I had a client once who had a house that was architect-designed and it was a really interesting space. The previous home owners had painted a terra cotta wall right next to a kelly green one in the kitchen. My client couldn’t figure out why they did not feel happy in the space and why it was always jarring.
When I walked in, I said: “Well, you know, what we’ve got going on here is an optical illusion.”
Colors advance and retreat at different rates. So when you have a color that’s advancing and its neighbor is retreating the effect is an optical illusion. And it makes you feel very, very physically uncomfortable.
By contrast, in a Mexican restaurant, terra cotta and kelly green can work really, really well together because it’s dynamic, it’s moving, it's fun, it’s temporary — that’s why a lot of the colors that you see in commercial spaces and restaurants are so bold.
