Our co-founder Adam first met colourista Penny Mapp while delivering her T&W purchase, and got to talking about her colour design  business, Mapp It Out. Having received top honours in both her Interior Design and Colour Design courses at ISCD, Penny has gone on to establish a practice that focuses on injecting a sense of fun and a quirky sensibility into the spaces we occupy, ably assisted by her gun back office team - Ferris and Roxie, her wire-haired fox terriers. She is also a co-founder of the recently launched My Style Council, an online community built to provide support and resources to help aspiring designers make their business a reality.  Penny joins us today to explain how to add a slice of orange to your life. 

 

Designer Greg Natale's clever use of orange. Image via www.grenatale.com

My friends will happily tell you I went a little nutty for orange over summer – I've been peppering my body with tangerine accessories at every opportunity! It seems I haven't been alone – I've been spotting this colour all over the place from fashion to interiors and no wonder given Tangerine Tango is the Pantone colour of the year for 2012.

Each year the Pantone Color Institute selects a colour that they feel connects with the zeitgeist. Last year it was Honeysuckle, a bright pink colour to lift our spirits in times of stress. This year Tangerine Tango will continue to provide us with the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward.

"Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it," - Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of Pantone.

Orange is an attention grabbing, fun and happy colour that's been growing in popularity amongst designers and consumers alike over the past several years. A stimulating colour that can put you in a good mood, orange is fun, gregarious, social, jovial and extroverted. On the flipside, it is a strong colour and can go terribly wrong – here's my professional advice on how to incorporate orange into your home without ending up in tangerine torment.

When should you use orange in a room?

When I am thinking about colour for a room, the first and most important step is to identify what mood I want to create in the space. Orange is a stimulating colour, so adding orange will instantly add energy to a space. As you'd imagine, using the colour en masse will serve to intensify this experience. This means it's a great colour to add to a lively and social space such as the kitchen, family bathroom or living area, or to add interest to an otherwise utilitarian zone such as a corridor or staircase.
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Image via www.housetohome.co.uk

How can you use orange with other colours?

There are a few different choices, and each will have a different effect on the mood of the room.

You could choose a related colour scheme. This involves using colours either side of orange on the colour wheel, so yellow through to orange or orange through to red. As colour blocking is also currently a major trend, related colour schemes are proving very popular. This scheme will create a harmonious environment that is easy on the eye.



Another option is a complementary colour scheme. This would see you jump to a colour on the opposite side of the colour wheel, which in this case is blue. Given the high contrast between the two colours, this scheme can create an energetic mood and needs to be carefully managed with regards to the depth of hue. A gorgeous combination you could consider is orange with a pale turquoise.



Otherwise you could choose a split complimentary scheme that would see you combine orange in a room with blue/purple and blue/green.  This has the same high contrast of the complimentary scheme but with less tension.

One of the easiest options is to add orange to an otherwise neutral scheme. Adding a pop of orange will definitely add an edge, interest and energy to simple neutral space. I especially love orange combined with greys – such a sophisticated and modern look. You really can't go wrong with this combination.

Repeat, repeat, repeat

It's obviously easiest to use orange as an accent colour through accessories in a room. As you add orange to your chosen space there is an important rule to remember. To ensure the colour sits with purpose in the room you should repeat it. This doesn't mean you need to cover every surface, but you might use it in at least a couple of places. For example you could use orange in a rug then repeat it perhaps with a scatter cushion or two and top it off with a lovely glass vase.  Remember the colour doesn't have to be used in a solid block, it can appear in a fabric pattern, piece of art or a bunch of flowers. Also the orange used does not need to match, mix it up with different depths of tone or range of hues for interest. You can see the way Greg Natale has done this in the top image, with orange chairs, a stripe in the carpet, an an artwork on the wall.

Which orange is best?

For those bold enough to use orange on a wall, it's best to go with an orange that is not too high chroma (i.e. bright) but has the edge taken off through tinting or shading. Of course, you should always get a brush out (painted sample on paper) or test pot to check how the colour looks in your room, since the light is different in every environment. These are a few of my favourites:

Murobond: Bees Knees or Saffron

Porter's Paints: Mango

Resene Paints: Tango or Pizzazz

Dulux: King's Canyon

It can be a disaster if you get orange wrong, so think about getting a colour expert to guide you through the process (I'm biased, I know!). Good luck – and remember to have fun!