Colour affects every facet of our lives. The way we react to colours is a combination of physiological, biological, psychological, social and cultural reasons. Colour has the ability to soothe and also to stimulate us.

Approximately seven million different colours can be perceived by the human eye, so deciding what you want when decorating, and narrowing your choice down to one colour family, still leaves you with millions of variations to choose from. So it’s important to understand the effects of the temperature of colour, colour components, colour terminology, how light affects colour and the tricks colour can play on colour.

A colour is described as cool or warm depending on its position in the colour spectrum and the hues of its nearest neighboring colour.

Warm colours project the hot hues of sunlight and promote a feeling of warmth in a room. They advance space and are used to make walls appear closer. Cool colours reflect the fresh violets and blues of moonlight. They enhance the space in a room by making the walls appear further away.

Red, orange and yellow are warm colours, while violet and blue are cool colours. Green is said to be the most neutral colour.

Colours are further categorized into primary, secondary and tertiary colours.

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Primary colours are blue, red and yellow. These are pure colours that have no component other than themselves. Secondary colours are orange, green and purple. These are composed of the primary colours on either side of it on the colour wheel. i.e. Orange = red+yellow, Green = blue+yellow, Purple = blue+red.

Tertiary colours are orange-red, orange-yellow, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-purple, and red-purple. Tertiary colours assume more of one colour than the other.

Knowing the definition of words used to describe colour will help you to indicate your colour preference more easily, so some important terminology or jargon to keep in mind when describing colour is hue, value and chroma.

Hue refers to, and is another name for, colour. For example a blue-patterned carpet has a blue hue.

Value describes the darkness or lightness of a colour. A colour light in value has been diluted with white. For example, pink is a tint of red that has a light value, because of the white added to it. A dark value colour is closer to black on the scale, because it’s had black added to it. For example burgundy is a shade of red with dark value. Chroma refers to the intensity of a colour, how bright or dull it is. Scarlet and brick red are similar in value, but their intensity differs. Brick red is duller as it has a lower chroma than scarlet. Scarlet has a higher chroma so is more brilliant. Colours with low chroma have more of other colours added to them; those with high chroma are more pure.

Colour complements are those colours that work well together. They are diagonally opposite each other on the colour wheel. Each complement is made up of the two primary colours either side of it which balances the complement. Each warm colour has a cool colour as its complement.

Light affects colour because in seeing colour it’s actually light waves that our eyes perceive. Something has colour because of the light it reflects. We all see colour slightly differently depending on the perception of the light and colour-sensitive receptors in our eyes. So the ability to see colour is a sensation, just like smelling or tasting.

Colour can play tricks on colour. Just as warm colours can make a room appear smaller and cosier, cool colours have the effect of making a space seem larger, more airy. One corner of a room painted red for example, may appear a different shade from the rest of the room. This is because colours reflect colour and light, which slightly changes its appearance and the way our eyes perceive the colour. Contrasting colour painted on walls that meet in a corner can sometimes be changed so much that they are no longer in harmony with each other. It’s advisable to paint a test patch 12″ wide on each side of the corner to view what affect your chosen colours have on each other, before painting the entire room.
Most colours are associated with certain emotions, and this differs somewhat from culture to culture However, I’ve listed some of the most popular colour associations.

Red: power, passion, courage, vitality, excitement, strength, speed, love, heart and warmth.

Yellow: light, cheer, sunlight, happiness, creativity, confidence, self-esteem, intellect, innovation.

Blue: caring, devotion, trust, wisdom, peacefulness, serenity, loyalty, truth, coolness, harmony.

Green: nature, fresh, growth, abundance, life, youth, renewal, hope, fertility, peace, balance.

Orange: energy, warmth, contentment, fruitfulness, strength, security, sensuality, abundance.

White: pure light, energy, truth, perfection, serenity, harmony, loyalty, sincerity, clarity.

Black: formal, reserved, drive, dignity, reliability, authority, power, prudence, wisdom, glamour.

Take some time to consider the effects of colour on the individuals who will be frequenting the environment you create when decorating. When choosing colour take into account whether you are trying to soothe or stimulate, and be aware of the effects of colour on the well-being of the inhabitants you are decorating for.