Do you have a colorful object that jumps out a little too much in your living room? Or a wall that weirdly fades into the background in your bedroom? Do you have all of the wrong colors grabbing attention in the bathroom, or no colors at all grabbing attention in the hallway? Then it’s time to get your head around the idea of recessive and dominant colors — how some colors are visually louder than others, and some naturally quieter. Yes, these are effects that can be predicted, planned for, and put to work purposefully in decorating.
Decorating with color can be a tricky business. We can generally instinctively feel if certain colors stand out more than others — but why? And how do you balance them? This is where knowing which shades are deemed ‘dominant’ and which are considered ‘recessive’ can help. It’s also where understanding the science and psychology of color saliency can make decorating so much simpler. And I promise, it’s all less complicated than it sounds, and will forever change the way you look at color.
