Considering Architectural Features

Walls: Mouse's Back No.40Woodwork: Off-White No.3 

If there’s a feature of your home that you’d like to make the most of, or one that you’d prefer to disguise, there’s a surprising amount that can be achieved with just paint colours and finishes. Just as no two homes – or homeowners – are alike, there are no hard and fast rules for creating a considered scheme. That’s why we’ve collected a few of our favourite ways to treat architectural elements, whether that’s concealing a functional but less than beautiful radiator, or bringing period panelling to the fore.

Dado Rails

Dado rails are some of our most familiar architectural features, but that doesn’t mean they all have to be treated the same way. A white dado looks clean and classic, whether it’s breaking up a single wall colour or drawing a neat line between paint and wallpaper. Meanwhile, painting your dado the same colour as the wall – as in this all-Vardo living room – creates a strong contemporary look.

Dado rails also present a great opportunity for tricking the eye. In this home office, India Yellow stops just short of the rail, giving the illusion of more wall, and more space above it. For the opposite effect, bring your darker base colour higher. Whatever effect you’re trying to achieve, our super-tough Modern Eggshell finish will help bring it to life.

Panelling

Dado rails are some of our most familiar architectural features, but that doesn’t mean they all have to be treated the same way. A white dado looks clean and classic, whether it’s breaking up a single wall colour or drawing a neat line between paint and wallpaper. Meanwhile, painting your dado the same colour as the wall – as in this all-Vardo living room – creates a strong contemporary look.

This method has its roots in Georgian decorating, but looks equally at home in a modern scheme, enhancing the feeling of spaciousness in any panelled room.

Walls: Light Gray No.17Ceiling: Lime White No.1 Woodwork: Old White No.4

Walls: French Gray No.18Door and Frame: Mahogany No.36

Cornicing & Moulding

There are a few handy formulas for making even the plainest cornicing, coving or crown moulding a part of a beautifully cohesive scheme. First, you can paint the moulding and ceiling the same colour, which gives the impression of a slightly lower ceiling; painting moulding and walls in the same colour, by contrast, has the opposite effect, making the walls appear taller.

If you’d like to draw attention to more decorative moulding, you could choose a colour that sits between that of the wall and the ceiling on our colour card for a graduating effect, or even pick it out in an accent colour of its own.

Walls: Saxon Green No.80 (A)Plasterwork: Clunch No.2009 (A)

Walls: Stiffkey Blue No.281PlasterworkAll White No.2005

To show off the detail of intricate plaster moulding, try painting in Soft Distemper.

Radiators

There are a few handy formulas for making even the plainest cornicing, coving or crown moulding a part of a beautifully cohesive scheme. First, you can paint the moulding and ceiling the same colour, which gives the impression of a slightly lower ceiling; painting moulding and walls in the same colour, by contrast, has the opposite effect, making the walls appear taller.

If you’d like to draw attention to more decorative moulding, you could choose a colour that sits between that of the wall and the ceiling on our colour card for a graduating effect, or even pick it out in an accent colour of its own.

Walls, radiator and woodwork: Book Room Red No.50

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