THE MAGIC OF COLOR:USE COLOR TO ALTER THE PERCEPTION OF A ROOM'S SIZE OR SHAPE

Many people are fascinated with the concept of color from the moment they see how white light is separated into different colors as it passes through a prism. Color is even more exciting when we realize how it can affect how we see a space. Color alters our perception of a room’s size or shape.

 

                                                     Color is exciting, but choosing can often feel overwhelming.

Overall, lighter colors tend to recede; they appear farther away. Darker colors advance; they appear to move towards us. We can use this concept to make a space look larger or smaller; change the shape of a space; draw attention to focal points and positive aspects of a space; and hide or minimize the not-so-attractive features. Here are just a few examples:

 

If a room is very large and doesn’t feel comfortable, paint the ceiling a darker color than the walls to make it appear lower, thereby making the room feel cozier. Conversely, if a space makes you feel claustrophobic, paint the ceiling a lighter color, which will raise the apparent height of the ceiling. As a result, the room will feel more spacious.

 

Another way to address a smaller space is to paint the walls and ceiling the same color. This enables your eye to travel continuously around the space, giving the illusion of more space. Different colors cause your eye to stop at the line where the color changes, making the edges, and therefore the size of the room, more apparent.

 

Still another way to expand the sense of space in a room is to painting the walls and trim the same color. This is also useful if you don’t have attractive moldings or trim. The trim will blend into the wall and not attract attention. On the other hand, if you have distinctive features, like crown molding or decorative millwork, use a color that contrasts with the wall color to make it stand out and command attention.

 

   

 

Painting the upper wall a color that contrasts with the white woodwork on the lower wall makes the woodwork stand out.

                                                              

Many of us were taught that stronger or deeper colors make a room look smaller. This is not always true. It is actually contrast that makes a space smaller by calling attention to edges and borders. When walls are a deep color and trim is white or another light color, the eye notices the borders of a space. If the room is small, this will accentuate the feeling of enclosure. However, if the trim does not stand out, and is painted a deeper color as well, the eye does not stop at the edges or borders, but continues around the room. Because the eye doesn’t register the borders, the space feels like it continues on, so it feels more expansive.

 

Paint can also alter the shape of a room. If you have a long, narrow space, paint both end walls (the shorter ones) a shade or two darker than the other walls so the end walls feel closer to you. As a result, the room appears to be more of a square shape.

 

If you have very large, bare walls, break up the space with molding and paint different colors above and below. Use a darker color on the bottom to ground the space.

 

 A deeper wall color makes this spacious room feel cozy.

Stripes are a great way to add style and color without spending a lot of money. Painting vertical stripes will make a space feel taller. Conversely, horizontal stripes make the space feel longer.

 

In a small home, paint adjoining rooms the same color so the eye keeps moving and judges the space as being larger than it is.

 

Sometimes there are features in a room we hate looking at but can’t get rid of.  One may of us have are heating or AC vents. Paint these and other “eyesores” the same colors as the walls so they blend in, making them less noticeable.

 

If you have lots of angles and other architectural features you want to downplay, paint all surfaces the same color. This is common in attic rooms.

 

Sometimes these features are attractive. To highlight a unique ceiling or other architectural trim, use different colors on the wall and whatever features you want to highlight.

 

If the main feature is the view outside, keep the walls neutral and let the beautiful view shine as the focal point.

There are so many ways to use color when staging a home to accentuate the positive features and downplay or eliminate those that are less than desirable.