Colour should inspire throughout the light of a single day and withstand the tonal effects of weather throughout the year. Colour can imply when a room should be enjoyed, like light and bright colours in a morning room or dark and dim colours for a media room.  Some colours are enjoyed in natural light.  Others receive mostly artificial.  Consider both, since colours change in the morning and at night, in the sunshine as well as a grey day, and especially under the glow of lamplight.  Remember that colour is background that can frame a view or encompass a setting.  When primarily framing a view, consider the earth tone palette to avoid disconcerting contrasts when the seasons change (turquoise may seem appropriate in the spring, but may seem harsh as the leaves fall).  I coordinated a series of neutral beiges and whites in my garden room to subtly frame expansive views of Mahone Bay—whatever the weather.  Pastels, jewel tones, and the range of colours beyond the earth tones certainly belong in a home.  Just consider applying them to walls without a dominant window view and other interior walls lit by artificial light.  The transition will be more appealing and the variety will offer choices for mood.  My own library is adjacent to the beige and white garden room and an interior hallway of forest green walls and ceiling framed by an abundance of pine moulding and wainscoting.  The library is naturally dark with the only window view obscured by the breadth and height of a century old apple tree.  My solution for colour was to actually make this dark room even darker, marbleizing the walls in deep burgundy tones.  With the ceiling and walls immersed in a marble finish, the eye is drawn toward the pine floors and bookcases, which appear lighter by contrast.  This relatively small space appears larger because the confinement of the walls has been transformed into a soft “cave” space of marble.  Illumination via firelight and a single lamp instils depth to the feathered gold highlights.  The walls almost seem alive with movement.  Men seem to love this.  And some women appreciate it too.  No matter the season outside, the effect is the same. 

Turn on a lamp in a white or opaque room on a grey day and the illuminated area can be less than effervescent.  I am faced with similar colour challenges in two different homes.  The first is early 19^th Century with tall double-hung windows overlooking Mahone Bay.  When standing in front of the window, the view is magnificent, but a few paces back, the window view recedes.  The second is late 20^th Century with a recent addition featuring wide picture windows peering into the woods.  The view is easily enjoyed from anywhere in the room.  In both settings, the walls are the colour of plaster, while artwork and carpets are the focus of colour.   On sunny days, nature infuses the interior space, but on grey days…it’s a bit blah.  Interestingly, there is a dearth of interior walls and mouldings in both homes, so the opportunity for colour can be exploited on the different planes of wall and ceiling.  The easy solution is to paint the walls and ceiling a single colour.  The single colour shrinks the height and width of a space creating cosier atmosphere.  The walls will seem closer, so the artwork will seem closer.  Colours in the artwork will seem more vivid, not competing with a void of white.  As an alternative to the single colour scheme, I proposed a range of colour tones, to be used on the different planes.  The room’s geometry is emphasized like a subtle Rubik’s cube effect.  It’s an urban approach, but so are these loft-like interiors.   Painting sequential planes in the same tone will emphasize a particular area of the room.  For instance, connecting walls painted the same tone creates a horizontal band of colour, lengthening the room.  A connecting wall and ceiling painted the same tone creates a 90-degree band of colour that draws the eye vertically, appearing to raise the ceiling.  And so it goes…