Questions and Answers

 

 

Not sure where to start?

First, it is important to recognise what colours you prefer (likes and dislikes). Remember your personality should be reflected in the mood you wish to create for your enivronment. Colours affect your mood. Yellows are happy tones, whereas reds are stimulating. Blues are cooling and greens are restful tones. Do you want your living space to be vibrant and exciting or to be tranquil and serene? Always remember, light colours reflect light whereas dark colours absorb light. Strong colours will make a room more dramatic and add depth to a room. Light colours will make the room appear light and airy.

Next, consider whether to prefer texture or pattern, or something more dramatic, like a mural for instance. The next step is to give us a call so we can arrange a time suitable for you and partner. Often, it is a joint decision when it comes to making choices and adding value to your home, so we understand that time suitability is key for both parties. We come out to you with our mobile showrooms so you can view the sample books within your own environment. So much easier, when you have the lighting and scale of fittings and furnishings around you to work with.
 

What colour scheme for the room?

A good general guideline for choosing the colour scheme of a room is to look at what you already have. We call these your "givens". What is in the room that must stay? You may have a carpet or tile colour that dictates the colour scheme.

Warm Colours - Reds, yellow , oranges and peaches are warm colours. Intense warm colours create exciting living spaces, while subdued warm colours form pleasant rooms for social gatherings. Warm colours are often used in eating areas, like breakfast or dining rooms. Warm colours also help make south rooms more inviting. Research has shown that people actually feel warmer in a room papered with yellows, reds or oranges than they do in a white or blue room.

Cool Colours - Blues, greens, lavenders and grays are cool colours. Intense cool colours are fresh and dramatic, while subdued cool grays are tranquil. Cool colours make rooms feel less confining. They are often used in bathrooms and other small rooms. In warm climates, using white and cool colours exclusively can make an entire house seem more comfortable.
Neutral colours are shades of white, gray or beige. Most neutrals are tinted slightly with a warm or cool colour. Neutral-coloured walls provide a backdrop that does not compete with furnishings and accessories. 

Light colours create bright, spacious rooms. To the eye, light colours seem to recede, making rooms appear larger and ceilings higher. Since light colours reflect the most light, they can brighten a south-facing room, a closet or dark hallway. White walls form a neutral background that does not compete with furnishings. Textured papers can affect the lightness of any colour. Smooth and reflective papers reflect maximum light to make a colour seem lighter. Rough-textured papers hold more shadow and minimize the lightness of a colour.

Dark colours - Use dark colours to create an intimate room. Because dark colours absorb light, walls appear closer to make the room seem smaller. Darker colours can be used to disguise problem areas such as uneven walls, or to make a high ceiling seem lower. In heavy-use areas, dark colours can help hide wear. Textured papers make colours seem darker because they absorb more light.  Dark walls tend to dominate, so you may choose to use lighter-coloured accents to add balance to a room. When the walls are dark, it is a good idea to tint the ceiling paint slightly with the wall colour to make the room blend and work together. 

Bright colours are highly saturated with pigment. They are not diluted by white or darkened by black. Bright colours work well in active spaces like rumpus rooms, sun porches and children's rooms. Because bright colors draw attention, they are often used as accents in rooms with neutral or subdued colour schemes. 

Subdued colours are less saturated with pigment than bright colours. They are blended to include mixtures of white, black or gray. Subdued colours are relaxing and restful, and are frequently used in studies and bedrooms, and form a soft background in bathrooms and dressing rooms. You can increase visual interest in a subdued room by adding a few brightly-coloured accents.
  First, wash all wall surfaces down with sugar soap, then wash with clear water, ensuring the residue of suguar soap is gone. Allow to dry. Then sand walls with 80 grit sandpaper to provide a key. Next dust off all wall surfaces and apply one coat of a PVA based size, allow to dry. Now your ready to hang.

Why should wallpaper be soaked before hanging?
For paper-backed wallpapers, you need to allow the paper to relax and expand. The only exception is paste the wall wallpapers, they have a specially developed backing which does not expand, allowing them to be hung dry.