Choosing Interior Design Colour Combinations

Many people are not fully conscious of how important colour is in their lives and both in interior design and buying clothes .
I will describe each colour and its qualities, followed by its complementary colour and its qualities.

Each colour also has a complementary colour, which on a colour wheel will be the colour that sits opposite to it.
Yellow is a colour which stimulates mental activity and is therefore the last colour you should choose for a bedroom. It also is good for studying or reading, whilst promoting self confidence at the same time. So actually yellow is the perfect colour for the room where your children do their homework or for a home office. With yellow your child is unlikely to have a good night’s sleep and over time this is not much fun or good for his health! Yellow is the colour for the solar plexus chakra which relates to our feelings of self worth, so how we feel about ourselves and how we think others feel and think about us. This chakra is about the personality, the intellect and the ego. Yellow’s complementary colour is violet. Violet is calming for the mind and body, and is a colour that heightens awareness and makes us feel like doing our best. It is a purifying colour and can strengthen feeling of dignity and purpose. Violet is ideal for entrance areas, especially into clinics, and places of worship or meditation.

Orange is a warm and energizing colour, and is great for sociable areas and creative/active areas. It is best avoided in the bedroom as it encourages liveliness. It is the colour of fun and sociability. When balanced it is creative, sociable and joyful. The complementary colour for orange is indigo. Indigo is a quieter colour and therefore perfectly suited to bedrooms, and areas that should ideally be calm. It also helps us feel intuitive. which is also known as the third eye. (Not literally a third eye, this is a term for the intuitive channel between the two “real” eyes). It means having an organised mind, integrity, being loyal and seeing things clearly. Red is a great colour for any activity area, but you need to be choosy about the shade so the room does not feel smaller or oppressive. If it is used well it will make a room feel cosy. Used positively it should make a person feel courageous and with strength of will. It promotes assertiveness in the right measure. Red’s complementary colour is blue. Blue is a calming colour and makes people feel relaxed. It can be used in any room except for one where you wish to stimulate physical activity. It is also the colour of communication. So for example it is perfect for a lounge or sitting room area. The chakra for blue is the throat chakra and this relates to self-expression. So it’s all about communication, the ability to speak and communicate our needs and wishes. If balanced it helps us to be trustworthy, calm and loyal. Magenta which is a mixture of red and violet. This is a combination of the physical and the spiritual put simply. It is not suitable for play areas, but is good in lecture and study areas. Green is very harmonising and encourages tolerance and understanding. It would of course be ideal for negotiations between politicians... Green is a colour that you could use in any room really, and the tip here is to be aware of the shade. So you wouldn’t choose one with too much yellow in it for a bedroom. It is important to balance out green with another colour, or colours as too much green may lead to inactivity. The heart chakra is the one that relates to green. This is the energy of being able to give and receive love, including self love. When in balance it will make you feel compassionate, loving, generous and well-balanced. Different people will at different times of their lives be attracted to certain colours, and this can change as your life circumstances change. To add some flexibility into a colour scheme there are a wonderful range of colourful glass door knobs by Bombay Duck. These can also be used to spruce up wardrobes and furniture.