Dynamic Colors

By Michele Coppin

It’s almost winter, time to start taking your vitamins. Why not also show your walls a little TLC with an injection of dynamic colors?

Start with the basics - the primaries: red, yellow and blue. Red, yellow and blue are called primary colors because they are at the origin of all other mixtures. They cannot be made by mixing other colors. Mixed, they create secondary colors:

       Red + Yellow = Orange, Red + Blue = Purple, Blue + Yellow = Green

                  
 
Primary colors are very dynamic, stimulating and energizing. They work particularly well in active spaces such as kitchens, dining rooms and children's rooms. It’s advisable to choose one dominant color and accent it with the other two, because equal amounts of primary colors can be overwhelming.

In Claude Monet's dining room in Giverny, France, the sunny yellow is balanced by pale blue accents, creating a stimulating and comfortable atmosphere. These beautiful choices of colors are a testimony to the great Impressionist painter's love of color.

          

If you like Monet's gentle colors and want to bring sunshine into your kitchen, try:

                     
                Yellow Chimes 3011-1              Oxygen White 7005-17

Primary shades vary from soft pastels to electrifyingly intense. This kitchen is a celebration! Its extreme colors are fun and playful.

                  

Complementary Colors also create strong color combinations. They sit across from each other on the color wheel. Red and Green are complimentary colors, as are blue and orange and yellow and purple. Side by side, they become active and appear to vibrate - each color makes its opposite seem more intense. This elegant palette by colourlovers.com combines red and green very successfully. The green cools off the warm ochres and hot reds.

                       

Like Primary colors, complementary colors work best when combined with touches of their opposite color to cool or warm the overall effect. This can be applied to an interior with colored drapes, furniture, decorations or paint. My friend, Sherrie, enhanced and contrasted the green walls of her kitchen with deep red Moroccan tiles and a matching dish towel. The finalized effect was the perfect example of complementary colors at their finest!