Recently, I travelled interstate to attend a national Expo of blind and shutter manufacturers. This Expo is the largest of its kind in Australia and is only held once every three years.

As part of the Expo, various guest speakers and industry leaders were invited to present or talk on a number of topics. As it happens, one of my Facebook friends (whom I had never met) was one of the guest speakers and invited me to attend her lecture.

To cut a long story short, her talk was about the psychology of colour, and before her presentation she asked me about my thoughts on the subject. Her prompting really got me thinking.

Having been trained as an interior designer and therefore well-versed in colour, I find it quite easy to direct a client to selecting appropriate colours for their window furnishings. Sometimes I am frustrated by their fears, as many do really fear colour and are unwilling to go beyond predictable neutrals, particularly for window coverings. However, perhaps it is my job to reiterate the critical importance of utilising the colours we adore in our homes, even if the final selection is more muted than the pure colour.

We all have colour likes and dislikes, and our home should be our castle. It stands to reason that our colour preferences should be present in our everyday surroundings to uplift us and motivate us. As the time I have with each client is limited, I tend to keep the colour conversation to what is available and also what colours are deemed universally appropriate for certain rooms. However, colour choice goes way beyond this, and I feel many clients really benefit from time with a colour expert, especially before a consultation with a window covering supplier.

Back to the lecture: one gentleman in the audience described himself as a blind retailer. He expressed his frustration at not having the proper colour knowledge to guide his clients, as he experienced many who wanted to use colour but didn’t know how to get it right. This poor guy, like many of his retailing peers, obviously had technical product knowledge, but not the creative left brain mind to assist with colour. He thought he was missing out on a better end result by not having the required expertise to adequately advise his clients on colour.

Colour psychology and the relevance of colours to each individual client is often overlooked by architects also. I am not criticising architects here, but the general trend is that architects will err on the side of neutrality as colour selection can be laborious, time consuming and something that is not necessarily part of their brief. Some architects work in tandem with colour consultants, and I believe this is a great idea and greatly benefits the client.

This, in my opinion, leads me to further reiterate that clients should appoint a colour expert either before or in tandem with their window covering retailer. Imagine the fantastic home one could create if the colours you adore are incorporated into all your décor! It would be a joy to be at home; it would be a place of rest and inspiration, a retreat from the negativities of the world, a haven after a long hard day at work.