Neutral territory

Add a splash of bold colours

The concept is not new but rarely is it well executed and done tastefully. There are a wide variety of very colourful accessories available in the market today that can be used to transform a boring neutral scheme into a fun and vibrant setting. A quick addition of a bright funky rug, a clock, bright shelves on the wall, a kitschy hanging light or other such elements can help you change the character of the room with minimal cost and effort. Make sure you maintain a balance in the room and don’t go overboard with the use of bright colours.

How to use bright colours The trick to using multiple bold colours in a room is to ensure that these colours work together and the colours are similar in tonality. Some common complimentary colour sets are blue and orange, red and green and yellow and purple. Select your brighter colours according to the shade of the neutral backdrop that you are working with. For example, if you are trying to match a red with a green and place both colours against a neutral backdrop, start by identifying the tone of the red — does it have a yellow (rusty red), blue (plum red) or brown (brick red) tint Pick your shade of green with a similar tint to ensure that the colour tones don’t clash. Once you are comfortable with this, you can play around with stronger contrasts and get bolder with your combinations.

Understand the science behind it The human eye is made up of cones and rods (photoreceptor cells in your eye). The cones are the colour receptors and different types of cones perceive different wavelengths of light. Your brain is also wired to perceiving all colours in a certain way. If you stare at a blue box for a long time and then look at a white wall, you will see a faint orange afterimage. This is because the cone cells perceiving the blue colour get fatigued and make the signal sent to the brain weaker. When you look at the white wall, the signal for blue reception has gone weak and you see the white minus a little bit of blue, which your brain perceives as orange. Therefore, in a blue room a little bit of orange really pops because your eye wants to see the orange colour. Such combinations of complementary colours can be used to create dynamic yet balanced highlights on neutral backgrounds.

Create textural interest on a neutral backdrop A less common approach is to use different textural elements on a neutral backdrop to create many levels of interest. This way you can retain the overall neutral palette, yet have a lot of detailing in the room décor. Easy techniques employ using contrasting materials and elements that have different finishes. Use distressed furniture or different patterns and shades within the same colour family. As visible in the photo, different shades of beige have been combined using varied materials — a woolen carpet, damask patterned upholstery, a distressed finish nightstand with a geometric pattern on the bed throw — all combine to add layers of texture on a neutral palette.

The writer is managing director of Walnut