Do you want to create a healthier living environment in your home? From pendant lights to cosy furnishings at the dining table, adding the softer touches to your interior design can help to create a room with character, atmosphere and a mood.
Adding texture to the room
Many of us want our homes to feel welcoming and cosy. To do this, you need to avoid restricted textures and discover textures that complement each other. Mirrors and glass objects are a good accent to any texture. To create a broody feel, consider rich, dark veneers. For a softer touch, incorporate silk upholstery, velvet floor length curtains and hints of aged brass and copper.
Setting the scene with colours
The colours that you choose to use in your rooms can have a different impact on our moods:
- Pink: connotations of love and peace – suited to a restful space in the home, such as the bedroom.
- Red: connotations of passion and danger – suited to a warm, sociable environment such as the dining room.
- Orange: connotations of stability – suited to a lively space in the home such as the living or dining room.
- Yellow: a warm and positive colour – suited to a bright and lively space such as the kitchen or dining room.
- Green: a calming colour resembling nature – suited to a restful space such as the bedroom or living room.
- Blue: a calm, soothing colour – suited to a cool and relaxing space such as the kitchen, bedroom or bathroom.
- White: a bright colour opening up a space – suited to a light and airy environment such as kitchen, bedroom or bathroom.
Another thing to think about when choosing colour is the size of the room. If your kitchen is small, you’ll want the space to be bright and airy so you might opt for predominately lighter shades for the walls or cabinetry. That way cooking need not be a dark and isolating experience. A restricted pale palette also makes for a sleek aesthetic that can be personalised with splashes of colour and will have you staying on trend for 2018. Ideal Home has aptly named this the ‘Unicorn-inspired’ trend featuring pale blues and pinks, personalised with glinting bronze and metal.
For open-plan kitchens, darker colours are more acceptable. Dark blue cabinets, as House Beautiful have predicted, are set to be the most popular colour choice this year for modern kitchens. The second thing you’ll need to consider is the lighting in each room, so, consider where and how natural light may shine. The personal palette will vary from client to client and it is important for kitchen designers and interior designers alike to use their expertise to help their clients make informed choices about colour schemes. The option of hand painted cabinetry allows you to experiment with changing trends, but also gives you an authentic texture on the wood that you simply can’t achieve with spray paint finish.
If you’re struggling to decide on colours, or want to compare a few, a mood board can be useful. This could be a physical one or one on Pinterest. When pulling together ideas, keep a few questions in mind such as How do I want to use this space? What impact will lighting have on these colours? Or What is the psychology of this colour? The kitchen or living room (usually whichever is the biggest room in the home) is the best place to start as these are likely to be your most centrally located rooms and all other palettes branch off from here. Paint this larger room in a bold colour, and work around the home either complimenting the first shade, contrasting it or matching with a soft, neutral hue.
A focus on lighting
Something that always must be considered is lighting. Different rooms around the home require different styles of lighting due to the nature of tasks and activities that go on in each space. Even within a room, it is vital that you use more than one type of lighting if you are to achieve any sort of ambiance.
One room where lighting is extra important is the living space. An area will be dedicated to watching TV and will need ceiling lights, possibly on a dimmer, so that the right light can be achieved throughout the day and when the curtains are drawn. One corner may serve as a dedicated reading spot; if so, then a floor lamp that provides a softer light closer overhead will make a world of difference.
There are many activities that the modern kitchen is used for — from hosting a meal to completing last minute work-related tasks. To create the right ambiance in the kitchen, invest in pendant lights – perhaps in varying heights – and with a warm temperature to the bulb. Plinth lighting is also a clever way to add warmth as well as a focal point to the design; this has a particularly striking effect on an island, giving the illusion of ‘floating cabinets’.
Of course, creating a mood in your home is all down to personal preferences. Other ways to improve the ambiance in your home include transforming a space with scent and layering different aromas. Changing colours, textures, smells and lighting are all simple, inexpensive ways of changing how a room feels.
Sources
https://www.idealhome.co.uk/kitchen/kitchen-trends-191617
https://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/colour_psychologyofcolour.shtml
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