Riot of colours

FESTIVE DECOR

The beginning of the festive season is when most people decide to give their homes a makeover. While repainting the house tops everyone’s agenda, we ignore the impact that it has on our well-being year after year.

According to Sukhpreet Singh, General Manager, Marketing & Sales, Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd, “Most ordinary paints have hazardous elements. The points to consider should thus move beyond the shade being used to the health and safety of your family. Identifying this need for healthy living, safer and eco-friendly paints are now available in the market.

This new category of paints not only offers a range of shades that are superior, but also have the added advantage of being lead free, odour free and have zero VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds).” When you go about selecting the appropriate colour for your home, it is often a challenge to merge individualistic styles of every family member.

It is imperative to determine a colour palette that the entire family likes.

There could be many who wouldn’t want to opt for a pink bedroom, for instance.

Get the colours right

The key to getting colours right lies in the following:

* Zeroing in on the mood for each room.
* Once you have decided on that, choose the colours.
* Now visualise the rooms with the mood you desire for each of them:
* Calm living room
* Nostalgia-inducing dining room
* Kitchen with ebullience
* Bathrooms that create an atmosphere of liveliness.
* Dramatic bedrooms.

Keep the interiors simple if you intend on getting creative with the walls. A bedroom should promote a sense of well-being and security; pastel shades serve that purpose.

Living room

Being the place to unwind, a living room is meant for the family to spend some quality time together after a long day of work. In a living room of a small size, pale colours work towards making the place look bigger and spacious. These shades of pale colours can be complemented with brighter wall-hangings to cut through the monotony or even bold accessories like orange chairs and black sofas. Bright green is in vogue. Besides adding a touch of contemporary style, it also pairs well with neutrals and deep browns. Beige and light cream couple well with cane furniture, adding that touch of homeliness to it. Paints with metallic finishing add shimmer to any living space they are brought into. When applied in a single colour, this special finish makes a bold and stylish statement for the owner.

Bedroom

Colour trends in the bedroom are all about creating a personal space that is a reflection of one’s desires. For many, it is their space of momentary hibernation out of which they come out rejuvenated. The colours you choose for your bedroom should not be too glaring to your eyes or vibrate too much energy, as that could interfere with your sleeping patterns.

Keep the interiors simple if you intend on getting creative with the walls. A bedroom should promote a sense of well-being and security; pastel shades serve that purpose.

Chocolate brown, blue and white or tan is a fool-proof mantra for the modern and sophisticated look. These colours create a sense of balance and are peaceful and relaxing. A darker yellow looks great with earthy green tones and natural wood. Shades of medium to dark browns are perfect for the bedroom.

Combination of greens and browns are becoming new favourites, as they represent tranquility and freshness.

Bathroom

In order to avoid the risk of drowning the entire room in one colour, you can pick two hues of the same base colour of this space. Crown moldings in the centre of the wall will be ideal to split the two shades and break the monotony. Experimentation with wall art could work on a black and white base. Orange is innovative as well; using some of the same colour on the walls unifies the space.

Kitchen

As meal time is a private get-together for a family, it forms the ideal place to connect over supper. White tends to be perceived as boring, but it can provide the contemporary look. It is also perceived as the classy and clean look.

If your cabinets are plain brown, a bright colour for accessories like barstools is a great way to add interest and personality. Red cabinets look perfect against stainless steel kitchen appliances. But you will have to make sure that the cabinet fixtures are uniform so as to give it a streamlined appearance. The meticulous planning of these four elements is what adds that holistic look to your home.

Our homes are a reflection of our personality. They mirror our emotions and beliefs. While we decorate and accessorise our walls with enthusiastic fervour, somewhere along the line, we ignore the adverse impact that these lead-infused paints have on our family’s health.

Painting doesn’t have to be a chore anymore; today, the process is fun and something a family wouldn’t hesitate from undertaking.