The Role Colors Play In Interior Design Elements
The colors found in your fine art landscape photograph can play an important role in your room’s décor and interior design elements.
What is the Importance of Color when Choosing a Fine Art Landscape Print?
Color schemes are an important consideration in interior design and can have a large impact on the mood of the room. As a fine art photography landscape collector, you want to choose pieces that will enhance the interior of your home or office. The truth is you can greatly transform a room by displaying a single large-size print emphasizing a single color or a fine-art print with multiple colors that connect and anchor decorating elements of your room. Having one or more colors in your photograph match the colors in the room will create a look that pulls the design elements of the room together and is visually appealing.
How Many Colors Exist?
Aristotle viewed color to simply be the product of a mixture of white and black which was accepted until 1666 when Isaac Newton’s experiments provided the basis for understanding color. Newton showed that a prism could break up white light into a range of colors (known as the color spectrum). According to some estimates, the eye can distinguish some 10 million colors.
Warm and Cool Colors – What Should You Choose?
Color can make or break a space and can have a profound influence on the room and the people in the room. Your goal is to choose a landscape photo that will help you create the desired mood and atmosphere of your room.
The phrase “warm and cool” colors refer to where shades fall on the color wheel. Traditionally, shades like red, orange, and yellow are viewed as warm colors because they are more vibrant. On the other end of the spectrum are the “cool” colors such as blue, green, and purple which are considered more “relaxing”.
Color will have an effect on the energy and mood of your room and need to be kept in mind. Warm colors tend to bring an upbeat and welcoming feel to a room and are often used in entertaining spaces such as a dining room or kitchen. Cool colors, such as blues and greens, are more subdued and are good choices for bedrooms or certain office spaces.
What are Some Important Color Schemes for Interior Design?
Knowing the color wheel can help when choosing a room’s color scheme. A complimentary color scheme is one that involves only two shades and usually ones that sit directly opposite each other on the color wheel such as blue and orange; yellow and purple; red and green. The color combinations contrast with each other and can bring strong energy and vibrancy to the room. They could be used as accent colors.
An analogous color scheme involves picking a central color and then using the colors on either side of it. Two colors will be primary colors and the third will be a mix of the two. For example, red, orange, and yellow or red, purple, and blue. This approach creates more of a serene and calming interior.
A monochromatic color scheme keeps it simple…using only one color but in various shades from dark to light such as navy to baby blue.
Color in Relation to the Focal Point of a Room
A focal point in interior design draws attention to a feature of the room. It can be a specific piece of art or a pattern in the room or a specific piece of furniture. The goal is to draw the viewer’s eye to that area of the room.
This is where the color or colors found in your fine art landscape print become important as the predominant colors of the print can play a vital role in interior design. Having one or more colors from the print match colors in the room creates visually appealing combinations.
They are various ways to match the colors. You can choose to match the bright colors of your landscape photography with the elements of the room such as the red flowers the photograph could tie in with the red pillows on the sofa. Or, you could match the darker colors in your fine art print such as shadows seen in the Grand Canyon that would match the furniture. Blacks and browns are often two dark colors matched.
Another approach is not to use fine art photography as a focal point but instead, to choose a photograph that blends with the rest of the room. The print is a part of the interior design and not a major component but still ties all the design elements in the room together.
The Importance of Wall Colors and Your Fine Art Landscape Photograph
The brightness of your wall color as well as the brightness of colors found in your fine art print colors are factors to consider when choosing wall art for your room. This is because the wall becomes the fine art background.
The combination of wall/print brightness will affect a viewer’s overall perception in these ways:
One: how much does the fine art print stand out on the wall? Does it pop out in contrast or blend in?
Two: How bright or dark does the print appear to the viewer’s eyes when displayed on the wall?
To go deeper: a brighter background will make the fine art print appear darker whereas a darker wall background will make the landscape image appear brighter. Keep in mind that a bright image on a dark background will stand out more than on a brightly colored wall.
Colors and Psychology
Colors can affect a person’s mood, state of mind, and overall disposition. The development of modern psychology also expanded the study of color, which has been used in design and marketing for decades.
The question to ask is how each color makes us feel and to keep that in mind when choosing colors and accent colors for your home or office.
Red creates feelings of energy, danger, strength, passion, desire, and love. Pink is associated with romance, love, and friendship. Reddish-brown colors bring the season of fall to mind. The color orange is
associated with joy and sunshine. It represents enthusiasm, happiness, creativity, and encouragement. An apricot or terra cotta orange (increasingly popular in the mid-west) can be relaxing and soothing. Yellow is the color of sunshine and is associated with joy, happiness, and energy. It is an excellent choice for kitchens, dining rooms, and bathrooms.
Green is the color of nature. Considered the most restful color for the eye, green can create a sense of calmness when used in interior design. Green generally makes people feel emotionally safe and is well suited for any room in your home. Blue is the most popular color in the United States and is associated with trust, loyalty, wisdom, and confidence. Blue also has a calming effect. Dark purple is dramatic, rich, and sophisticated. It can give a room’s décor depth. Lighter shades of purple, such as lavender, can add a restful quality to a room.
Final Thoughts – Choosing a Fine Art Landscape Print with Colors in Mind
Color can be intimidating, especially if it’s your first-time decorating. Color is not a one-size-fits-all. You may want to choose a landscape photograph with a burst of purple in it to connect with one other color in the room or to make a statement or, you may prefer to a monochromatic color scheme to keep it simple…using only one color but in various shades from dark to light such as navy to baby blue.
The colors in your home should reflect the people who live there and be used to create the intended atmosphere of your rooms. Please view the various color-specific options found in my Landscapes by Color Gallery to see what a difference one of these prints would make in your home.
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