CREATIVE WAYS WITH COLOUR
IF you open the door to a house into a hallway and it is painted a glorious sunshine yellow, then you just instantly feel like spring; it has the power to lift your mood and make you happy, and I think that is a wonderfully transformative thing.
Colour can make your house feel
■ bigger because each little space tells its own tiny story. You do have to let colour breathe and you also have to make sure the colours in the room and house overall work together tonally. You need a design thread to run through it all to stop it looking chaotic.
I love being playful and my own
■ drawing room (right) is a good example of where I’ve used colour and pattern in abundance.
There are a lot of very tasteful
■ interiors that are colourless but, actually, they are usually instantly forgettable. If you don’t want to be surrounded by lots of colour, the thing to do is to make the interlinking spaces more colourful, such as a hallway between two rooms, or a dressing room.
You can bring colour in through
■ accessories, such as a bright yellow piping on a cushion. There are many of ways to do it. You do have to be aware of balance – and that’s something you learn with experience. You can be too enthusiastic, but then it’s just a case of removing a few accessories from the scheme.
Rugs are a brilliant way of
■ bringing colour into your home, and, of course, I think the bolder the colour, the better it looks. In one hallway recently we used our Graphic Tufted wool rug, which also works as a piece of fine art with its vibrant bold shapes and impressive scale.
There are plenty of supposed
■ rules around colour but, really, those dos and don’ts can always be played around with. You can’t say that yellow and green don’t work together because there are so many tones and shades – you just have to find the right pairing.
People can be nervous about
■ colour and I understand why. If you don’t know what colours you like I always advise saving pictures – either on Pinterest or in a real scrapbook. As you build up images that you’re drawn to, you’ll see a colour palette emerge that feels like you.
A great way to start your colour
■ journey is to paint a bit of furniture, like an old kitchen chair. That way you don’t spend a lot of money, but you quickly realise the fun of it. →