Musing on Colour – Choosing a Palette

Colour Palette from ETC by Sibella Court

Colour Palette from ETC by Sibella Court

I’ve been thinking a lot about colour palettes at the moment. Moving house can have that effect on people. How do you choose the colours you live with daily ? Bright and clashing or calm and peaceful ? I have pretty strong ideas on the colours I like to have around me by now. I do like quite a large proportion of whites where I live, because really, that is what I prefer as a back drop to paintings and other artwork. But still, I’ve been reading some interior design magazines and books just to add some fresh ideas into the mix.

One of my favourite books at the moment is ETC by Sibella Court. It’s not a traditional interior design book in that it doesn’t give whole room layouts , instead she talks about colour choice and creating palettes. Her idea is to refine your choice down to 10 colours. And then , throughout the house or room use them in combinations of twos, fours or more.

She suggests going around your home noticing any items that you are drawn to – bowls, clothing  or little details like buttons. Next to go out into nature and do a similar collecting exercise there. And fnally to pay attention as you go about your daily routines , noticing anything that appeals – from peeling paint work to a grafitti covered wall.

With digital cameras and camera phones this task is made even easier.  So, for the next week I’ll be keeping a visual diary to discover if the colours I choose are what I expect. Feel free to carry out a similar experiment. I’ll be posting the results of my very scientific explorations on Flickr.