COLOUR WITH CONFIDENCE
Bold shades can add character when used in just the right quantities
JEWEL TONES
Opposite: Who says blue and green should never be seen? They make a striking pair in this bedroom. Let your bed be a focal point by covering the headboard in an emerald green malachite-effect fabric, dressing it in white linen and draping coordinating throws and blankets over the end. The blue nightstand is a fun accent – try updating an existing one with Rust-Oleum’s Blue Silk flat matt furniture paint, £12/2.5L, B&Q. A monochrome rug beside the bed brings the look up to date – adding black to any scheme helps to enhance other hues.
1 WATER COLOUR
Terracotta adds warmth to any room, but can be heavy if used straight. Here, watered-down terracotta-coloured paint has been brushed onto a roughly plastered wall to create an aged look. If you’re not feeling that creative, hang a custom-printed mural, such as the 300 x 240cm pink plaster wall mural, from £415, Surface View. The marble-topped Cooks oak table, £2,799, Heal’s, is a design classic that continues the Italian farmhouse feel, but the black-painted floor and industrial-style lighting, together with contemporary seating, brings the scheme right up to date.
2 DARK DRAMA
Painting everything – including the walls, window frames and skirting – in the same colour is a technique that works really well in period properties, as it hides uneven lines. It also helps to make a room appear bigger, as you blur its boundaries. Going dark adds drama – this blackcurrant shade is Mulberry Burst, £23.92/2.5L, Dulux at B&Q – and you can then add paler highlights with soft furnishings and upholstery. Caramel hues look particularly delicious with purples – try the Design Project by John Lewis No 002 leather armchair, £1,599.
3 CLASH OF IDEAS
In this living room, the floral blind fabric (Caprice Paradise, from £123 for a custom-made Roman blind, Hillarys) has inspired the scheme, with the soft petal hue and deep midnight accent pulled out to use as paint shades on the walls. Rather than making the space feel overly coordinated and dated, designer Sophie Robinson then added a clashing geometric print, Eclipse Denim, on the made-to-measure curtains (from £117, Hillarys) and bright blocks of colour on the upholstery and soft furnishings.
4 TWO TONE
Add depth to coloured walls using wood panelling. The English Panelling Company’s Jacobean design, from £17/sheet, looks stunning here painted in two shades of blue. Go for a brighter cobalt, such as Little Greene’s Mambo, £42/2.5L, on the lower third and a lighter hue on the top – try Cook’s Blue, £43.50/2.5L, Farrow & Ball. Contrast with a traditional sofa in a classic print – the Ambassador extra large sofa (covered here in the Bengale fabric by Manuel Canovas in Saphir), £4,241, is from Delcor.
‘It’s important to think of any room in terms of its full 360 degrees. Colour can be used on ceilings and floors as a great way to add an unexpected element. Don’t limit your ambitions!’ SOPHIE ROBINSON, INTERIOR DESIGNER