One of my passions! Colour is probably the aspect of interior design that people are most familiar with, changing the paint colour in a room is one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways to overhaul a room. A pot of paint and a weekend and you can change the look and feel overnight and, if you don’t like it, you can always paint it over again!

Often, people tend towards certain colours in their life. These could be pale & neutral, cooler colours like greens & blues or warmer colours like reds & oranges. Often, but not always, you may find you dress in similar colours to those you use on the walls and furniture of your home. The psychology of colour is widely used in marketing and branding to influence consumers’ emotions and perceptions.

As with so many discussions I have with clients on projects, I advise them to consider what they are working with. If you have a small, dark lounge with limited natural light, painting the walls white is unlikely to create a bright, crisp & light-filled space, more an off-white dull room which never feels very welcoming. Instead, embrace how cosy the space could feel and paint it a dark or rich colour, navy, emerald, aubergine and off-black are all amazing colours to give a room a cocooning feel.

I am always trying to gently nudge my clients ever so slightly out of their comfort zone (or more if they will allow me!) with the colours they use in their home and am thrilled when they are willing to try something new and love the end result.

These images are from a client project with a dark hallway, previously painted white and now painted in a dramatic blue-black with contrasting white woodwork. The space is completely transformed.