The range of colours for the cool scheme extends beyond the simple blue plus white equation, since a greater range of colours and non colours can be employed, including black and white, and grey and cream, but blue still provides the broadest and most useful colour scope. Blues, blue greys, and whites are natural partners for creating a relaxed and hormonious living space. This is because they help to promote a sense of calm and airiness, and provide the cool scheme with strong defenition and character.
The success of the combination is obvious, having been favoured traditionally and internationally in various ways, from Scandinavian style to Chinese and European ceramics, all of which can be used as the inspiration for your scheme. The cool grey blue and white combinations continues to be associated with the Swedish style today and is an immensenly popular look. The cool blues can be interpreted in various tones for different effects, grey blues look smart and sophisticated, aquamarine works well with purest white and silver hues, dark blues are best used in broken patterns to avoid looking heavy.
To successfully maintain the scheme it is always worth remembering that cool blues mix well with silver and off white. In the living room, however, coolest glacial blue could be partnered with stronger tones to prevent the look becoming rather cold and insipid. Alternatively, combine different shades of grey with lots of white. Avoid an over load of mixed pattern in the cool living room, as this will detract from the airy spaciousness of the theme. However, where pattern is used, scrolling and trellis designs will keep the look light and clean, using for example a grey green background with a sharp, white applied pattern. Stripes always promote the illusion of extended space, particularly when used vertically and juxtapositioned with dark and light colours such as grey and silver or Chinese blue and porcelain white.
The distribution of colour and decorative additions in the cool living room need to be balanced and uncluttered. Therefore, the blank areas between focuses of colour and furniture are important to the overall composure of the scheme. In the living room especially, where furniture and furnishing fill the room and a mix of colours and pattern scan become overpowering, it is good idea to include elements of broken or lightweight colour such as an open style bookcase featuring just a few simple ornaments, or plain white or cream cushion covers.
Apart from the decorative content of a cool coloured living environment, wall colours, sofas, cushions, curtains, carpets and rugs, the interpretation of cool is also determined by lighting, both artificial and natural, the proportions and size of the room and its global location. The yellow of some artificial light bulbs makes certain shades of blue appear much greener, or much warmer. A very pale, cool wall colour will be lost in a large room and promote a neutral rather than cool feel, while a darker shade will bring the walls inward. Therefore when deciding on cool shades, decent samples should be experimented with all over the room, to test the effects of natural and electric light on colour and pattern when seen in there.
The right choice of flooring should be utilized to promote and anchor the chosen theme. In the cool living room, bleached or colour washed floorboards make an effective foils, perhaps including a simple painted border line to bring in one of the room’s dominant colours. Alternatively for a sleek, modern interior, floor tiles would effectively promote the cool look. Most natural flooring is cold underfoot, but limestone and terracotta retain the ambient temperature.
