Color Therapy

Relaxing

Blue is the classic color of serenity and works well in bedrooms and living rooms. It is also great in kitchens and bathrooms because of its associations with water. Blue is a receding color, which means it appears further away, making it the perfect choice for the paler shades, which contain the purest healing qualities. Pale pinks are another good choice as their calming qualities can soothe troubled minds and aid sleep.

Energizing

For an energy blast, red is the only choice. It instantly warms and can create an atmosphere of decadence or exotic grandeur. Red is an advancing color and can make a room look smaller, so care is needed. Using red as a feature wall, next to paler shades, will create warmth without being oppressive. If you struggle waking up, bright aquas are a powerful color for alertness. Perfect in bathrooms for a tropical wake-up shower!

For romance

Pink is the color of romance, while soft reds stimulate passion. Pink creates a feminine setting that is also calming - ideal for bedrooms.

Soft reds are both passionate and energizing, making them a good choice for living and dining rooms. Orange boosts the libido and improves self confidence, which is useful if you feel less than confident about your appearance.

Harmony

Green brings all the calming associations of nature and, located in the middle of color spectrum, represents balance and harmony. If there is an area of your house that can be hectic, try using muted green Another harmonizing color for women is violet, as it balances hormonal dysfunctions. Violet also soothes, providing the perfect setting for meditation and restoring your inner harmony.

Uplifting

For beating the winter blues, a golden yellow interior design color schemeis perfect for bringing back memories of the summer, while orange contains anti-depressant properties. Both colors raise our spirits, promoting hope and optimism. Warm tones add light and brightness, making them ideal for rooms with poor natural light.

For studying

Yellow works directly on the intellect, with many schools using it to improve learning. Calm greens can also be a good choice, balancing our minds and aiding concentration.

With the growing trend to pare everything down to a minimum, an even greater reliance will be placed upon design schemes containing interesting textures and quality construction. It is possible to spend hours carefully selecting and putting together interestingly colored and patterned materials; it is also possible to choose highly expensive items. However, neither of these precautions can guarantee a successful scheme if insufficient attention has been given to the textural quality of your choices.

A completely 'flat' scheme of materials with similar finishes will lack life and appear dull. Yet by juxtaposing contrasting textures you will create excitement in a scheme. Just think of a coffee table with a polished marble top on a floor covered with rough medieval matting, lustrous chintz cushions on a matt flannel sofa, a mahogany hunter ceiling fans against a draped ceiling, or a shiny lacquer console table against a wall of suede - all are exciting prospects.

Texture can also have a big influence on how color is perceived: a matt material such as velvet fabric or emulsion paint will absorb light, rendering it darker, while a shiny one such as chintz or gloss paint, will reflect it and make the color appear brighter and more intense.

To test the part that texture plays, try matting up a scheme using plain fabrics of only one color - say, cream - and try to find as many differently textured samples as you can. You will be amazed at what an interesting scheme you can compose simply by assembling materials of differing textures.

To get good value from your selected textures, focused lighting is imperative. To demonstrate to yourself how true this is, take a powerful torch and point it at different furnishings within your home.

Notice how the beam of light brings out the textural quality and gives objects a three-dimensional 'moulded' effect - that is what you are after.