RETHINK PINK

Choose the right shade of this newly fashionable decorating colour for the best results

Pinks have come a long way since the candy colours of children’s bedrooms or the shocking shades of the chichi boudoir, and have at last become grown-up and nuanced. The more sophisticated palette now ranges from delicate, pale or ointment shades that convey a period elegance to earthier and mysterious deep tones that can be warm and comforting or calm and cocooning. The new softer shades are not too sparky and have an element of grey or black in their composition, which means they have depth and don’t shout. Think of pink as an endlessly versatile, neutral colour. Most of the new shades work with natural tones, darker woods, highlights of hotter hues like reds, or cooler complementary colours from the opposite end of the spectrum – blues, greens and greys – that temper their warmth.