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Posts Tagged ‘muted colors’

What Are Muted Colors?

Thursday, March 30th, 2017

The Hooker Furniture Living Room Melange Raellen Console is at home in this minimalist setting.

Anyone who tried to define color with a precise term is on the quest to a difficult task. Color is an inexact term though it consists of three components – saturation, value and hue. Just imagine the earth floating in space. The equator is the hue, the vertical axis represents the value while the horizontal axis is the saturation. The rest of the earth’s volume is what you visualize as colors.

You have probably heard of tints and shades and have wondered what they are – or if they are even synonymous. First, they are not. Shades are any color mixed with black. This means that the value has been lowered which makes the color appear muted.

Adding white, on the other hand, is what’s referred to as tinting. This increases the value which makes the color appear brighter. Not all colors can be shaded or tinted. Yellow, for instance, is one such color. When you darken yellow, what you get is a brownish color.

Muted colors are those that have lower saturation, lower value or colors mixed with their adjacent colors. Combination of any of these three will also produce muted colors.

With your earth analogy, muted colors are seen to be closer to the vertical axis or the ones with lower saturation. The boundaries are the pure colors in a spectrum. Look also for the Munsell Color System on the web as this includes muted colors, too.

Contemporary Design and Muted Hues

It is no surprise that contemporary designers offer flat, minimalist styles. Even digital products make use of the streamlined look as is evident in Microsoft, Apple and Twitter.

The minimalist approach and flat design are always married. The latter eliminates depth by straying from shading and gradient techniques. These favor 3D over one-dimensional geometrical shapes.

Minimalism also lets go of unnecessary features and contents. It favors sleek, clean and the monochromatic approach. It rejects ornaments and excessive design. Instead, it favors clarity and straightforwardness.

Traditional designs and any style that shows opulence often veers away from muted colors. To achieve this color, you have to find the intersection of the flat design with that of the minimalist features. For a clearer definition of muted colors, here are examples of Pantone colors that can be classified as such –

  • Rose quartz
  • Serenity
  • Cerulean
  • Tigerlily
  • Aqua sky
  • Blue turquoise
  • Sand dollar
  • Emerald
  • Mimosa
  • And chili pepper.

There are more Pantone colors to choose from if you want to use muted colors in your home.

The Uttermost Accessories Whispering Wind Framed Art, S/2 41410 makes use of a flat, one-dimensional approach to painting; nevertheless, it still represents the breathtaking beauty of nature.

Clues from Artworks

If you still want to define muted colors, perhaps, you could take the time to look at the Renaissance art pieces. Look at Raphael’s The Small Cowper Madonna. The folds of her dress shows the depth and texture that are created with the right blending of colors.

This is not muted.

In contrast, you can look at the technique used by Leonardo da Vinci in his famous Mona Lisa. Here, the flat design is emphasized as the artist did not rely upon shading and gradient techniques. The Mona Lisa is an evolution of color representation, one that you can use in your home.

Muted colors are, once again, becoming quite popular. You don’t just see them in web designs but their influence can also be felt in fashion, advertising, even music.

Print advertising revels in muted colors as minimalism is the latest hype. Muted colors also represent modernism, progress, and contemporary style. They can even represent efficiency.

You need to be conscious about the colors that you use in your habitat. Muted colors are in and they are fashionable because they allow you to focus only on what’s necessary.

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Posted in 2017 Trends, Color Schemes, Interior Design 101, Interior Design Elements | Comments Off on What Are Muted Colors?

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