Did you know there is a word for the seemingly grey colour we see immediately after switching off the lights? This colour is called Eigengrau by experts. It is believed to refer specifically to the white-grey colour that most people see in the absence of light. The word is borrowed from the German Eigengrau which means 'intrinsic light' or 'dark light'. This brief, grey vision is now more commonly referred to as 'visual noise' since it does seem like the static seen on earlier televisions too.

Did you know that Purple, a colour that has always been associated with royalty and aristocracy was made in a rather unconventional way millennia ago? Purple was adopted as the official colour of Roman royalty after Julius Caesar in 48 BC. He began wearing a purple toga after a visit to the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra who is believed to have been obsessed with the colour. The shade was obtained by soaking thousands and thousands of shellfish in urine and this resulted in just half an ounce of dye. No wonder nobody but the royal family could afford it at all!

Were you aware that the iconic shade of the original Levi-Strauss denim is owed to a girl named Eliza Lucas? 21 year old Eliza was a farmer in South Carolina in the mid-eighteenth century and she used to experiment with Indigo crops. While her first two or three attempts were disastrous, the next one bore fruit and almost a century later, was used to dye the first pair of denims made by the company Levi-Strauss!

While yellow is supposedly one of the brightest and most inviting colours, it won't be wise to paint your front porch or door a solid yellow colour. This is because yellow is also known to induce nausea and cause spells of dizziness in people. If you want to use the colour, subdue it a little bit by complementing it with a softer colour such as cream or beige, or choose subtle shades of yellow instead of the bright, sunshine one.

When a decorator or designer advices you to choose a shade of white to go with a darker, or warmer shade, they don't often mean pristine white. The colour white can have many different shades according to the slight undertones. Examples are cream, ivory, eggshell, vanilla, etc. The correct shade is chosen according to the undertones of the other colour in this equation and the undertones it has - warm, cool or neutral.

For a feeling of harmony and comfort in bedrooms, use different shades of the same colour or colour family. If you use too many contrasting shades, it is bound to make the room look more crowded. Too know which colours go well together, keep the colour wheel in mind. To bring in a light, airy effect, pick soothing tones of brighter colours such as butter yellow, or sage green, etc.!