Standard Style 15 June 2014

June 15 to 21 2014 THE STANDARD STYLE / HOME & GARDEN / INSPIRATION 13
Winter warmer:
Sugar and Spice
Colouring your
home-you got
the secret!
No matter what your colour preferences
are, bold or subtle, colour balance
is the most important secret
in achieving your desired interior
designed effect. It is also the most difficult to
describe as it comes down to how your eye perceives
the space around you. At Spacework we
call it the “sugar- and- spice –effect.” And this
week our colour palette is simply reflective of
that crucial balance of colour in our interiors.
Interior Designer Kelly Hoppen states that we
should “Learn to look not just with your eyes
but with your heart. Find the things that connect
with you. How else will you know how to
design your home?”
So when renovating and redecorating your
space, try always to start by choosing your
colour scheme from something inspiring. It
could be an antique chest, a Turkish rug, a
stone sculpture, a favourite chair or painting.
However, sometimes that inspiring piece
is simply not there or is yet to be discovered.
Instead, go ahead and gather your neutral
palette together first and then add one colour
at a time to see the effect it has on the rest of
the colours and textures. A one off colour will
stand out and be the centre of attention, as it
does not relate to anything else in the room.
As your flair matures, be bold and daring
by selecting two or three colours and distributing
them around the room in different
weights they seem to flow through the room.
This is a good basis to create a comfortable
and harmonious interior.
After all, there’s nothing quite like giving
your home a makeover subtle or dramatic,
then sitting back and admiring your flair for
interior design. The key is to achieve the effect
that once you enter the space you do not feel
over or under whelmed by what you see.
Always consider the scale of the pattern
on select pieces like your sofa, or chairs. Using
heavy floral patterns over everything in the
same colour feels oppressive. Avoid having the
entire room being painted white with all white
accessories as it tends to give an apprehensive
atmosphere similar to what we feel like when
we are in a hospital surgery room.
For a moment, imagine a room with four
walls, if you then painted each wall a different
colour, there would be no balance. If you
painted two opposing walls the same colour
you have created a balance, or even one wall a
different colour to the others.
A good way to practice balancing a room is by
using an existing space, moving the furniture
around, putting new accessories in and observing
how the space feels. These skills come
from practice, practice and more practice.
Try it when visiting people, do it mentally of
course, don’t tell them they need to move their
sofa and reupholster their chair, or you could
lose friends fast.
Another way to sharpen these skills is to
critique magazine photographs of spaces. Select
a picture and note down if they look balanced,
why does the space work, is there anything
you would add?
Remember that once you have selected the
colours and fabrics and have them all in your
space you can move them around to get the
balance correct.
Enjoy colouring your home this week.
Email: tracy@spacework.co.zw
Cell: +263 772 277397