SETTING THE TONE
An exclusive look at British designer Tricia Guild’s new book on how to unleash the power and passion of colour.
An exclusive look at the new book from British designer Tricia Guild, of Designers Guild fame, on how to unleash the power and passion of colour
WHEN I CONSIDER SOME OF MY FAVOURITE artists whose work has particularly touched me, it is inevitably their sense of colour that I find intriguing and memorable. This is an instinctive, primal reaction, a response that comes from the soul and stays with you. Colour has this power: to evoke an emotion, change a mood, uplift your spirits and make life feel better. Over the years I have met many people who are more than a little nervous of embracing colour in their own homes. There is a reticence and anxiety that prevents them from choosing anything that might be considered a little daring or even expressive. At Designers Guild, it has always been our passionate goal to give people the confidence to live with the colours and textures that we know will simply enrich their lives. Our aim is to share that sense of unadulterated joy one feels when contemplating a glorious landscape or perhaps a work of art that touches you deeply. To imbue one’s home with the same expression and personality is to harness the power of colour in your own way. It is a quest that will always excite and energise me. On the following page I would like to share with you the way I choose colours I love, put them together in a palette, then use this in a mix of plains, pattern and texture to evoke the mood I seek in a room. This is an approach I feel we can all use in our homes and I wish you joy in experimenting with it. All you need to do now is open your own paint box and get creative.
CREATING A PALETTE
Working with colour, pattern and texture to create exciting new ideas for our homes is my lifelong passion as well as my job. I have a rather instinctive approach to colour — and the collections of fabrics, wallpapers, paints and accessories that I create and use are in many ways my own artist’s palette. In this book I have lifted the lid on my own ‘paint box’ — the colours with which I choose to colour my world. I have collated some of my favourite palettes, inspired by nature, my travels, art and architecture, fashion and the everyday combinations of colours that surround us. They can all be adapted to suit your style and your home and, although many may feature pattern, every single one will work like a dream in purely plain colours. Creating a mood board is a great way to start on a new scheme. Bringing together all your chosen elements — fabrics, wallpapers, paints and inspiration — allows you to see the relationships and balance of shades and tones of colours, textures and patterns, to get a good idea of how well a room is going to work. Make sure you put your sample pieces on the board in the same scale as they will be in the room. Include objects or photographs that have inspired you, to keep your ideas focused. If it works on paper it will work in your room.
“Put your sample pieces on the mood board in the same scale as they will be in the room” Geometric silk weave Designers Guild Valbonella curtain in Alchemilla
An abridged extract from Tricia Guild Paint Box by Tricia Guild (Quadrille, $50). Visit hardiegrant.com