I LOVE INTERIORS
By Naz Sohni Uppal
creating beautiful spaces
using the elements and principles of design
Using Colour:
3 Great Ways To Design The Exact Same Space
SCHEME 1 – GROUND FLOOR COLOUR SCHEME PROPOSAL
Colour Harmony Group: ACHROMATIC
By Naz Sohni Uppal
The achromatic scheme uses black doors and walls; grey floors, walls and kitchen cabinets; and white walls and kitchen cabinets. The colours applied to this space create a sense of drama. Although, there is little to no colour saturation, I have added contrasts in pattern and textural finishes for interest. The white colour ceiling opens up the space and focuses the attention on the details below. I have also used black in the architraves, cornices, skirting boards, and interior doors and frames. The grey floor creates a modern chic, classic feel. In the floor, I have contrasted vinyl plank flooring with black and white porcelain tile with an interesting pattern.
The colours proposed are from Dulux: flagstone, black magic, and delicate white. I have proposed two wallpapers and one special paint finish (a chalkboard wall).
The back entrance, hallways, and front entrance are all painted in a grey.
The White Watercolour Floral Wallpaper is used in one feature wall that runs along the west wall of the stairs, to draw your attention as you move through the house. I wanted the staircase to be a feature and I have selected wallpaper with the colours of white and light grey for the area. There is a repetition of pattern because the feature wall on the stairs, is in the pantry as well, adding a surprise element when you open the pantry door.
As you enter the study, you notice a special paint finish that caters to the use of the space, it is a chalkboard painted finish covering the entire north wall. The rest of the walls in the study are painted in grey.
The guest bedroom has a gloss built-in wardrobe in the same colour as the rest of the room’s walls, making it almost hidden, yet elegant at the same time.
The living room has an almost identical, but darker Black Watercolour Floral Wallpaper. I did this identical yet different wallpaper to add a conversation starter to the space. It is the same, but different.
The living room, dining room, and kitchen use the same grey paint to keep the walls simple and identical in colour, and can be used as a backdrop for the proposed white furniture.
I propose white and dark grey cabinets for the kitchen, a white kitchen island, a black and white backsplash, and black tap ware and hardware.
The laundry and WC are situated right beside each other. I thought I’d add a little fun by colouring them in contrast: the WC has black walls and the laundry room has white walls.
Furniture and accessories would be white.
SCHEME 2 – GROUND FLOOR COLOUR SCHEME PROPOSAL
Colour Harmony Group: COMPLEMENTARY
By Naz Sohni Uppal
This complementary scheme uses two colors opposite each other on the colour wheel (direct complementary colours): red-violet and yellow-green; more specifically Dulux’s colours: plum perfect and lime green. Plum perfect and lime green have been used with white doors and grey floors to create an attractive colour combination and whimsical colour scheme with grey accents. The colours used are bright, stimulating, and pleasing to the eyes. The scheme is also soothing and calm.
The colours complement one another. Plum perfect is used on the walls and on the kitchen island. Lime green is used on the walls. Pattern is used on the living room feature wall, on the study feature wall, and in the guest bedroom. There is repetition of design in the interior doors and repetition of wallpaper in the rooms. The lime green has a relaxing effect and a mood of stability, security, and emotional balance. It’s also the colour of nature. The plum perfect is related to intimacy and creates a mood of desire. The lime green intensifies the plum perfect. Mixing the scheme with white lowers the intensity of the space. The grey floor makes the lime green and plum perfect look more vivid and creates a modern chic, classic feel. White is used in the ceiling to allow the plum perfect and lime green to be the focus. For this set up, the furniture and accessories would be a nice shade of grey set against the bold colours in the walls. The space is very playful, youthful, and fun.
As you enter the home, from the front or the back entrance, you are greeted with this beautiful plum perfect wall paint, which continues through the hallway and up the stairs.
Because the study is a closed space, we can play with the colour here. The west wall in the study has a statement, but not too over the top circuit style wallpaper that complements nicely with the other three walls, painted in lime green.
The guest bedroom is also a closed space. The same wallpaper and paint are used here, but the wallpaper is used more and the lime green paint is used for the built in wardrobe.
I wanted the living room to have its own feature wall which is accomplished by using a beautiful floral print. There are very few walls in the living room, so the rest of them will be painted lime green.
The dining room also has very few walls, so the lime green colour from the living room continues in the dining room, the kitchen and in the pantry.
I propose the kitchen cabinets to be white and the kitchen island to be painted plum perfect. I propose a lime green back splash, white tap ware, and plum perfect hardware.
The laundry and WC are closed rooms. I painted both rooms with a fun colour, plum perfect.
Custom doors were made throughout the home: the bathroom, laundry room, and pantry doors are custom labelled; while the rest of the doors in the home do not have labels.
SCHEME 3 – GROUND FLOOR COLOUR SCHEME PROPOSAL
Colour Harmony Group: TRIADIC
By Naz Sohni Uppal
The triadic scheme of red, yellow, blue; more specifically the Dulux colours of calypso berry, citrus punch, and dragonfly; have been used with grey doors and grey floors, to create a bold colour scheme. To some, the colour choices appear child-like, but for me this is my favourite colour combination. This is a really fun house to design. I tried to create a sophisticated home out of the primary colours. On the colour wheel, these colours fall into the categories of: red, yellow, and blue. The colours chosen animate and stimulate in the space. They are bright, highly energized, and spirited colours. The scheme is vibrant, lively, and dramatic. Red, blue, and yellow are located equal distances from each other on the colour wheel. Blue makes the room shady; red balances the shade; and yellow adds an artificial sunlight to the room. Red and yellow are warm colours. Blue is a cool colour. The colours are highly contrasting and red is used in small amounts as accents in the pantry walls, the upper kitchen cabinets, and the kitchen island.
The calypso berry symbolizes happiness, contentment, emotion, and passion. It also encourages appetite and that’s why I used it in the kitchen. The citrus punch is the colour of spring, sunlight, and happiness. It is associated with inspiration and intelligence. That’s why I used it in the study, guest bedroom, and the open area. The dragonfly is the colour of the sky and water. It is related to the characteristics of nobility and that’s why I used it in the front entrance. It symbolizes opulence and elegance in the space as you enter through the main door.
The roles of citrus punch and dragonfly were switched to create more drama. Traditionally recommended for bedrooms, dragonfly is used in the WC and laundry room, and front entrance. Citrus punch is used in the guest bedroom, study, living room, dining room, and kitchen. It is meant to stimulate the sun in these areas. The dragonfly next to the citrus punch makes them both look brighter. And the citrus punch next to the calypso berry makes the citrus punch appear lighter and the calypso berry appears darker.
The grey floor and light grey ceiling colour is also used. Pattern is used in the feature wall in the stairs, in the living room, the study, the guest bedroom, and in the laundry. Furniture and accessories would be white. The living room, dining room, and kitchen are a bold backdrop for the white furniture.
As you enter the home from the front, you are introduced to this beautiful blue colour known as dragonfly. As you enter the home from the back entrance you are introduced to a beautiful colour of citrus punch. I wanted the entrances to be different so you enter with a different scene on opposite sides of the home. The hallway between the two entrances is painted with citrus punch.
I found a beautiful daisy filled wall paper that really stands out and makes a statement. I used it in the stairs to draw your eyes as you walk through the hallway and past the stairs. The other stair walls are painted in citrus punch.
I see the study as having a specific function, that of a place to study, so it needs a dry-erase wall. I have proposed painting the east wall of the study with a special paint finish that you can write and erase on. I love the daisy filled wallpaper so I have added it to the west wall of the study. The remaining study walls are painted the bright sunny, citrus punch.
In the guest bedroom, the built in wardrobe and the east and south walls are painted citrus punch. I’ve added the daisy filled wallpaper one more time to add interest into this room.
As you enter the living room, the walls are painted with more citrus punch. This colour extends into the dining room walls and the kitchen walls. The reason why I am using a lot of yellow in the walls is because it is the lighter of the three shades and reminds me of happiness, joy, and the sunshine. It looks great in the open space.
I propose that the custom kitchen cabinets incorporate the triadic scheme colours. The wall is citrus punch. The upper kitchen cabinets and island are custom painted calypso berry. The lower kitchen cabinets are custom painted dragonfly. I propose a multishade backsplash possibly incorporating all three colours, and grey tap ware and hardware.
I love a painted pantry. I chose calypso berry because it is a fun colour and has that element of surprise when you open the door. You don’t expect a red pantry!
Because the laundry and WC are closed spaces, I want them to contrast with the open space. I have chosen to paint both rooms dragonfly. The laundry room, the less “wet” of the two rooms, has a daisy wall paper feature wall, to add fun to the laundry space.
INSPIRATIONS
This is an amazing and beautiful example of an "Accented Achromatic" scheme. This home is in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is one of my absolute favourite accented achromatic homes.
Accented Achromatic: An achromatic colour scheme with 1 tone only of one colour added.
For example, an achromatic colour scheme with a red accent will add an important contrast.
