Facts about colours

On colours in general

Colour is a personal, sensual experience, which is stimulated in the brains by the light falling onto the eye. This means the perception and recognition of a colour is a very demanding happening where the light, the object, the eyes and the brains participate. However, physically it is all about the electromagnetic waves of different frequencies and lengths.

People are aware that the colours in their homes express their personalities and tastes, but the large choice of the colour shades can easily becomes confusing and scary. The fact is that the colour is the most flexible element of the design and aesthetics of our homes. Flexibility is enabled by the selection of the thousand different colour shades and that's why a colour can be the last thing that a homeowner chooses when decorating a place; the colour makes the connection and adapting of all elements in a room very simple (carpets, curtains, furniture etc.)
Before choosing a colour it is advisable to answer the following questions:

• What is the purpose of the place that is about to be repainted?
• Who uses the place?
• What is the natural light in a room like?
• How will the place be decorated (furniture, style, features…)?
• Which colours are present in the surrounding rooms?
• Which feelings and emotions should the place communicate?

By answering the question above we may conclude that the colour is the strongest individual designer element at our disposal. 

Colours can be introduced in our lives in several ways. So it is useful to know how a human eye perceives them. The continuation of the article brings you a brief presentation of the basics of the colour theory, which may later help us make decision.



Basically, there are four primary or basic colours: red, blue, green and yellow, which are presented on the image of the colour circle. By mixing the primary colours we get the secondary colours: purple, turquoise, orange and light green.

By moving around the colour circle we can make a distinction between 3 different harmonies: 

• Single-tone harmonies are the ones where we can observe different variations of one colour at different intensities (dark, bright). If we make such harmony all over our place it may become tiring, dull and boring, not interesting.
• Relating harmonies are the harmonies where we use all the colours laying next to each other in the natural colour circle. The examples are yellow, orange, red (spectrum of warm colours), green, green-blue, blue (spectrum of cold colours).
• Contrasting harmonies are the ones where we combine contrasting colours or the ones that lay on the opposite side of each other in the colour circle. These are, for example, combinations of red and green, yellow-green and violet, violet and yellow, orange and blue.

Theoretical knowledge about colours can really be helpful when choosing the colour, but the most important factor is the decision of an individual and his family who is going to live in that place with those colours.