Everyone knows colour is a deeply personal matter – one person’s calm, off-white oasis is another’s beige nightmare. It’s not easy to decide which shade your sanctuary should be – there’s an overwhelming range of hues on offer. But don’t get your colour cards in a twist.
We’ve asked five colour experts to tell us which shades they think you should be painting your walls. And if all else fails, take a bit of advice from designer Abigail Ahern, whose signature dark schemes (pictured) spearheaded the trend over 10 years ago: "The best advice I can give you is to follow your gut. Don’t get hung up on the amount of natural light in a space or the size of a room. Look at the colours you already gravitate towards – in your wardrobe, in artwork you love, in images you tear out of magazines. You’ll start to work out your own palette."
For the open-plan kitchen
"The kitchen is the heart of a home – cooking is only a small part of what goes on here," says Marianne Shillingford, creative director of Dulux. "Use tonal colours to ‘zone’ an open-plan or multifunctional kitchen space to create areas that can be used for different activities like eating, work, relaxing, etc. Blues continue to be big news in decorating and design in 2018 – team almost-black shades such as Cobalt Night with delicate chalky ones like River Bed and Drifting Cloud."
Dulux Blues, from £22.36, available at Dulux
For the hallway
It’s tempting to leave small spaces like hallways and entryways white, but Ruth Mottershead from Paint & Paper Library says: "A combination of warm pink tones for hallways is ideal for creating a welcoming feeling as soon as you walk through the door." Try Plaster V 405 and Plaster II 402 – putty shades are the next millennial pink, FYI.
Plaster V 405 & Plaster II 402, from £20.50, available at Paint & Paper Library
For the living room
"If you’re decorating your sitting room, you want it to be somewhere you can chill and have friends over to chat late into the night," says interior designer Abigail Ahern. ‘I have painted everything, from the ceiling to the floorboards in my colour Madison Grey. It's grey but has undertones of green, which change with the light creating the coolest of vibes."
Madison Grey, from £33, available at Abigail Ahern
For the bedroom
Cathryn Helsby of eco paint company Earthborn loves mixing dark shades with pops of bright colour. "One of the new Earthborn colours, Hobby Wood is perfect for this trend. The darkness of the green, mixed with flashes of bright accessories, looks great in a living room or bedroom." It’s also surprisingly soothing and restful – just the environment to help you switch off after a full-on day.
Hobby Wood eco-friendly paint, from £38, available at Earthborn
For the classic kitchen
Charlotte Cosby, head of creative at Farrow & Ball recommends bringing neutral tones into the kitchen. "It’s the perfect place to introduce some colour, whether it’s a soft accent or a bold statement. Green hues help to bring nature back into the home, especially if your kitchen looks out onto a garden. Cromarty is a beautiful muted pastel that could be used on your cupboards to complement a neutral shade on the wall, such as Shadow White."
Cromarty, from £24, available at Farrow & Ball
For the bathroom
"Smaller rooms of the house such as bathrooms and cloakrooms look great in darker colours. Traditionally, we would want rooms to be brighter to appear bigger, but the trend for all things dark is definitely on the increase and darker colours work beautifully in small spaces," says Helsby. "Earthborn Claypaint in Trumpet is one of my favourite colours at the moment."
Trumpet, from £38, available at Earthborn
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