I’m Thinking of Building A New Home, What Colours Should I Choose?

Colours, or colour schemes, if building a new house, play a vital role in our lives. They alter our thinking and have us react in different ways. Colours can be either soothing or irritating to our eyes.

While building a house in a particular location, there are various aspects you may consider, from living costs to local amenities, conveyance, locality, etc. You could have done research on living in the suburbs and how it can provide a friendly environment for children and elders. However, another aspect you might give a thought to can be the interior and exterior of your house. And color scheme may highly affect how your house looks visually.

Finding the right tone and shade can be a hard decision to make. This article will explore various colours and why we must get them right when building our new home. For further information about designing your house, you may find it useful to visit The House Plan Shop.

The History of Colour

Henry Ford is famously quoted to have said, in relation to the production of his Model T Ford motor car, “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants, so long as it is black.” This was, of course, because it was more convenient and efficient on the production line to only produce cars in one colour. But then, in 1908, television had not been invented. And then when it had, John Logie Baird’s first public demonstration of the device in 1926 was in black and white. It was not until 1954 when America watched The Marriage, a situation comedy, that it was in colour. Then, not until 1969, when the UK were able to watch a televised Petula Clark that way. Today, we are wanting to replicate the colours that we see on television in our homes.

What Do the Different Colours Symbolize and How Will That Influence My Colour Scheme?

Yellow, for instance, has associations with hope. In some countries yellow ribbons were displayed by families with loved ones in the war. It is also associated with danger, although not as strongly as red. Interior designers use bright yellow to evoke feelings of optimism.

Red is the most versatile of the colours because, apart from symbolizing danger, as the colour of fire it also represents power and strength. As a colour of passion, love, and desire, it is thought to enhance metabolism, increase respiration rates, and raise blood pressures. So, red might be a colour to choose for the bedroom.

Green, in contrast, is a cool colour. It symbolizes the natural world and nature. Then, because of this association, it is thought that the colour represents tranquillity, health, good luck, and jealousy. Decorators use it to produce a calming effect.

Blue is another calming colour. As the colour of the sky and the ocean, it symbolizes serenity, inspiration, stability, and wisdom.

To learn more about colour theory, click here.

Pastel Colours

If someone suggests using pastel colours to you, what do they mean? Well, a pastel colour can be defined as any colour with a lightness that is low to medium in saturation. The intensity or purity of the colour is known as saturation. Typical pastel colours include duck egg blue, mint green, coral, and mauve. Other names that have been come up with to suggest these same subtle colours are light azure for duck egg blue, and creamy mint for mint green. Yellow has been marketed as whimsy yellow. Red is something that you see in many shades.

So, not only do we have the colour to choose there are a multitude of shades to think about, too. Perhaps a bright red for the bedroom, with more calming colours for the rooms where we spend most of our time awake.