Hygge Design

Choosing the colors of the furniture can be a titanic feat… Is it better to opt for warm or cold colours? Let’s find out together!

Our brain perceives that warm colours narrow the space, making it more welcoming, cold colours enlarge it, making it more dilated and airy. The warm colours (like autumn colours) bring us back to a feeling of relaxation and peace, the cold ones give us more creativity. All this perception will influence our choice and the visual impact of our home.

Reds, oranges, browns and yellows are hot. Blue, blue, gray and purple are cold. Greens can be more or less warm depending on the presence of yellow.
A color is perceived as warm if it gives us the sensation of heat like fire or sun. The cold colour, on the other hand, is perceived as cold because it is associated with the sensation of ice, water and sky.

Get the look:  Mini Tortuga armchair

Get the look:  Barnaby sofa

Leaving aside our perceptions, the two key elements for choosing the right colours are light and space. Light plays a decisive role in the choice of colours, as a dimly lit space will look smaller with dark furnishings. Conversely, it will be made (slightly) larger through the use of light and/or reflective furnishings, such as glass and mirrors. So, if you have a house, a bedroom, a bathroom or the like, with a disadvantaged light, don’t venture with total black or dark and dull colors.

In any case, it is advisable to always create a correspondence between the available space, the light inside, the colours, be they dark/light or warm/cold and your own tastes.

Choosing the colors of the furniture means taking a specific path or choosing a real style. But you could also opt for the non-colour or neutral colour. The non-color, that is the use of black and white in all their shades, is an obvious and easy choice. We all know that white is always good and black as well. It doesn’t take great skill to furnish a house in total white or total black. The problem is that this type of furniture will not communicate a lot of personality and over time it could result banal; indeed after a while it will tend to flatten the perception of space and make it a bit monotonous.

In conclusion, it all depends on tastes, personal perception of colour and its effect on the environment. Usually warm colours are chosen in Latin countries because they express liveliness, character and warmth. The cold ones, more sober and discreet are chosen in the Scandinavian style, for example, a style that creates welcoming environments using colours that are not invasive but very elegant, such as the pastel ones.

If you liked my article “warm colors or cold colors?!”, have also a look at Decorating with Ochre Colour