How to bring colour into your home beautifully

We could all do with a little upliftment right now, and what better way than with colour? In fact, colour is said to have a major impact on our mood, both good and bad, so it goes without saying that it’s an important consideration when decorating your home. 

Here are our top tips on how to bring vibrant shades into your home. 

Choose an accent piece 

If you love a colourful piece, but tend toward a more neutral look, then go ahead and merge the two. A strong feature piece doesn’t require a lot of additional colour to work in a space as it’s the star of the show. Allow it to be the focal point and build a more neutral look around it to create a perfect balance between vibrance and calm. 

Immerse yourself in Liz Biden's interior style by visiting her various hotels, including The Silo Hotel, La Residence, Birkenhead House and Royal Malewane.

Go dark to light

Traditional decor wisdom says you should start with your deepest, darkest colours on the floor and gradually get lighter as you move up the room vertically. The idea behind this practical tip is to replicate the order of colour in the natural world to create balance. 

You might extend this concept to pattern - using your boldest, strongest pattern (whether light or dark) for the floor and toning it down as you work your way up the room.  

Start with a smaller or private space

Be it the entrance hall, a feature area in the livingroom or your own bedroom, starting small makes going with colour a little less overwhelming. Better still, decisions made in small but important areas like these will influence the way you decorate the rest of your home. 

Let pieces you love inspire your colour choice. Take your colour references from an artwork, rug or wallpaper you really love and build the rest of your colour story around that. 

Bright or muted

Colour doesn’t have to be blindingly bright to make an impact. The hues of the hour, namely, dusty pink, golden ochre, natural blues and greens all bring a sense of well-being and ease to a space. 

Image credit: Kim Gray

Hue for mood 

"From seaside blues to Moroccan jewel tones, or even monochrome with a splash of bold modernist, colour adds life and warmth," says director Sue McCoubrey. "It is energy and definitely holds a vibration."

Our brand new selection of locally made upholstered headboards are a wonderful way to incorporate colour in the bedroom. Use them as a way to inform the rest of the room’s decor style and colour palette and create a masterful final look by pairing it up with wallpaper. 

Yellow is sunny, bright and likely to bring a cheerful note to your living space, but it can be too busy for those who want their interiors to emanate a calmer atmosphere. Blue is known for its soothing effect, and as it’s a classic interior colour, it’s also one that will harmonise well with changing trends. Add a shot of warmth and energy to a room with the incorporation of reds and blacks, and find some refreshing peace with green tones.

How to choose the colours for you

While some people are naturally drawn to a specific colour, the rest of us might need a little help deciding what shades we could ultimately live with. Here are three ways to help you figure out your preferred colour palette: 

Image credit: Kim Gray