It can be background and contrast. It will allow you to create a bold or, conversely, calm, solemn or minimalistic, vintage, or modern interior. How to use blue in residential design? Everything is in this article.
What can be interior in blue colors? In this article, we will tell you how you can create a warm, cozy, and stylish design for an apartment or house using a cold tone. Using photo examples, we will show how professional designers work with this color scheme, what they combine it with, and how and in what volumes they use it. And we will also show you how to choose the paint that you need.
What blue is suitable for the interior?
The answer to this question is any. This is one of the main base colors. And the coldest in the palette. But, oddly enough, this tone is able to bring warmth, harmony, and comfort to the house. Interiors in such colors can be sophisticated, noble, elegant, can be solemn, elegant or restrained, and neutral, and can look bold and even extravagant. The result depends on the specific shade, method, and scale of its application.
Dark shades
Eye-catching, mysterious colors of the evening and night sky in large volumes create an enveloping, intimate and cozy space. Here you want to relax and think. Therefore, they are often used to decorate the bedroom and living room.
Dark blue can be several walls in a room or one accent wall. Such tones visually erase the boundaries and make them invisible, and as a result – the room becomes more complex, voluminous, and deep. Dark paint can also be used in a more dosed way: as the color of the furniture, decor elements, and textiles. But then you need a lighter or brighter background.
Bright shades
Saturated and active, in large volumes they are more suitable for such areas of the house as a corridor, hallway, kitchen, bathroom, children’s playroom, or balcony. That is, where we do not spend too much time. They do not relax, but, on the contrary, give energy. But as contrasting elements, such objects, and details can be used in the living room and even in the bedroom.
“Dusty”, bleached, light shades
Such options are a good base. This is the safest and most versatile interior solution. They can be safely used in a large area. Muted, light shades are calm and neutral. They are quite capable of replacing beige and even white in the interior, acting as an ideal background and canvas for accent items. The space is light and airy. They are suitable for the living room, and for the bedroom, kitchen, corridor, bathroom, and dining room – for any room in the house.
The combination of blue in the interior with other tones
This color easily finds companions and gets along well with them. Solemn and rich, sophisticated and elegant, daring and bright, calm and relaxing – often the final impression of the design depends on the adjacent tones. What color goes with blue in the interior?
With achromats
- With white. The perfect, win-win combination. It has a lot of light, air, energy, and at the same time nobility. It reminds of the sea coast, rest, and summer. With white, a harmonious duet will be made up of dark, saturated, and light options. This is a classic tandem, out of time and style. It will never lose its relevance.
- With grey. Making such a pair is a little more difficult. Gray can be a good background. In this case, lighter shades of gray will do. If you want to use a dark gray, such as graphite, the blue elements should be lighter, they should not merge with the gray background.
With bright colors
- Gold and brass. Velvet blue with gold or brass – such a duet resembles a jewelry box. This is a luxurious, rich combination that always looks spectacular and attractive. Dark blues work especially well in it. They act as a background. And gold or brass elements set accents and emphasize the depth of space. The main thing here is to maintain proportions and not overdo it with the introduction of brilliant details into the interior.
- Red, pink, orange, yellow. Dramatic, slightly theatrical combination. Always looks unexpected and bold. It is also important to strike a balance here. Blue often acts as a base, and foundation. And the berry and fruit tones of red and orange play the role of a bright accent.
With related colors
- With purple and its variety – lilac. On Itten’s color wheel, they are neighbors. These two tones form the so-called analog combination – less bright, not contrasting, and more balanced. If desired, a bright element can be added to this calm pair: yellow, gold, and green.
- With green. This is a natural, very natural, and eco-friendly combination. And because pleasing to the eye, soothing, and pacifying. But not boring. Sometimes it is good to add a third color to this duet. For example, white, gray, or beige. This will keep the balance.
With shades of wood
Natural wood and blue are another win-win, classic combination. For example, light wood will look good both on a “dusty” background and on a fairly bright one. Rich, reddish wood tones, as well as dark wood colors, coexist well with blue.
Examples of different interior styles
This is a universal color. It can be equally successfully introduced into different design styles: from classic to modern, from gentle Provence to brutal loft. Let’s look at the photo of the finished interiors, and how blue is used by professional designers in their work.
Classic and neoclassic
The designer chose a deep shade as the main color for decorating several rooms of an apartment in the old apartment. The designer painted the walls of the bedroom in a rich dark shade. In combination with it, golden-mustard window textiles and grape-blackberry at the head of the bed work effectively. At the same time, the space does not look overloaded: three saturated tones are reconciled by white. They painted the upper part of the walls and the ceiling. In the kitchen, we see a classic combination of gold and achromat. Moreover, the author chose a rather bold move and designed a bright kitchen set. Despite this, it was possible to create a contrasting, but light and bright space. In the bathroom – the continuation of the story. Several options for blue and light blue in the company of white and brass.
Retro style
Atmospheric apartment in the style of the 70s of the XX century – a project by designer Elena. Customers immediately asked to use this color in the interior. Therefore, walls of a complex “dusty” shade appeared in the living room, a vintage sofa upholstered with a subtle purple undertone and a pair of armchairs with blue cushions on the seats and backs. We also see different shades in the pattern of the carpet on the floor. Wood and brass add warmth to the space. The guest bathroom is even more boldly solved. The walls, ceiling, and even the sink are painted with bright paint.
Eclecticism
Vintage, modernity, and ethnic motifs made friends with each other. In the kitchen, the wall behind the set is covered with unusual wallpaper: flying cranes against a light sky background. The set itself is rich in color, and laconic in shape, but with gilded handles. An unexpected company is pale pink textiles on the window and a golden beige wall behind the dining area. In the bedroom, the solution is even more daring. Blue acts as a background for beige, orange, red, and yellow elements. The entire apartment has muted doors.
Modern style
In the project, the first thing that attracts attention is a glass block wall. Depending on the light, they acquire different shades. Therefore, a sofa with a purple undertone and a wall with a hidden door, painted in a light dusty color, look harmoniously next to it. Yellow is used for contrast.
Country style
The rustic style has several subspecies: country, provence, and rustic.
The designer actively used blue in the project of a wooden house. In the living room, we see tiles on the fireplace, ceramics, a sofa, textile elements, and even window frames and doors that are painted in this color. All this is organically combined with beige, wine, and green.
The designer chose such a palette for decorating a bedroom in the Provence style. The colors here are bleached and muted. The texture is a little aged. A characteristic touch in the composition is a cozy patchwork quilt.
Application in the interior of different rooms
Living room
For the living room, you can use almost any option: dark, light, and even bright. There are several ways:
- As a basis, dominant. In this case, walls, doors, window slopes, and frames, large pieces of furniture are painted blue.
- As an accent. Then apply a more neutral background. And for the role of bright spots they take textiles, small pieces of furniture, and decorative elements. Ceramics, glass, and even color-bound books can complement the palette.
Kitchen and dining room
A bold and not too common choice. But spectacular and unusual, it definitely will not go unnoticed. Dark variations are suitable for spacious rooms where there is a lot of natural light. If you use them in a small kitchen with a small window, it will seem even more cramped. But light and dusty colors will be good in any room. In the kitchen in this palette, you can decorate the walls, or a set, or limit yourself to an apron and, for example, chairs or textiles.
Bedroom
It is believed that the blue gamma relaxes, calms, and sets up for rest. It seems to be what you need for the bedroom, but not all shades will work. It is better to give preference to complex, dim, or even dark. A room with dark blue painted walls looks cozy and intimate. If you want more saturated colors, use them for smaller details: a blanket, decor, pillows, etc.
Bathroom and toilet
Once upon a time, almost everyone chose blue and turquoise shades for the bathroom. Then it was considered almost bad manners and banality. Today, the colors of the sea and sky for the bathroom are rehabilitated again. But in a new way: for example, with deep and rich monochromatic paint, you can paint all the walls or combine them with tiles. In the projects of designers, you can find colored floors, ceilings, and even plumbing.
How to choose the right palette for the interior in blue tones?
We have already said that blue is universal. In the design, you can use any of its variations. However, there is points to consider when choosing:
- Determine the direction of the sun. It is important to understand where the windows of the room go, and how much natural light enters it. If the room is on the sunny side, keep in mind that all the colors will seem even brighter under the rays. And, on the contrary, in the northern room, they seem darker and even gloomy.
- Blue is different. Including warm and cold. Warm will make the space cozier, lighter, and softer. Cold – more restrained, strict. It goes towards the violet scale. Warm has a slightly yellowish or gray undertone.
Practice in a small area before painting the whole room blue. Even if the paint seemed perfect to you in the store, it will most likely look a little different in another room. This is influenced by many factors, including lighting. The same goes for wallpapers.
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