Coral walls are bold, warm and more forgiving than they look. Paired with the right ceramic glaze, a coral room can feel welcoming rather than loud.
Coral sits between red and orange, so it adds warmth to a room without the heaviness of brick. It reads well in north-facing rooms, where daylight is cool, and it flatters wood furniture. Use it on one wall, or on the wall behind the main seating, so the space does not feel overwhelmed.
Turquoise is the classic partner for coral because the two colours sit opposite each other on the colour wheel. Sasha Grigoryan's Angel on a Turquoise Plate shows the effect: the cool glaze calms the warm wall around it, and the wall makes the glaze look brighter. A plate like this works well on a narrow shelf.
If the wall is coral, keep the floor and the larger furniture neutral. Oak, linen and pale stone let the wall and the glazes do the talking. The coral sofa in the photograph above sits beneath a seascape in cool blue, which keeps the warm tones from tipping into heaviness.
Paint colours look different in every room, so test a large swatch on two walls and check it in the morning, at noon and in the evening. Bring a ceramic piece into the room while you test, because glazes shift under warm lamps. A small sample can save a whole wall of regret.
About the author. Mark Doyle is the Editor of the Art-Blog at Focus Gallery in Almaty.
