The interior design color you choose for your room will influence the effect the room has on people. By understanding how this works, you can then deliberately select the interior design color to get your desired effect. Just to get started, how would you answer the following question.
True or false: Using white or very light walls in a dark room will make it look lighter?
If you answered true, then you're in the majority. Unfortunately, the majority isn't always right! White walls in a dark room will look grey, and make the room look gloomy and dismal.
To make a dark room more inviting use a rich, warm interior design color. You could use a soft yellow (stay away from an acid yellow), apricot, a bright green or soft blue.
If your home or apartment is naturally dark (nearby buildings or trees mean it's always dark) then use low energy bulbs in table lamps. Put them on a time switch so they come on just before you arrive home from work. They'll make your home warm and inviting, and you won't be dependent on the weather or natural daylight to cheer you up.
Here are some more suggestions to help you.
This is the converse of the previous point we made. And if your room is not very big, then a light and airy interior design color will have the effect of pushing out the walls and making your room look bigger.
If you have white plasterwork in your room, around your ceiling lights for example, you can make them stand out if you paint your ceiling a very pale version of your wall color.
You can use warm, dark colors to give your room a distinguished look. Another effect they have is to make the room look more furnished than it really is. Warm, dark colors give a feeling of comfort. For example, you could use a dark striped wallpaper in an office or room you use as a library.
Using an interior design color such as rust-red will make your room seem intimate and comfortable. In climates where the winters are long and dreary this is a useful way to color your room.
Not if you relieve the overall dark effect. You can do this by having accents of more intense color placed in it, using ornaments, plants and small items of furniture. You can also lighten it using white or lighter woodwork, rugs or carpets.
Long, hot bright summers? Use white, pale blue, green or yellow colors for your room and it will look cool and airy. By adding wicker furniture with yellow, blue, white or green cushions you will make it seem even more open and relaxing.
If your room is light and rather bland, you can improve its looks by painting or staining the floorboards a dark brown. If you don't have floorboards, then use a flooring which simulates wood, or lay a wood or wood effect product on your floor. Add large plants in terracotta pots, and some large pictures. Using interior design color in this way will give the room some character of its own.
In this example the rich red color of the walls gives a warm and inviting feeling. The richness is balanced by the yellow/cream of the wood paintwork, ceiling and fireplace surround.
