architectural colour, design & space planning for an eco-conscious orb
architecture
A glimpse of loveliness for posterity
Jul 27th
Ever since the first shaggy hunter outlined a running deer
with a stick dipped in wood ash or puddle clay or blood,
paint has served a vastly more significant and creative purpose:
as a vehicle for the human imagination,
a creator of illusions,
the modest but endlessly pliable means of fixing a glimpse of loveliness for posterity.
The true originators in this field have always been the artists.
But close behind these masters of illusion came the masters of the applied arts:
designers, architects, decorators,
legions of craftsmen
whose vocation was to reflect contemporary standards of beauty and harmony.
Jocasta Innes
So many questions … so little time
Jul 2nd
Each day, Archecolour is privileged to share a knowledge-bank of design, interior decorating, architectural, diy and colour palette expertise with friends and clients just like you.
Archecolour art
For 25 years this has, and is, our favourite thing to do. Each house, room, kitchen, backyard, property or farm has a story waiting for your personal chapter. Your chapter is all about stamping your personality on the space for functionality, for sale or for fun.
Sometimes this is easy – you’ve already selected the paint colour. Sometimes this is challenging – you are undecided on the accent colour. Sometimes – you want to tear your hair out with frustration and confusion – the design of your weekend ‘diy’ job is just not working.
In one click, Archecolour delivers the concentricity, or meeting of minds, of each of the following specialties: interior design, interior decorating, architectural design, architectural drafting, inspirational colour solutions and sustainable ecological thinking – straight to your inbox.
So, if you have a colour, interior design, decorating, diy or property planning question … all you have to do is ask.
Colour
Helping you co-ordinate the paint colours, finishes, materials, furnishings, functionality and ambiance of your home, office or property, resulting in a creative, personal and appropriate transformation of your space. More >
No. 4 The Green Effect
May 23rd
The Green Effect is the fourth in our FREE 7 part series, The Rainbow Effect. This series demystifies why and how the effects of decorating with one of the 7 colours, or bands, of the rainbow, may affect the mood, ambience, or energy of your home or office space.
The Green Effect
The colours of green (Source: Wikipedia.org)
Naturallly inspiring (Source: Google Images)
Green is the colour of growth, envy, inexperience, wealth, jealousy and rejuvenation. Conventionally, the colour green implies moderation, tradition and balance. Nature, knows no bounds to inspiration for the colour green. Wander into a space swept with a green grey wash and naturally you will feel peacefully quiet. Frogs, lizards and snakes have the camouflaging green technique perfected.
Green is a secondary colour created by blending the two primary colours yellow and blue. Green falls in the energetic midrange wavelength spectrum where yellow and blue are both reflected causing us to see green.
Decorating with the colour green:
- Painting ‘fresh fruit salad green’ in a family room is sure to make for a fun-filled playtime. An ‘avocado flesh’ can be teamed with timbers of all hues to create a naturally tropical feel. Marry with burnt orange or sandalwood to add a touch of sophistication. ‘Deep velvet olive’ paint is stunning trimmed with hi-gloss white eco-friendly enamel, and refreshing ‘spearmint’ welcomes a new baby – regardless of sex. Tall glass More >
No 3. The Yellow Effect
Mar 27th
The Yellow Effect is the third in our FREE 7 part series, The Rainbow Effect. This series demystifies why and how the effects of decorating with one of the 7 colours, or bands, of the rainbow, may affect the mood, ambience, or energy of your home or office space.
The Yellow Effect
A field of yellow sunflowers lets nature provide the perfrect canvas. Be inspired! (Source: Getty Images)
Yellow (Source: wikipedia.org)
Simply, a happy yellow feature wall. (Source: GettyImages)
Nothing spells sunshine like the colour yellow.
Y ….. Yielding
E ….. Energetic
L ….. Loving
L ….. Laughing
O….. Optimistic
W….. Welcoming
Yellow is the colour of welcoming energy & optimism. The mother of sunshine, yellow reveals your inner creativity. Walk into a space with a splash of yellow & you are likely to be greeted with a smile. A full space of yellow ochre wraps you in the colours of the sun, warming your heart & inspiring your head.
One of the three primary colours, yellow is simultaneously a long and short wave light stimulant to our eyes. Red & blue are the other two primary colours.
Decorating with the colour yellow:
Painting ‘banana cake’ in a family room invokes a convivial atmosphere. An ‘egg yolk’ yellow throw rug, teamed with a focal cushion, is sure to promote energetic brainstorming sessions. Matt ‘poplar’ yellow, brushed across sanded floor boards, will mellow with wear & set your space More >
The amazing new rice fields of Japan
Feb 24th
The creativity of agriculturalists, the world over, never ceases to amaze me.
Enjoy these photographs inspired by the simple & necessary agrarian act of growing rice.
Stunning crop art has sprung up across rice fields in Japan, but this is no alien creation. The designs have been cleverly planted. Farmers creating the huge displays use no ink or dye. Instead, different color rice plants have been precisely and strategically arranged and grown in the paddy fields.
As summer progresses and the plants shoot up, the detailed artwork begins to emerge. Rice-paddy art was started there in 1993 as a local revitalisation project, an idea that grew from meetings of the village committees. The different varieties of rice plants grow alongside each other to create the masterpieces. In the first nine years, the village office workers and local farmers grew a simple design of Mount Iwaki every year. But their ideas grew more complicated and attracted more attention. In 2005, agreements between landowners allowed the creation of enormous rice paddy art. A year later, organisers used computers to precisely plot planting of the four differently coloured rice varieties that bring the images to life.
Napoleon on horseback can be seen from the skies.
This was created by precision More >
How many colours in a rainbow?
Feb 13th
As a designer & decorator, I am often asked to describe how a particular colour, or palette of colours, affect a person’s mood or the ambiance of a space.
A rainbow is the supreme cohesion of how colours can work in your home. If nature can project a colour, shade, tone or tint in one rainbow, then you know you can successfully use that colour to subtle, stunning or secret affect in your home or office.
While it is not my intention to “Unweave a rainbow” (Keats), nor contribute to the debate over Newton’s (1672) “sevenfold prismatic description” of a rainbow, it is my purpose to introduce you to this wonder of nature, providing a generic know-how guide to the influences which can be exerted by each of the seven (7) commonly divided bands (Newton), or colours, of the rainbow.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines a rainbow as “an arch of colours visible in the sky, caused by the refraction and dispersion of the sun’s light by water droplets in the atmosphere”.
"an arch of colours visible in the sky, caused by the refraction and dispersion of the sun's light by water droplets in the atmosphere" (Concise Oxford Dictionary)
It is our own personal vision that More >
Pick my brains
Feb 10th
Beer on tap, water running freely, pennies from heaven. Are you dreaming ? Perhaps
Your very own Interior & Architectural Design Consultant, Colour Expert, Project Manager & Decorating Hand all rolled into one friendly, personalised & professional service ? A consultant who cares for our orb, planet earth? On tap online?
This is no dream. This is your opportunity.
Today, I am so excited to offer you your very own designer – online. Over 25 years of design, decorating, architectural & holistic planning knowledge and experience is here, in your computer, ripe for your picking !
Knowledge and experience is wasted if it cannot connect, inspire, sustain or help others.
Go ahead, ‘pick my brains’.
I love to see people happy & comfortable in their environment. Work, home or play. I can help you achieve the style, look, colours, feel, ambiance or cost-saving measures that you need to find in your space – and put a smile on your face because you were able to acheive great results – whatever your budget !
Because I am so happy to finally be offering this online design service, I would like to offer you 30 days of unlimited online questions giving you 30 days of unlimited design answers at a very special introductory price of $29.00. Mad? Perhaps I am. I am so excited that you have taken the time More >
