Colour my world

"Soon temperate palettes were considered to reflect the 'drab' war years and these pastel hues were replaced by an explosion of colour and texture, inspired by the strong primary colours synonymous with the Modernist movement. By the late 1950s a colour revolution was beginning to affect conventional interiors, and two, three or four bold colours might be used in one room. These colours were coordinated with decorative plastic laminates and linoleum floors to compose a 'Harlequin' effect."

History of Paint in Australia 

compiled by Kelly Wynne, Deakin University Student, October 2008 

on Museum Victoria website.

The colours we choose to surround ourselves with say a lot about the mood of the environment. During the post-war period mentioned in the quote above, brighter colours were introduced to interiors reflecting the new-found optimism of a world rebuilding itself following the austerity of the war years.

Originally however, wall paint colours and textile colours were determined more by the availability of the materials with which to create each hue. In the Victorian era in Australia for instance, paint colours were limited to the those that could be created by the pigments which were imported. These pigments included green copper hydroxide, red and yellow oxides and Prussian blue.

Once technologies and global transport links developed, larger colour ranges were possible. How about the coloured bathroom suites you often see in homes dating from the 1920s onwards? Pastel pinks, blues and greens were fashionable - with the toilet, hand basin and bath all matching.

And then there was the 1970s when paint colours were bright, as were the laminexes in kitchens.  Bathrooms surfaces, tiles and suites came in a range of colours (often oranges, greens and blues). Rooms were often decorated independently of each other with bright wallpapers covering every wall.

So it is interesting to observe when flicking through home magazines that today, we seem to have swung very much back onto neutral ground.  Walls tend to be painted predominately in neutral lighter shades, with perhaps a feature wall or two of a brighter colour. Bathrooms suites are almost uniformly white.

In my own lifetime of home ownership we've done a complete decorating 360 degrees. Our first house back in the early 1990s was a tiny Victorian inner-city cottage, so in an effort to make it seem larger and brighter, we repainted all the (previously pink) walls with a vivid white, and replaced the carpet with a light sand-coloured one.

Our next two homes were the reverse. We bought homes decorated with neutral colour schemes and repainted with a riot of colour. The living rooms were bright yellow, one kitchen ended up lime green, and  we had pumpkin coloured bedrooms.

Latterly, however, we've gone full circle and have painted the complete interiors of houses in a shade of white. I don't think we're alone in this choice. Paint manufacturer Dulux has a specific brochure (the Whites booklet ) purely for its range of white paint. There are 24 different Dulux white paints with names like; Chalk USA, Antique White, Hogs' Bristle, Lexicon, Magnolia and Crewelwork. (I love this last name, as painting a house is indeed cruel work...there's nothing like the name on the paint can reminding you as you do the job!)

And when it comes time to renovate our bathrooms in our current house, we'll definitely be choosing bathroom suites in white - not that there is much other choice in bathroom showrooms.

I wonder what this preference for neutrality says about us, and indeed our times?

What colour is your world?