How to Use Warm Colors in Your Home Interiors
Using only cool colors to decorate you space can be disastrous.
Colors are among the most important considerations when creating an interior space. Colors have the power to elicit certain vibes, emotions, and moods making it extremely important to consider them and to choose carefully.
What does it look like, and what does it mean, to decorate your interiors with warm colors? Here are helpful tips for using the color wheel to create a harmonious, colored space.
Examples of Warm Colors
Erika Dale, a designer from Decorist, says, "In general, warm colors are those in the red, orange, and yellow families, while cool colors are those in the green, blue, and purple families." Remember the color wheel from art class in elementary school? Red, peach, pink, amber, sienna, and gold contrast with cooler teal, eggplant, emerald, aqua, and cobalt. Warm colors can also be characterized by cozy, earthy tones.
Is white a cool or warm color?
Both! Depending on the shade, white can be cool or warm. Interior designer and founder of ASR Design Studio in San Diego, Ariel Richardson, says, "If you look closely, you can see hints of the undertones like red, blue, yellow, and purple in the color."
Picking up on these subtle tints may take some practice, but they have a huge impact on how paint color or a piece of furniture looks in a space. Dale explains, "Yellow or pink undertones will read warmer, while whites with blue or green undertones will appear cooler." A mix of warm and cool whites can balance out a room's appearance.
Different lightings can also determine whether a white looks warm or cool, which is why many designers advise testing a huge swatch on the wall before painting a whole space. Dale says, "If you have tons of natural light pouring in, things will appear cooler, whereas rooms lit with artificial light will look much warmer."
Don't worry about perfectly matching every white in a space. Combining cold and warm whites achieves the best of both worlds.
Well, is gray a cool or warm color?
Gray, like white, can function as both warm and cool colors. Classic Gray by Benjamin Moore is a warm gray that would look great on your walls. "It feels light and airy, but there is also a warm elegance and formality to it that makes it perfect for a living room with bright white trim," Dale adds. To create a very inviting look throughout an entire open floor plan, you can try Repose Gray by Sherwin Williams.
Should you put cool and warm colors in the same room?
Absolutely! Dale explains, "One of the best design tricks in the book is creating a nice balance of warm and cool colors in a space. While the dominant colors in a room can dictate the overall mood, what makes the design feel grounded and cohesive is balancing that out with elements of the opposite color temperature." For instance, if you're aiming for a light, airy feel with cool white walls, introducing warm elements like ivory linens, brass accents, or a red rug can help the space feel cozier and welcoming.
Here are great tips from The Spruce on 10 Colors That Go With Yellow and 12 Colors That Go With Orange.
How to distinguish warm colors from cool colors?
Richardson says, "You can tell if a color is warm if it seems to be more mellow."
Try this simple trick from Dale if you're still unsure: Hold the swatch or object up to a pure version of that same color. For instance, place your white against a true white from the color wheel. When you compare them side by side, you'll immediately notice which way it leans.
For more helpful ideas on the differences between warm and cool hues, check out How to Use Warm and Cool Colours in Interior Design.
How do warm colors make you feel?
Dale says, "Warm colors instantly conjure up associations with heat, fire, and the sun, so these colors tend to feel more energetic, inviting, cozy, stimulating, passionate, and intimate. Conversely, cool colors bring to mind water and the sky and therefore create a more calming, focused, relaxed, restful, soothing, and refreshing feeling."
Other than influencing your mood, color temperatures can alter the feel and ambiance of a space. Richardson, however, warns that warmer colors make a room more welcoming, but also smaller. Meantime, cool colors create an impression of more space, but go too far and the room can feel sterile.
How do you use warm colors in your décor?
To make a space look more spacious, Richardson recommends using cooler colors on the walls and ceilings while layering in warm accents through lighting, architectural details, furniture, fixtures, finishes, and accessories.
But, how about using fall colors like ochre, mustard, terra cotta, or persimmon? Switching the décor in your home may instantly update your interiors for the season. Baylee Deyon, a Decorist designer, adds, "Incorporating warm-colored throw blankets and pillows to a space can make a huge impact. I love to swap out my greenery with something such as natural dried cotton stems to make for a textured and cozy space."
Dusty pink, mustard yellow, and other colors for your walls give you an edge in personalizing each room by adding a deeper shade of your choice. You don't necessarily need a huge space to make things look stunning, either. Consider painting your little, cozy room a bright green or the like. That's when warm colors add value to your interiors. Even if you just have a little amount of space for staging, an ivory or buttery-cream can work wonders.
It wouldn't be exaggerated to say that the colors of a home are its show stoppers. A house with a single dull color or one that has too much going on evokes less excitement. Hence, choosing the right color combination is key to giving your home the perfect look.
Warm colors (yellow, red, orange, and variations of these) are becoming increasingly popular these days due to their ability to seamlessly blend with other colors. The result is a space that's comfortable, inviting, and warm!
Need expert help in creating a beautiful space? Contact Jarvis Interiors today.
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Content Credits
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