Design consultants Janne Faulkner and Harley Anstee, of Nexus Designs, have spent the past 12 years drawing inspiration for colour from Australia’s landscape, information that is now available in their new book, “Using Australian Colour”, which features more than 300 colour swatches to stimulate ideas for interior design. BPN journalist Katrina Fox spoke with one of the book’s authors, Harley Anstee.
Who is the book aimed at?
Anyone who needs help with colour. At our company over the years, one of the most asked questions is ‘Where do we start or how do we select colour?’ It’s for a whole host of people - the manufacturing industry, architects, students, developers, home owners.
How can it particularly help building designers and architects?
It’s a source of inspiration in many ways – we’re saying ‘look at the landscape’. It’s a good tool, whether you use all of the colours in the palette or just a few of them.
What sort of things do you have to take into account when choosing colour for a person’s home?
If we’re asked to do an interior, we’d go to the person’s home and first of all we’d take into account their personal preferences. People may not know how to put something together but they usually have a general idea and we would look at the landscape around, the architecture of the period and the character of the home. We would then start to build up the palette with the main colour. Light is also very important – if there’s a lot of light in a room, you may want to go darker to emphasise that aspect or you may want to use lighter colours to make it appear lighter.
Are there any colours which just don’t go together?
We don’t have any hard and fast rules about that. Some people can do very clever things with paint and colour.
What is your favourite design in the book and why?
It’s on page 103 and is looking from the outside of a house inside to a room that has a lot of books on the shelf – it’s in the green palette. I like it because there’s some really lovely terracottas and olive green and eucalypt greens but the main thing that really appeals to me is that particular project was done 25 years ago and it still looks good. It has that classic timeless quality.
Why did you write the book?
It’s something we always wanted to do. In our interior design practice, one of the questions that keeps coming up over the past 20 or 30 years is ‘How do I get inspiration?’
How do you keep getting new ideas for colours? Doesn’t there come a point when you feel like you know all there is to know – surely there are only so many colours you can come up with?
We’re inspired by what other people do – whether they’re architects or artists or just ordinary people. Also by travelling overseas and within Australia, we’re seeing new palettes constantly and that’s a lovely source of inspiration.
What are your favourite colours and why?
I suppose it would be the grey-greens, the eucalypt green colours because they’re relaxing and soothing and very easy to live with.
In your experience, which colours are generally used by designers the most and why?
That’s an easy one – it’s the white and neutral palettes because it’s all to do with space and you build up this wonderful shell and then all the objects, furniture, books and people add the colour.
What is special or different about Australian colour?
I think the intensity of light. Our landscape is different from any other place in the world. It has its own special quality of timelessness about it.
Any other comments
Have fun with colour – it should be an enjoyable experience. Don’t get stressed!
Using Australian Colour by Janne Faulkner and Harley Anstee will be available in all good bookstores from March. Price $45.00. For more information, visit Nexus Designs’ website at www.nexusdesigns.com.au