Color my Condo

In his diary, Pablo Picasso wrote, “Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? No. Just as one can never learn how to paint.”

We may not be painters like Picasso, but we ‘paint’ our surroundings all the time. We choose certain colors for the clothes we wear; for the car we dream of buying; for the walls of our home and the different furnishings and accessories that we fill and decorate it with; the towels and bed linens that we wrap and comfort ourselves in; the plates we lovingly set for an intimate dinner; and the birthday cake we buy for a friend.

The colors we paint our world with have a profound effect on our spirits and sense of wellbeing. Together, some colors ‘sing’ while others may ‘argue’, and yet others may fall flat on their faces or fall asleep. Some people will love the song their colors sing while others may not. That is why choosing colors for your home should always be a personal affair. This can be somewhat tricky when you live in the compact space of a condo unit. That blood-red divan in the expansive showroom that is calling out to you may prove too overpowering in your cozy living area, and the cheerful yellow in the Pantone color chip booklet that you want for your kitchen wall may turn slightly sour against your favorite green glass vase on a nearby counter.

In this issue, we’ve put together multi-hued ideas to get your color wheels turning. For Condo Trends, our assistant editor, Lean, working with some of the brightest interior design students from the University of Santo Tomas and the University of the Philipines, put together some of the most colorful vignettes we’ve ever had, with the help of some of our favorite stores.

Instead of our usual seven teams for Designer Challenge, we have three teams each from UST, PSID and the University of the Philippines, who created for one floor plan from Royal Homes Marketing Corp. a total of nine interior designs, each using a different color scheme: cobalt blue softened by natural woods anigre, teak, wenge, maple and cherry; crisp, exuberant yellow with white and black; chartreuse with black and white; green with black and gold; orange balanced by beige and mocha; lush royal violet with white and wood; the colors of the Pahiyas festival—turquoise, fuchsia, lemon yellow, apple green and popsicle orange; the lustrous hues of heirloom jewelry—emerald, coral, sapphire, ruby, onyx, pearl and gold; and finally, the ethnic pigments of the Philippine indigenous weave, hinabi—deep reds and blues contrasted by brown, black and white, with the added luster of brass.

Then, color conjurer Wilmer Lopez offers dozens of ideas for coloring your condo, in his article, In Living Color. For our main section, Condo Life, you’ll notice (contrary to what some may expect) that the homes we feature don’t all sport solid walls of pulsating color, their designers favoring expanses of white and light tints and mirrors to make the spaces appear larger, and judiciously applying vibrant hues in choice areas, and complementing them with other shades in others.

In preparing for this issue, we came across so many facts and notions about color—some familiar and some we’d never heard of, that we decided to put together a color quiz as a fun way of sharing some of the interesting tidbits we’d gathered, and for you to find out just how color savvy you are!

One of the most surprising comments about color that I’ve come across is by Henri Matisse, who said: “Seek the strongest color effect possible… the content is of no importance.” Of course, he was talking about painting on canvas, not the walls of your home; but I think the point is, when you get all the colors in your space ‘right,’ it makes everything right, and it doesn’t matter what store or price tag your things come from or at.

We color our world with our preferences, feelings, memories, hopes and dreams. When you color your condo, do consult a designer—it will save you from costly mistakes. However, when you consult a designer, don’t leave the color decisions entirely up to him or her. This is your personal space. Color your home with your heart and soul.

Enjoy!