70 - North Shore News — Friday, December 24, 1999

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Colour is powerful stuff.

Red can send your heart racing,
green can calm you down, purple
can send you to sleep. Used right,
colour can make your rooms feel
larger or smaller, and can even draw
a veil over that huge ugly old sofa
bed that you can’t afford to replace
just yet. And it doesn’t matter what
colours you choose, you can still
perform the same magic.

“Many homeowners are con-
cerned that their chosen color
schemes will make small rooms look
even smaller,” says Jane Lockhart,
independent designer and
spokesperson for Benjamin Moore
& Co., Limited. “It’s not the choice
of colors that creates the illusion of
size, but the way coijors are used.”

Te understand Jane’s point it’s
necessary to appreciate the differ-
ence between complementary and

_analogous color schemes. color
value and contrast, And to do that,
just think of the color wheel. That’s
the circle filled with all the colors of
the rainbow that you doubtless
studied in art classes at school, and
can see on the wall at most
Benjamin Moore retailers. It’s very

1 to. have one around when

‘selecting colors for a room treat-
ment.

Colours that are opposite cach
other on the wheel are complernen-
tary. Yellow and purple are comple-
mentary, so are red and green.
Complementary colours release

isual excitement when placed side
by side. They stimulate our eyes.

‘Three colours that are next to
‘each other. on the wheel are an anal-
ogous scheme; yellow-green, green

- and green-blue are an cxampie of an

» analogous scheme. They are more

interesting than a monochromatic

: ‘cofor scheme, where one color with
. different tints and shades of the

- 7, Same. color are used.

ur Counts fora |

Now, back to that not-quite- big-
enough room. If you paint it in
complemeniary colors — let's say
you paint the end walls burgundy
and the side walls green — the
room will immediately seem smaller
because the eye leaps to the corners
where the colors meet. If you use
the same complementary colors in
furnishings and accessories, same
effect; every item is calling for
attention and the room locks busy,
and therefore smaller.

If you paint it in analogous col-
ors, colors that blend, or just one
color varied with different tints and
shades and textures, then the rvuom
and its furnishings will become ail-
of-a-piece and consequently feel
larger. This is called monochromat-
ic.

You can use this same trick to
make unpleasant furniture disap-
pear, or at least retire into the back-
ground. If you paint the wall
behind your ‘ugly old brown sofa
bed in a complementary or con-
tasting color the sofa will seem to
be screaming for attention. Best use
a monochromatic color for the
background: beige, brown or taupe.
The sofa will biend into its sur-
roundings.

The same rule applies if you have
dated Harvest Gol i fittings in the
bathroom, and don’t want the
expense of replacing them. Develop
an analogous color scheme around
Harvest Gold, and the fittings wil
be less of an eyesore. And you may
even grow to like Harvest Gold.

Lockhart, whose HGTV series
One House, Two Looks is current-
ly in production for its third year,
claims that Canadians tend to shrink
away from the stronger colors pre-
sented in Benjamin Moore’s new
Regal Signature Color Collection.

“My advice to them is always —
don’t be afraid, use color for all it’s

Ce oe

VAL FEDORA

worth, With a knowledge of color
basics you'll be in control and can
achieve the looks you see in lifestyle
magazines.”

An example of a lost color
opportunity is the typical Canadian
ceiling: white from side to side and
end to end. A large unbroken
expanse of white is very intrusive,

and draws the eye away from the

in your nouse

room setting below. You can inte-
grate the ceiling and the room by
adding a dash of the wall color to
the ceiling paint; the contrast will
be reduced and the good stuff at
ground level will get the attention it
deserves,

Architectural features such as
mouldings, baseboards, door
frames, radiators and vents can be

Toxie matters

emphasized or de-emphasized in
the same way. The higher the con-
trast or complimentary colors, the
more prominent the feature will be.
The lower the contrast, the less
intrusive they will be.

Find free colour decks with large
samples of all 99 colors in the Regal
Signature Color Collection at your
Benjamin Moore retailer.

ANDRY Zdornyy (left) was one of 25 ESL students from the Luces Centye who recently received a
Capers reusable bag from Duane Gyuricska of the Asscclation for the Promotion and,
Advancement of Science Education. The gift was In recognition of the students’ work collecting
hazardous household waste for recycling as part of a program called Toxic Matters.

MACDONALD
oE-G553 |
. FRANZ-JOSEI F

And Mother says;

Pm a Blue Collar Worker’
Selling Blue Collar Homes
and Proud’ of itt

“Uf you don't utilize the expertise my Son has acquired over ‘many years,
I will give you such a“SMACK”, 8

but if you do, God Bless You, and I wish you all the best for.
Christmas anda Happy New. Year”.

Fonting ll my atone and friends, Thank: you fon your ripe
i nap alae