Use of Colour
When you are looking to commence decorating it is important to have a good think about the colour.
Not only do you need to get it right first time for cost purposes but there are many other important factors that should impact your decision.
- Colour in a particular area or room can be so important to enhance the mood. Bright and vibrant colours can create different emotions to dull and darker colours
- It is also important to consider colour from an Equality Act point of view for any potential visually impaired visitors/workers. Approved Document M and BS8300: 2001 advises that the colours used to separate surfaces should vary in the LRV (light reflectance value) by at least 30 points. Its important that the doors and architraves are a different colour to the walls.
- Sometimes having areas colour coded helps visitors to navigate around a facility. This has also helped in schools in the past.
- Thinking of lighting should play a factor. If you have lots of natural lighting or is very bright, this isn’t so much of an issue but if it is dark I would suggest a brighter colour rather than a darker one.
There are many options to choose to help get the right colour in the first instance. The easiest option is to get a colour card and a sample from your local decorating centre. This is something we could assist with. Quite often people chose a colour off the internet which quite often does not match their expectations. If you are a larger organisation with many properties, another option is to ask the major paint manufactures help with mood boards and different colour options. An example of this is through one of care home clients where they have a full colour specification and choose an option depending on the type of room. In addition to this, they have specific carpets, curtains etc.
That said sometimes it is important to keep it simple for maintenance purposes. It is easier to store one tin of paint for touch ups rather that 5/6 and there is nothing worse than not knowing which colour goes where.
Where you do have colours in mind it is always important to relay your information to the decorator as the more colours you chose, the more it will cost. As always it is so important to establish costs at the outset so all parties are in agreement.
If you need help with a commercial or industrial decorating project you can give Stephen or Chris a call on 0800 567 7959 to arrange a free no obligation quotation.