Nothing beats the feeling of standing proud-as-punch in a freshly painted room. But, getting to that point requires all manner of preparation steps, including choosing the right hue for your home. While a shade of white for your walls is always a fabulous fallback, or perhaps the dominant shade of your interiors, the addition of colour – subdued or striking – can be a very invigorating thing!
To get a good grip on identifying the colours that you love – look to your clothes! Your wardrobe often speaks to the colours you already adore, and feel confident living with on a daily basis.
So, what happens if your wardrobe consists of black on black? Shift your attention to interior colour schemes that you experience on a daily basis. Take a close look at schemes that work for you, ask your friends, family and neighbours what colours they’ve used, pick up colour trend brochures or take a look at these terrific colour examples for inspiration.
Shades of grey
Ok, so not much of a departure from classic old white, but shades of grey are making an impact on walls everywhere – indoors and out. In your bedroom, consider painting the feature wall behind your bed in a softer hue, ensuring a contemporary vibe and a calm night’s sleep. Success has been achieved here by keeping the surrounding walls and ceiling painted in bright white.
Pretty in pink
Gorgeous in a living room when combined with soft greys, dusty pink is a lovely, calm beginning point for colouring up your home. The same goes for almost any pastel colour, really! The trend of using dusty pink will work for you if your interior palette is a little pared back – think whites, naturals, tan and other shades of pink. If you’re looking to increase the detailing in your room, consider the painted tideline effect, as here. Rather than appearing at the traditional chair-rail height, this tideline is taken to near picture-rail height. And, rather than being perfectly straight, the line where the pink meets a shade of grey is painted freehand rather than along crisp-edged painter’s tape.
Go lavender
Continuing the popular pastel trend, shades of lavender and lilac are making their presence known in all types of rooms, especially those where you can be a little more playful, such as the nursery. Against a lavender wall colour you can go either way with your decorating: introduce white or light-coloured furniture and curtains for an airy, fairy-tale feel. Or, bring in deeper shades of charcoal through your drapes, upholstery and floor rug, as here, for a more sophisticated scheme.
Lovely lilac
In your living room, up the strength of a lilac-inspired hue on one feature wall. The key to success is bringing a little relief to the eye by painting the neighbouring walls in a light shade of white. Once you’ve painted your room, and if you’re feeling artistic, you can use leftover paint to create abstract DIY artworks. Hang them on the light-coloured wall to bring a little of the colour across the room for a cohesive-looking scene. As for accessories, this colourway works with Scandi-style furnishings, light-coloured timber furniture, flooring and natural jute rugs. Oh, and don’t forget to bring in the star indoor plant of the minute – the fiddle leaf fig.
Green rules
Well, since greenery is the go-to colour of the year, you’ll be forgiven for developing a love affair with this organic hue over the past few months. It’s in decorating schemes absolutely everywhere! While you could go fresh and bright or pretty and pastel, up the drama in a living or dining room with a deep, military-inspired shade of green. If you don’t want to overdo it, limit this paint colour to a single wall – skirting included – and accessorise with lots of tribal artwork, bring in texture through rugs, woven lamps and furniture, and pot up indoor plants aplenty!
Once you have a fair idea of what colour you seek for your home, get yourself in front of the paint colour wall at Bunnings. Go straight for the colour names you know, or linger around the general colours you’ve clearly identified as the ones you’re interested in, then consider purchasing a few test pots before you buy in bulk. Paint on!
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Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
