34 
House & Garden 
HOW TO HANDLE COLOR IN DECORATION 
An Intricate Problem Reduced to Its Simplest Terms 
COSTEN FITZ-GIBBON 
C OLOR is either one or the other of two 
things in the composition of a room. It 
is either a most valuable ally and servant, or 
else it is a destructive tyrant and enemy. 
Which it shall be depends altogether upon 
ourselves and how we manage it. If we grasp 
it firmly, as we are told we should grasp 
nettles, and treat it with assured and intelli¬ 
gent mastery, it will serve us; if we are timid 
and uncertain, it will make us rue our inde¬ 
cision for many a day. 
We cannot ignore nor evade color, even if 
we would, any more than we can avoid breath¬ 
ing, so long as we are alive. It is all about us 
at all times and presents an issue that must be 
met. We ought not, therefore, to leave our 
dealings with such an important subject to 
chance, as so many of us do, when there are 
definite principles upon which we may act with 
a reasonable assurance of satisfactory results. 
The following suggestions and epitome of 
facts are intended for the use and guidance of 
the average householder who necessarily has 
numerous color decisions to make from time 
to time. When a skillful decorator is re¬ 
tained to take charge of furnishing a room or 
a house, one does not need to worry about 
color adjustment, but when a decorator is not 
engaged the whole responsibility must be 
borne by the householder. And even when 
the services of a decorator are retained, some 
knowledge of color properties and color com¬ 
bination, adjustment, and balancing of pro¬ 
portions will be of inestimable value in facili¬ 
tating co-operation with the decorator, in 
assuring appreciation of what is done, and in 
avoiding subsequent ill-judged additions. 
Primary Colors and Their Combinations 
The basis of all colors, and of all combina¬ 
tions of color, is to be found in the solar 
spectrum, which Is made up of the three pri¬ 
mary colors, red, yellow and blue. From these 
three foundations, standard or primary colors, 
by varied combinations and properly gradu¬ 
ated proportions, all other colors are derived. 
A color formed by combining two primary 
colors in equal proportion, is called a sec¬ 
ondary color. The secondary colors are also 
three in number—green, orange, and violet. 
Green is formed from the primaries, blue and 
yellow; orange is made from the primaries, 
yellow and red; violet is composed of the 
primaries, red and blue. 
The combination of two secondary colors 
forms a tertiary color. The three tertiary col¬ 
ors are slate, composed of violet and green; 
citrine, composed of green and orange; and 
russet, composed of orange and violet. 
A further progression gives us quarternarj- 
colors, each composed of two tertiary colors. 
These, likewise, are three in number, the 
tertiaries citrine and slate producing sage; 
citrine and russet combining to make buff; 
and russet and slate uniting to form plum. 
Color Actions 
By another classification, which dovetails 
in with the foregoing, colors are 
(1) Advancing and warm. 
(2) Receding and cool. 
(3) Neutral. 
The contrasting colors can be found by fol¬ 
lowing any line across the circle. Thus, 
red-green, buff-blue 
Of the primary colors, red and yellow are 
warm or advancing, while blue is cool and 
receding. An advancing color is one that con¬ 
tains red or yellow elements in ascendency. 
It is called advancing because it is assertive, 
outstanding and strong in character and 
creates the visual impression of coming for¬ 
ward towards the eye. 
The perception of color is “an internal sen¬ 
sation” transmitted to the brain by the optic 
nerve. And the agency that sets the optic 
nerve to working is the wave action known as 
light. It has been scientifically demonstrated 
that advancing colors are stimulating to the 
nerves in varying degrees, even to the extent 
of being disturbing or actively exciting. Red, 
for example, excites and stimulates the nerves, 
in some cases to the extent of causing rest¬ 
lessness. And because, by their vibrations, 
the advancing colors stimulate nerve restless¬ 
ness and the rapid action of excitement, they 
are appropriately termed warm colors. The 
warm colors differ in the degree of their power 
to excite. 
A receding color is one that contains the 
blue element in ascendency. It is called re¬ 
ceding because it is not assertive nor insistent 
the secondary, tertiary and quarternary 
colors. Charts by courtesy of C. R. Clifford 
in character, but rather creates the optical im-| 
pression of sinking into the background and 
receding from the observer. It has also been | 
scientifically demonstrated to complete satis- L 
faction that receding colors have a quieting,! 
restful effect upon the nerves. And because j 
of this soothing tendency in allaying excite-) 
ment, they are called cool colors. They alsoj 
differ in the degree of their sedative quality. 
What a Neutral Color Is 
A neutral color, as the name indicates, isk 
neither advancing nor receding; it is a com- 1 
posite color in which the advancing and re-j| 
ceding elements evenly balance each other, j 
Thus, a pure green, one-half yellow and one-| 
half blue, is neutral and so, also, is violet, in 
theory, one-half red and one-half blue. As a 
matter of fact, in the latter instance, the blue| 
tone usually predominates and imparts a re-J 
ceding quality. Of the tertiary colors, slate 
is theoretically neutral because the advancing 
and receding elements in its violet component 
(one-half red and one-half blue) are evenly 
balanced or neutralized and so, likewise, are 
the advancing and receding properties in its 
green component (one-half yellow and one-| 
half blue). 
Neutral colors are often of a dull character! 
(not invariably, however), such as some of 
the drabs or grays, and might be derived by* 
lightening slate or other neutral colors with! 
white or darkening them by the addition of ( 
black. One of the most valuable properties 
of neutral colors is that other colors may be 
put in immediate juxtaposition to them with-’ 
out clashing. This property is shared by| 
black and white and by the grays resulting' 
from their combination. Such grays, strictly 
speaking, should be called negative and not 
neutral for there is no advancing element in 
them to be neutralized by a balancing receding 
element. 
Coral, Gold and Blue 
Certain colors that cannot be classed as j 
either neutral or negative have this neutral 
property of agreement. Coral red is one in¬ 
stance, and this neutral property of certainj 
colors that are not neutral explains in part 
some of the peculiarity and charm of a good 
deal of Oriental coloring that, upon first]' 
analysis, strikes us as daring. Gold, also,| 
has this neutral property, as the illuminators 
and painters of the Middle Ages and of the ' 
early Renaissance knew full well. Under cer-f 
tain conditions, a cerulean blue, or a gray] 
cerulean blue, likewise has a neutral property 
making it possible to use it satisfactorily as a! 
background and foil for other colors. 
From the foregoing explanation of the 
properties and composition of colors, it bea| 
comes clear tliat the qualities of color exert 
very concrete effects upon the successful choice 
of paint, paper, upholstery, hangings, or even I 
upon personal apparel. 
Take the walls of a room. The effect of ad¬ 
vancing color upon the walls will diminish 
the apparent size of a room by seeming to bring 
all the walls forward to you and thereby con¬ 
tracting the dimensions. On the other hand, 
{Continued on page 48) 
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