in materials displayed across the room. The doors bring the yellow golden brown that we identify so easily with rust whilst the couch, Ego is beautifully finished in a soft turquoise colour that contrasts with the gray floor, the black piano and even the purple rug. An ensemble of colour that manages to bring warmth yet leave space for a minimalist vision of colour.
Understanding this colour palette is about understanding textures and the materials that can make it feel more in tune with the world we live in. Like Starman in this set-up. It is neither rust coloured or turquoise, but the materials around the article subtly are. Look at Jupiter‘s golden frame. Pay attention to the geometric rust coloured shape on the floor and even the hints of blue in the marble on the table.
With a few pieces, this palette is brought to life in what, at first glance may seem like an ode to cream and gray.
Colour is important but knowing how to use colour in a room is equally the difference between having a vision or having just an item to admire. Choose wisely and you will have a room that speaks for your own style and tastes.
