How colours change the perception of interior spaces

Jun 26, 2020 | Blog

With studies showing that we now spend 87% of our lives indoors. Pleasant, well lit environments, positively influence the mood and well-being of its occupants. That’s why when it comes to custom designing a new kitchen space, colour, artificial lighting, natural light, proportions and materials are important elements to consider as they influence the experience that you’ll have in a space.

Light and dark room colours can balance any interior design. To provide the desired spatial experience, there are elements which change the perception of a space without the need for any structural changes. This can be done by painting surfaces, using different materials, or applying different coatings. Lighter and cooler colours make the space appear larger. Darker colours make them appear more closed and smaller to the eye. The arrangement of colours or textures in an environment changes the perspective, making the room appear taller, longer, wider, or highlighting a particular element.

To help design your new kitchen we’ve put together a few guidelines on how to transform your space and balance dimensions with just colour!

To create a feeling of spaciousness in an environment, the best method is to use light colours, which will reflect natural light and make surfaces appear larger to the eyes.

If you have a very large space in your home and want it to feel more intimate, invest in dark tones on the back wall in contrast to lighter colours elsewhere.

If you want to make the room appear smaller, opting for stronger colours on wall surfaces can work well. They will absorb most of the natural light, giving a feeling of enclosure that can be beneficial for certain functions.

There are times when lowering the height of the ceiling can make the space more pleasant and provide a welcoming feeling. When painting it in a darker colour than the walls or leaving the material texture visible, this feature will give the impression that the ceiling is lower.

If your space has a low ceiling giving a claustrophobic feel, painting the walls in a darker colour and leaving the ceiling white gives the illusion of a higher space.

Painting the back wall and the ceiling with the same darker colours and leaving the side walls lighter will make the space appear wider and more spacious. This is a technique widely used in corridors or narrow rooms.

Painting the two opposing side walls dark colours and leaving the background and the ceiling in light colours will make the space narrower to the eyes, improving the proportions of rooms with unbalanced dimensions.

Have a great weekend

Clinton and Fiona