Colour in the Home.

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 12, 16 November 1928, Page 12

Colour in the Home.

A Green Interior.

(By

Elizabeth

Ashley

QpNLY a few years ago it was quite usual to be dogmatic in using colour for the decoration of rooms. Recent years have seen much research and many experiments dealing with the question of the psychological effects which the use and abuse of colour can produce, and a consequent increase of interest in its other attributes as well. Great artists have known many of these things for centuries; but it has taken this recent research to bring. them home to the general public. Let us see what has been learnt of the properties of different colours, in so far as they affect the interior decoraticn of our houses. Green is obviously the best colour to begin with, because green plays a more prominent and varying part in Nattrethan any other. Green appears in the sea and in the sky; in the fields and in the woods, on rocks and on roofs of houses where there is moss; on bleak uplands and in lush lowlands. It appears also in innumerable shades, from the cold, mysterious green which is almost blue, to the warm bright green which is almost yellow. Texture, quantity and position are the three most important things to remember when using this colour for interior decoration. Texture, because few, if any of the other colours are so much affected by the surface on which they appear. Green walls, which may be gorgeous in paint, will be disappointing in distemper; green curtains, wheh would be delicate and exquisite in silk or in glazed chintz, would be dismal and even tawdry in a cotton or woollen material. The extent to which green may be used in any one room depends first upon where it is to go; secondly, upon the shade which is used; and, thirdly, upon what is going with it. Green walls are very often successful. They give an impression of spaciousness and a feeling of freedom, and they make one of .the most becoming backgrounds possible to people, to most kinds of furniture, and _ to flowers. But green nearly always needs a certain amount of support, and for this reason it is best to make the lower part of the walls, or the skirting darker than the upper part, and if one uses a green carpet at all, it should have a very wide surround of black, or possibly very deep blue or violet. Greens.

What shade of green to choose for a particular room will depend partly upon the size of the room, partly upon its aspect. A rich yellow green tends to make a room look smaller than it is and very warm. A blue green has the reverse effect, evcept when it is very deep. ‘Then it is apt to be overpowering and depressing.

As far as furniture is concerned,. mahogany and walnut are both wip derful with green, and _ so, in most cases, is dark oak. The lighter woods are not so successful, because of the need for support already mentionedt. and if red lacquer is to be used in a green-walled room, the tone chosen for the walls must be very faint and delicate. This is because red always fends to make green look crude and ard.