It can be agreed on that colour is a part of every aspect of our lives, whether you're a fan of minimalism, or bolder, brighter styles like surrealism. But did you know where this frequently used word comes from? The word 'colour' is derived from the Old Latin word 'colos', meaning cover. This gradually became 'color' in New Latin. The word in Old French was 'colour' and finally, the Middle English word of the same spelling stuck. The Americans spell it differently because they retrace the roots directly back to Latin, and not Old French.

Were you aware of something called chimerical colours or impossible colours? These colours are imaginary colours, i.e. they don't really exist. When one looks at a dark colour for long, some cone cells in the retina get fatigued and there is a temporary change in their colour facilities. And when the individual switches from the dark colour to a neutral colour, it results in an afterimage of the opposite colours. Example, to see Stygian Blue, you have to look at bright yellow which causes an after-image of dark blue. Shifting to black colour after will cause the blue colour seem to be over the black.

The Greeks, despite being extremely advanced as a civilization, may not have been able to view colours the way we do. The Greek poet Homer described the sky as bronze, the sheep as wine coloured and the sea as purplish red. It is believed, keeping in mind the evolutionary theory, that the Greeks may not have been capable of seeing as many colours as we do now. Apart from this, it is speculated that their linguistic relativity and lack of chromatic distinction, may have also led to them just not bothering to identify and label colours.

Laminates are a way to protect wooden furniture from wear and tear due to frequent use but it often jars the eye and doesn't go well with the rest of the house's décor. You can change that by simply painting the laminate. Once your surface is cleaned and primed, smooth it with fine grit sandpaper. If the surface is uneven, choose a satin finish rather than glossy. Stir the paint well and apply the topcoat with an angled brush first to cut in along the edges and then use a broad paint-brush for the remaining area.

When painting your home, it's important to do your homework and familiarize yourself with all the tips and tricks a pro does to ensure the finished job looks neat and professional. Lap marks are caused by uneven layers of paint build-up due to painting over partly dry surfaces. To avoid this from happening, one needs to keep the last stroke painted wet on one edge so that the next stroke overlaps the wet side before it dries out. Even out the short strokes and move backwards when necessary while not letting your roller or brush dry either because this will make it splotchy.

Keeping in mind the point above about wet edges, sometimes it is impossible to maintain them such as in the case of ceilings. In a scenario like this, what one can do to minimize lap marks are use a slightly opposing technique to what was used earlier. First paint the ceiling or surface area with a dry brush making sure there are feathered edges all over. Then go over the edges with a loaded roller brush and make sure to start painting in the opposite direction overlapping the earlier coat completely. This drastically reduces the number of lap edges, giving the ceiling a smoother look.