Your Colourful Questions Answered

Spending more time at home has given us the opportunity to work on those colourful projects we may have been putting off the rest of the year, but we know, it’s not easy choosing a colour scheme. So, to help with your projects, we took five of the most frequently asked questions across our social channels now and asked our colour expert Patrick O’Donnell to answer them…

What colours help create a feeling of calm in a room?

When creating a calm palette, you can do no better than look to blues and greens, especially at the softer, mid weight end of their respective colour family. Bright, breezy blues like Lulworth Blue echo the colours of the coast while the more subdued, nuanced Light Blue deliver and all round easy blue that works successfully in a traditional and modern interior. From the green family, try Yeabridge Green for a joyful burst of colour, echoing the verdant colours of nature, perfect for a living room with open doors leading onto your garden or something that blends green and blue in equal measure like the aptly named Green Blue, perfect for an east facing restful bedroom.

What are the best colours for a study/home office?

What everyone needs to create a perfect working environment is to choose a palette that suits your job. If you’re a creative, you could use colours which zip with energy and inspire the creative juices such as our sunshine yellow Citron or deep, joyous Charlotte’s Locks. Or if you need to really focus the mind, free of distraction, try mid-tone blues such as Parma Gray or Light Blue and easy greens like Mizzle or French Gray.

What finish do I use for furniture?

For wooden furniture we would recommend using Modern Eggshell, which is so tough it can even be used on floors. For a little more glamour and high shine, you could use our Full Gloss which has a wonderfully reflective 95% sheen. To get the result you want its worth using the time to prepare the furniture properly, you can see our Product Advice Sheets here for all of the information you need. 

What are the best colours to use in a dark or north facing room?

Most people see dark or poorly lit rooms as a challenge but if you follow a couple of simple principles you’ll never want to leave! The first option is to think about using warm-based colours, i.e. colours that have some red or yellow through them – north facing rooms love warm undertones! For those tempted to be bold - GO FOR IT, embrace the dark and go with deep inky blues such as Inchyra Blue or smart, dusky greens like Green Smoke. This will create a cocooning environment, so perfect for creating a cosy room.

How do I choose a white for my ceiling and woodwork?

The default setting for most people is using a brilliant white on woodwork and ceiling. But if you don’t want that stark contrast, think about enhancing your wall colour by choosing a white that shares similar undertones.

For example, Sulking Room Pink shares a red undertone with Dimity; or Green Smoke shares a green undertone with Old White. Using more tonally aligned colours can also give the illusion of more space as your eye isn’t drawn to sharp contrast lines where the wall stops, and ceiling starts.

For ease, all our colours have a complementary white which you can find on our website when you select the colour.