A reader, who happens to be an amazing graphic designer, sent me a super-interesting wall color question that I thought you would enjoy: ” I have the most random question. In a few months, I’m finally going to move into a real, live apartment (and settle! down!). I have been throwing this design idea around and wanted to get your quick opinion on this. I keep having a vision of every single wall in the apartment painted a different, bright color. Then, I was going to furnish everything in black and charcoal with little splashes of color, like in the throw pillows, or on the lamp shades. I would also throw in some rich golds to offset everything.
Would that be horrific?! Or would that be REALLY COOL? I honestly can’t decide and I thought you would be a good person to ask!! I want to do something really cool and different, but I don’t want the apartment to look small or really bizarre if I do all the different colors. Thoughts??”
My answer:
Best way to answer is this: what if someone came to you and said they wanted every single architectural piece of their blog in those colors? Including, i might add, the space for content. That’s the first visualization. Online real estate is still real estate… And I know in design that white space (even if its not white) is important.
Your idea is really interesting because its extremely anti-architectural. You visually will not be able to conceive of a full room because each plane will brightly be different from the others. One of the reasons 80’s “accent walls” were popular, I feel, is that it gave people the ability to remodel in an artistic manner visually, yet the effect was sometimes to break up a room in ways that were not cool. When it works, it works.
Lets move to today and feng shui, totally apart from the ideas of interior design of any kind. Super bright colors are yang, meaning, in shorthand, loud visually and energetically as we’ll as emotionally. A room in a bright color will physically affect its inhabitants. A red room, for example, can absolutely raise your blood pressure. Measured and tested.
Now, for the idea of yin and yang. They are both important. I get the idea of using charcoal furniture as the “yin” darker and cooler aspect of the space. You have good balancing instincts. Now, you personally might need more energy in your environment than most. So the brightness won’t be so bad of color…but, just like when your have a blog that is loud color in every space, the same will be for your room: your eyes will get tired. You might get tired.
Too much of anything becomes its opposite. Like being poisoned by taking too many vitamins. Even good things, when too extreme, go bad.
So, when I hear what you want to do I will never say “no” but I say consider all of the above and if you decide against “all bright, every wall” use the feeling of bright in different ways; abstract art, lots of light, motion (even a fish) to fill the “whiter spaces” with energy and interest while also giving you (and your guests) a place to rest.
What do you think?
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Always, I love hearing from you! xoxo Dana
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