Adequate Understanding of 'Shifting Hues' Crucial for Achieving Desired Home Decor Balance
Revised Article:
Color is a potent tool to jazz up your digs, from a friendly splash of red to a sombre green enveloping a wall. It can swiftly transform a humdrum spot into something posh. But the fearsome impact of color on a space – some hues expands it, while others swallow it whole – makes it a daunting prospect for many. Enter advancing and receding colors, the unsung heroes of interior design.
As you might've guessed from their names, advancing colors are the warm tones; think yellows and reds, which leap out at you and crave attention like a neon sign. Conversely, receding colors are mainly cooler hues – blues and greens – that slyly blend into the background like a chameleon. Striking a harmonious balance between these two, and voilà – amazing interiors!
I caught up with our resident color pro, Amy Moorea Wong, master of color theory and all things related to color, to spill the beans on how to skillfully employ these color dynamics in a space. Here's the scoop.
Advancing Colors
"Advancing colors are like bold, brash human performers, drawing the eye towards them and insisting to be noticed," explains Amy Moorea Wong. Advancing colors are the warm tones on the color wheel, such as red, orange, and yellow. "These colours have longer wavelengths that our peepers interpret as coming forward," reveals Amy.
These colours inject a zesty, energetic vibe, making an object or area stand out and sound louder and bolder. However, as they come steaming ahead, they can also make a space appear smaller, so it's best to quit using a warm-dominated palette in an already tight or confined space.
On the flip side, advancing colors are perfect for making an open-plan layout feel cozier or for creating a cosy, cocooning ambiance in a room such as a bedroom.
Amy has been an authority on colour and contemporary interior design for over a decade, and is our website's colour whiz, author of the book "Kaleidoscope: Modern Homes in Every Colour," and a regular contributor to several other interior publications. Her eye for colour is nuanced, refined, and unique.
Price: £5/sample pot
Receding Colors
"Receding colors are the shy, retiring ones, content to fade into the woodwork," says Amy. These classically are the cold colours – blues, greens, and violets. "These colours have shorter wavelengths that the eye considers to be moving backwards," explains Amy.
Receding colours create a soothing, unobtrusive vibe, allowing other shades to shine. "As they retreat from you, they generate (an illusion of) depth and space, making objects or areas seem further away and fostering a feeling of expansiveness," says Amy.
So a room painted in a receding colour palette will sit agreeably, often creating a more serene atmosphere, and serving as a good foundation on which to build.
Receding colours are a fantastic paint hack for low ceilings, or in cramped spaces, they can make the layout appear more expansive. Just remember to balance the values (darkness or lightness) judiciously.
Price: £5.95/sample pot
Harnessing the Power of Advancing and Receding Colors
When it comes to the fun of decorating your home, "pairing advancing and receding colors together can be an exhilarating exercise," claims Amy.
Next to each other, the pair creates an illusion – the warmer color appears to creep forward while the cooler one shrinks back. "Adding dashes of contrasting colours creates visual harmony in interior design, balancing the effects of the primary colour and imparting a sense of order and rhythm while still maintaining a dynamic feel," adds Amy.
For instance, a room bathed in a cool-toned deep olive green or navy blue (a receding colour) will give the impression of a vast space that can subsequently be emphasised with contrasting orange or terracotta (advancing) accents.
Alternatively, if you opt to paint a room in a warm colour scheme, brick red, Amy recommends, "I'd steer you towards big splashes of deep greens and blues for depth, contrast, and richness – perhaps a chunky chair or a cosy sofa."
Fathoming the relationship between advancing and receding colours is all about context.
"Advancing and receding colours are all about context, placement, and contrast," says Amy. "The advancing/receding contrast is more pronounced when the colours are juxtaposed directly, whereas if they're scattered or mixed with neutrals, the effect softens."
As you create your palette, observe the colours interact with each other. Soon enough, you'll figure out which colours resonate with your sense of aesthetics and design style.
- According to Amy Moorea Wong, advancing colors are like bold performers, drawing attention and standing out, while receding colors subtly blend into the background.
- Amy Moorea Wong advises that advancing colors, such as red, orange, and yellow, inject energy and make an object or area stand out, but can make a space appear smaller.
- Amy Moorea Wong suggests using cooler colors like blues and greens (receding colors) in an open-plan layout to create a cozier atmosphere, or in a bedroom for a cocooning ambiance.
- Pairing advancing and receding colors together, like a room bathed in cool-toned deep olive green or navy blue (receding) with contrasting orange or terracotta (advancing), can create visual harmony and a dynamic feel in interior design.
