9/14/2007

Color Color Color

We get a lot of questions about color. How to choose colors for an event, what colors work in our venue, what are the best colors for our season....etc.
I found this great article on color in home design and felt that it really translated well to working with color for your event. I'm posting the highlights and you can view the full article at Apartment Therapy. Take all of this with a grain of salt. Remember there are NO rules.

Warm colors are stimulating
The reds, oranges, yellows and all the off whites that tend to this direction possess all the qualities of warmth in that they are hot, stimulating and soothing to our emotions, which crave warmth. This is the reason red is the most successful color in our consumer society and found in such icons as Coca-Cola, Ferrari, and red lipstick.
Warm colors are therefore best in social rooms of your house, such as the living room, dining room and kitchen. (SD: Do you want a social, party with an exciting band? Go for these colors)


Cool colors are calming
The blue side of the spectrum along with cool browns and grays and the cool off whites possess all of the qualities of coolness in their ability to calm our emotions and focus our thoughts. While our heart may crave warmth, our head and our thoughts crave coolness in order to its best work. This is why the cool blues are the most popular color for men’s business suits and shirts, as well as police uniforms, why the old time bank teller wore a green visor, and why the Yankees are considered gentlemen in their blue pinstripes, whereas the Red Sox are emotional barbarians (not this year).
Cool colors are therefore best in the rooms where concentration and calmness are most important, such as the bedroom, office, and nursery

The 80/20 rule
Then use strong color sparingly to punctuate the room, not define it. I recommend 80% neutral colors and 20% strong colors. Just like a woman’s face is made up with bright lipstick in a small portion of her face and neutral colors in the rest, so should a room be balanced. For example, in a warm living room such as Mike’s, I would recommend off white walls (warm/neutral) to go with his rich, brown couches (warm/neutral) and then a deep red rug (warm/color) and colorful table lamps in either black, silver or reds to wake up the room. Small batches of color have a tremendous effect on the whole and will “wake up” and bring out the more neutral colors around them. (SD note: This is when you hear people talk about having "pops" of color. This is great if you're using white linens)

4 comments:

AB said...

Oh my! Where did you find that bird nut display/dish?

SocialDesign said...

oops sorry we left that out!
I don't know where the nut dish is from but the image is from the blog "Gypsy Purple" see our fave links.
The dresses are by Thread
The green event image is from The Knot.

READY2SPARK said...

OMG - I'm in love with the nut dish & tablescape too! I took one look at it and said "that's it!". I love the colors but I'm on this twig thing right now (don't ask) - the look is perfect!

Melissa DiStefano said...

I love those designs!!! The Green Event is just lovely! I think I might have to borrow some of those ideas for our new grand opening!