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Using Colour in Small Spaces
Many people are confused about how to use colour in small spaces, or even if they can use colour at all. But just because you have a smaller space doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice the use of colour, you just have to use it a little differently. Here are our interior decorating and painting tips on how to use colour in small spaces.
Continue a Colour Theme to Create Space
By extending a colour theme throughout two or more rooms, you can actually help to create a feeling of space. This is because you are dissolving the lines between the rooms. The technique doesn’t have to be used just on rooms that open to each other such as a kitchen and a living room, but it can also be used on rooms that are merely in the same line of sight.
If you have a favourite colour scheme, think about using it on all of the public spaces within your home – the hallway, bathroom, living areas, kitchen, etc. This will help to create a visual flow within the house and therefore make it look bigger.
Use Solid Colours in Smaller Spaces
If a space is painted or decorated using only the one colour, a lot of depth is lost and you end up with a space that looks “flattened” and thus smaller. Therefore, using solid colours in layers can actually help to create depth, even if they are brighter, stronger colours.
Consider a kitchen that was once all white for example. You could paint the walls at the entrance of the kitchen one colour, the kitchen walls themselves another colour, and leave all the cabinetry and appliances in their original white. The differences between the colours will draw the eye in and create a feeling of space.
Use Glazes of Colour
There is a specific painting technique that layers glazes of colour in order to give a wall some depth. You could also paint a wall in blocks of colour, and this will also give the wall more depth.
This technique is most useful when you have a large wall to cover and a single colour on the wall could make the wall look too large, or wallpaper would be too overpowering. If you use gentle layers or glazes of colour, you can make the wall recede visually, so that you can see the room, and not just the wall itself.
Use Accent Colours in Smaller Spaces
If you are in a rental property and cannot change the colours of the walls, or if you just prefer neutral colours on the walls, consider using accent colours throughout the room. This is simply where you pick a colour and then use it in things such as cushions, artworks, ornaments, and so forth. You will end up with much-needed colour in the room and you won’t feel overwhelmed.
Vary Your Neutral Colours
Even if you prefer all white in a room such as the bathroom, varying the neutral colours can improve the look of the room massively. Taking the bathroom as an example, you can soften the harshness of so much white by using a tone on tone stripe in off white to add visual interest without introducing a chaotic element.
Keep Contrasting Colours to a Minimum
A smaller space isn’t necessarily the right place to use colours and patterns that are high in contrast, as they may just appear jarring. By all means, you can use colour, but keep it all within the same tone. Once you have picked a dominant colour, use a colour wheel to find complementary colours that you can use with it. Keeping the levels of contrast down means that you will end up with a cosy, rather than a chaotic, room.
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Interior Decorating
Painting & Decorating