There are two other questions regarding the colour treatment of walls, or rather of interior colouring generally, which for the sake of argument we might consider, though they are of very little importance, and certainly have nothing like the importance which some decorators attach to them. We are told that before we begin the colouring of a room we are to ask ourselves “What is the aspect?” and also, “Is the room to be used mostly in the day, or mostly at night?” The questions seem logical enough, but we might well say in reply, that as regards the aspect of a room, what does it really matter whether the colouring is in a harmony of cool or warm, light or dark, arrangements of colour, provided we do obtain a harmony? Again, in our own countries, where we get so few days of long sunshine, is it really a matter of importance to decorate a room with a southern aspect in any way different from one with a northern aspect? The greatest decorators of the finest periods never seemed to trouble themselves much about aspects. They were more interested in producing good decoration, and in the planning of fine colour schemes. As regards the decoration and colouring of a room for day, or for night uses, we may say at once, that if we except the interiors of theatres, there are hardly any rooms, in either public or private buildings and residences, that are not used both in the day and at night, so we may safely disregard the problem of colouring that is to be viewed by artificial light, for in nine cases out of ten, at least, ordinary interiors are seen, and ordinary rooms used, both in the day and night. It is best, therefore, to arrange our colour schemes so that they will look harmonious in the daylight, and such colouring will not suffer much by artificial light, provided the room is well lighted by electric or incandescent gas lamps, and is not in a state of low illumination, or semi-darkness.
We shall say something later on in reference to the changes which some colours undergo when seen in artificial light. (Plate [13].)
We offer a few suggestions for the general colouring of walls in rooms of an ordinary residence or in public buildings, namely:—If a red is decided upon it should be of a deep pink slightly broken or toned with a very little blue and yellow; if the colour is to be of a yellowish tone, it ought to be pale and golden inclining to a light brown; if blue it should be of a pale greenish blue, or of any tint between that and a greyish ultramarine; a deep blue tone should never be used for large wall spaces.
PLATE VII
THREE SUGGESTIONS OF COLOUR TINTS FOR PAINTED WALLS OR PAPER-HANGINGS, AS BACKGROUNDS FOR FRAMED PICTURES
If greens are to be used in large spaces they should be, if pale, more pure in colour than in the case of deep greens; the latter tones should be less pure and more grey, in order to avoid rankness of hue.
These suggestions apply to the colours of either painted walls, or to the tints of paperhangings, if the latter be used as wall-coverings. Large expanses of wall surfaces when painted in a single tint have usually a dry and uninteresting appearance; to avoid this, and at the same time to give the wall the effect of being treated in a single tone of colour, the surface, after being painted in the chosen colour, should have another thin application of a tint, slightly lighter, or darker than the previous coating, stippled over the latter, or the thin, and different, shade of colour may be applied with the brush, and immediately after the application it should be partially wiped off with clean rags. This operation will give the wall surface a slightly mottled and lively appearance, and will remove the dead and monotonous uniformity usually seen on painted walls when the work is finished in the more solid and flat methods of execution. (See Plate 7.)