A home without color lacks warmth, depth, and brilliance
Elements in ar . chi . tec . ture part 3
A World of Color
Color is fundamental to our experience of the world around us. ~ Kassia St. Clair, The Secret Lives of Color
Color, tone, contrast and how we play with light and temperature all have a profound effect on atmosphere. Color and light are fiery. They give warmth and illuminate our experiences.When we distill down fire, what qualities does it evoke? Heat, penetration, illumination, sharpness, precision and transformation to name a few. Fire is light. Fire spans the spectrum of warmth to rage; blinding brilliance to glow. Fire is color. Blue, purple, white, orange, yellow, red, even green are all colors that flame, embers, even coals can emit.
Ignorant to colors origin
Color is how our eyes translate, digest, and experience light. Kassia St. Clair, in The Secret Lives of Color explores, with a wide lens, the history of color. It not only discusses the spectrum from early alchemy to modern synthetic production, but also how our relationship with color is ancient. In it she describes a vivid world were almost everything has been impacted by color; economy, trade, class, art. The art of painting was revolutionized. Not only was style and technique impacted, but the sheer availability of new pigments changed history. Colors were made available for dyes, clothing and furniture saw dynamic breakthroughs. The list goes on. Because of color our experience truly is a delightful optical allusion.
Today, it’s impossible to think that yellow would have been so challenging to source. The most beloved and precious of purples coming from sea creatures. Green, a taboo, because mixing blue and yellow together was forbidden or would be a pigment dubbed fatal due to high arsenic levels. The impact that color has contributed to our lives is not only notable, but necessary. A world without color would be pallid and melancholic, just like a world without fire.
St. Clair goes onto to discuss that there are two types of color blending; that of light and that of pigment. I found this fascinating – as light and pigments both impart color but in different ways. Light can absorb and reflect back a slice of light while pigments, at least originally, were made from chemical compounds, minerals, plants, or semi-precious stones serving as paint or dye. It is hard to not speak for all of humanity when I say, we love color. From time immemorial we were inspired by the world around us, nature, dreams, spirit, animals, stars. As humans we too wanted to contribute to this colorful world.
Do we sense or see color
How do you open your senses to light and color? Do you engulf and surrounded yourself with them? Do you prefer a certain palette? How do you mix them? How do you edit them? The potential of color and light are vast. There are countless combinations and patterns that accentuate the beauty, dynamism, and complexity of the world.
When it comes to interiors, I think certain palettes work well in certain rooms or areas. Cooling deep blues for the bedroom are heavy and grounding, supportive and conducive to rest. In contrast to languid evenings, kitchens and studios can take bright shades of gold, ochre, or touches of red. The kitchen is where we cook, entertain, and eat. Sitting areas can be a mix, though I would be thoughtful of covering the walls in vermilion or black, in my opinion. Though reds in certain tones and used thoughtfully can be really warm and lovely. Overall, we want to create a space that is open, airy, welcoming to come together to talk, share stories, communicate, listen to music, read, etc. We want to create a space that reflects our taste, style, travels, life, etc. These can be steppingstones and guideposts, again style is very personal and reflective of the people who inhabit the space. Creating a space that is just right is a dynamic and continuous process.
Color is playful
In my own home, we chose a deep mustard for kitchen tiles. For an interesting and playful contrast, one entire wall is a bright Egyptian blue, with a pin wheel type pattern. It has movement and is incredibly vibrant. It reminds us of the wind and sea because the pattern mimics light moving on water. The two colors are bold, and semi complement one another. It works because there is less of one than the other. If we had equal amounts of the yellow and blue, it would be overwhelming, too much and feel unbalanced. Clashing almost. Yet when one, is the focal point and one is an accent it works beautifully.
The bedrooms have been painted different shades of blues, from a soft lunar blue, with hints of lichen green, to rich cobalt for the boy’s room, to a muted Icelandic blue, cool, light and dreamy. Our living space is full of color, from the furniture to the paintings on the walls to the rugs on the floor. All the colors make it come alive, yet it does make it busy. So, to balance this, the walls are a muted white. This mix is my style, my version, my expression of beauty right now. How do you play with color and light up the experience of the world?
—
Make it happen
Feeling stagnant or claustrophobic? Want to love coming home to your space?
When you look around, do you feel like you are living in your space or someone else’s?
What do you love, where do you avoid going? Learn how to embody and implement these principles into your life.