Now that I have somewhat settled on what pieces of furniture I want to have, I can start sorting out the colours. I want each space to have it's own theme, and something that carries through the whole flat.
The colours that I've been thinking about are:
- White
- Black
- Light grey
- Medium grey
- Stainless/silver/chrome
- Brass/gold/bronze
- Oak floor
- Cork linoleum floor
- Yellow wood veneer + walnut stained birch + zebrawood
- Green
- Red
White, black and red are the colours that I want to have in each space to have some continuity. I don't really want to mix yellow metals with white ones either, but sometimes one has to. I'll just try to keep to one dominant metal in one space, and have no more than one or two accent pieces in the other kind.
For example, the hall. The entrance door handle is stainless steel, and the bathroom door handle is brass. The ceiling lamp is brushed steel, the hat rack is aluminium with stainless steel tubes, the wardrobe door knobs are brass, and so is the candlestick.
Brass is the metal you notice, and thus the dominant one. I prefer white metals, but I was not going to remove the original bathroom door handle with beautiful patina. It's bad enough that the front door handle has been switched to a modern one. So, I decided to add more brass elements to make the original detail the hero.
For the hall I plan to keep to only three colours: white, black and red. White as the background, black as the main colour, and red accents. It's not going to be overwhelmingly black, I just want to provide a bit of contrast to the whiteness of the walls and the wardrobe.
The bench I bought to go under the hat rack has black legs, and I am going to reupholster it in red fabric with black pattern. The mirror frame and table are going to be painted black with red stripes, the main rug is going to be black with red pattern, and the inside door mat is black.
I am considering applying brass/bronze leaf to the decoration on top of the mirror. It would be appropriate for the time and will go nicely with the other brass details. The candlestick is brass, the box for small things is red, and the cat bowls are white.
Why only three colours? Because that space it so small and already has so many items in it. I felt that more colours make it too hectic, messy, and chaotic. All three are something that I want to avoid. I have a vision of how it all is supposed to look together and the effect should be both cozy and whoah! at the same time. Only time will tell if I actually succeed.