Consuming Interest
Colour Vocabulary
By LESLIE ADRIAN
CHOOSING colours for interior
decoration has become more fun and less fuss in recent years, but casual observation suggests appointment over results. Inevitably the 'chips,' those little rectangles of colour fixed to paint manufacturers' cards, tend to fade, especially if they are kept hanging up in the hardware shop. The fashion for colour, too, tends to change, and too often the availability of the new colour cards, with the new, romantic names, lags behind.
There used to be, in Berkeley Square, London, a display run in conjunction with Lewis Berger, the paint firm, called the Mayfair Colour Centre (the spate of centres seems to have dried up lately). For all practical purposes this centre no longer exists; the premises are there, but very little help can be obtained in choosing colours now because the two resident colour consultants are no longer employed. Berger's, however, will supply on request a set of fifty-six colour schemes for seven different rooms.
ICI, whose Slough Colour Advisory Centre is
available only for large projects, have recently produced two very helpful gadgets as part of a publication called Colourful Homes (3s.), which may be bought from any paint retailer. Provided the would-be interior decorator has a main colour in mind, or better still has to key his scheme to a dominant carpet or other permanent colour, the `comparator' provided with the booklet is a handy little device. Once the main colour has been de- cided, perhaps by placing the perforated colour card over the coloured object which is the key to the scheme, either to match it or to obtain a contrast, a pencil through the appropriate hole shows on the reverse side the five colours which may produce the best scheme. The Painting Guide booklet contains a revolving cardboard disc which, when adjusted to show the surface to be painted—plaster, wallboards, metal, etc.—sug- gests the best combination of preparations and finishes to be applied. This set of booklets and colour guides is on sale at the Practical House- holder Exhibition which closes .on February 28.
A third service worth consideration is Sander- son's. They will supply on request from Berners Street, WI (or any of their branches), a design specification to be filled in by the customer, not only stating details of furnishings and fittings to be taken into account in planning the scheme, but making it possible for the merest tyro draughts- man to supply rough scale drawings of the rooms to be decorated. In return the firm will send the applicant their suggestions free of charge. If an on-the-spot consultation is needed, a charge is made which varies according to time and distance, but they assure me that this part of their service is non-profit-making. Their reward is the sale of their product. Unfortunately, there may be some delay in arranging the consultant's visit, because Sanderson's are working under difficulties while waiting for their own building to be completed.
These developments are undoubtedly sympto- matic of increasing design and colour conscious- ness on the part of a growing section of the public. The success of the Design Centre is also due to this trend. Not enough is yet being done to upgrade the offerings of furniture manufac- turers and decorators, and it is the consumer who is largely to blame. The British Standards Institution, with their 101 standard colours, have removed some of the confusion from colour selection and reduced the hazards caused by paint names changing with the whim of fashion and inaccurate colours on paint cards and the lids of paint tins. With the help of a BSI colour card, it is easy to match the paint already on the wall (with a very slight allowance for the ravages of time if it is last year's work) with the nearest colour on the card. Then, quoting the BSI num- ber, theoretically any paint retailer should be able to supply the colour required. In practice a little persistence may be needed before a re- tailer is found who is both aware that BSI exist
and has the necessary reference tables. Some paint manufacturers (amongst others, ICI, Duradio, Nine Elms and Berger) go to the trouble of quot- ing the BSI numbers on their colour cards. A complete set of the cards in the colours for build- ing and decorative paints can be got from the British Standards Institute, 2 Park Street, WI (price 7s. 6d., or 8s. 3d. post free).
The British Colour Council's Dictionary of Colour for Interior Decoration is a recognised work of reference mainly for people concerned in the design, production and sale of materials used for interior decorating (manufacturers' stocks can be related to colours in the dictionary). But it can also be useful to private individuals faced with colour problems, both as an inspiration and as a means of identifying furnishing colours. Many public libraries as well as shops concerned with furnishing have the dictionary.
A word of warning about choosing fabrics for colour. The ICI Paints Division Advisory Centre has a display which conclusively demonstrates the treachery of so-called 'daylight simulation' lighting. Not merely is there a distinct disparity between the values of identical colours in day- light and under fluorescent lamps, colour- corrected or not, but under filament lamps (which is still the lighting system in most homes). When buying fabrics in stores illuminated by anything other than filament lamps, it is important to see them in daylight—at least if an unpleasant sur- prise is to be avoided.
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