Question for interior designers, etc, re warm vs cold colours

[JD]

I am about to choose a colour for my living room walls. I'd like to use a very pale blue. I mean, a *very, very* pale blue. You might call it a blue- tinted white, almost.

My hope is that this colour will make the room look bigger (cool, light colours recede, etc).

The quesion is, will this tend to make the room look too 'cold' for comfort. I should mention that the carpet and the leather furniture are red, as is the red brick fire surround, so there is a lot of very warm colour in the room to balance out the proposed cold colour of the walls.

Is the abundance of red material in the room likely to offset the coldness of the wall colour? I'm trying to decide on the colour before committing to buying the paint.

Thanks for any views.

JD

[David]

All down to your personal emotional reaction to colours.

I feel the need of warm colours and always seem to end up with Magnolia - there must be a reason that it is the default colour for a quick refurb.

Cheers

Dave R

[spuorgelgoog]

I've got sweetcorn yellow in the lounge, and tangerine chrysanthemum wallpaper in the spare bedroom.

Magnolias vary quite a lot - the Asda one is rather insipid and therefore cold looking.

Owain

[Brian-Gaff]

To be honest, it does depend on the person. I used to have a blue painted bedroom wall, and some people did indeed suggest it felt cold, but then again some thought it suggested fresh air and nice country smells, so its very hard to know. Brian

[tabbypurr]

best not to mix cool & warm. Most reds are cool btw

NT

[Dave Liquorice]

Which way does the room face? If it's north I'd avoid blues as the light from the north is already fairly blue and (to me) makes the room appear cold. Not so crital for a south facing room.

Isn't this why "matchpots" are available? If you go to a decent supplier (not a shed) the cost of the matchpots may well be refunded when you buy the paint.

[Ernest Clark]

Try a grey rather than blue. It is much warmer and will be easier on eye. Tester pots are essential as grey paint can dry to v different colour

[PeterC]

IANAID by any means, but, fitting LEDs in two bedrooms, I found that using

4100K in the 'warm' room and 3000K in the 'cool' room seemed a lot better than t'other way round. Your perception might not agree with that, especially as my 'taste' is limited to good beer and whisky.

[JD]

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Good point about north-facing rooms... The room in question has a window on the east side and a window on the west side (no north or south facing windows).

JD

[JD]

Ernest Clark wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Thanks for the suggestion. JD

[JD]

David wrote in news: [e-mail]:

It has been that way for a while too. My parent's house was built in 1950 and the whole interior started off in magnolia!

I always wondered if it was to do with the fact that magnolia is close to the colour of human skin (psychological thing, like it makes people feel like they are enveloped an mummy's flesh once again - just a thought)!

I like magnolia for most nmodern-looking rooms. However, my lounge in question, has an old period look, and the existing magnolia just looks out of place. Pure white would be more in keeping with the period look, so I may give that a try.

JD

[JD]

"Phil L" wrote in news:anOux.66783$ [e-mail]:

That seems logical - even if it is almost imperceptible, it is bound to have some effect.

The existing colour is magnolia, and it looks out of place (too copntemporary) in this old 1800's period room with oak ceiling beams. I might give white a try initially - though I like the idea of a v.light blue or v.light blue-grey, as it should (I think) make the room seem bigger.

JD

[Phil K]

[e-mail] wrote in news:f7e0087b-1758-4472-83b4-37e4d422e282 @googlegroups.com:

Every single person at the Dept of Interior Design at my college would disagree.

Phil

[The Natural Philosopher]

yeah reds are definitely uncool..

[News]

In message , JD writes

Interesting comment. One of our hobbies, sad people that we are, is browsing Rightmove, looking at houses we will almost certainly never buy. One thing we have noticed is that the houses that attract us are almost always white inside. The houses we like the least have bold colours or patterns. So much so that our most recently decorated rooms at home are now all white - walls, ceiling, woodwork etc. Certainly makes this (Victorian) house seem lighter, brighter and cleaner, and seems to suit the house.

One advantage of white rooms is that any colour soft furnishings seem to work. We will certainly continue to use white as additional rooms are decorated, with the added advantage that we don't have a shed full of half finished different coloured pots of paint for future touch ups.

[stuart noble]

And let's not forget the third primary, yellow, which is termed "sunny" in psychological terms. Probably explains the historical popularity of magnolia

[Dave Liquorice]

Nothing wrong with 70's look. B-)

Each to their own but I don't want to live in a fridge. Do you have small children and/or pets?

As something to put on the bare plaster Magnolia has been used. Goes well with the varnished woodwork, ash dressers and tables etc. Feels warm but is still light.

[Dave Liquorice]

You may get away with a "cooler" blue colour. A lot depends on the shade of blue, even very pale the shade will influence the warmth or not.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Its all about color temperature - away from pastel colours it makes little odds really.

[JD]

News wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Yes - my last house was built in 1900 and I always painted every room white, including the woodwork. Of course, that added advantage is that white is cheap and easy to touch up.

JD