Crazy about colour – how to add colour to your home
A guest post from Katie, The Home Design Counsellor showing you how to add colour to your home.
In recent years we’ve tended to favour painting our homes in white or grey, now there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, I’m a fan of fresh white walls and the bedroom in my old house had a dark grey wall but colour is definitely making a comeback!
Whether you choose block colour, funky wallpaper or add a pop of colour with some new cushions there are so many ways to introduce colour to your home in a budget-friendly way.
Let’s talk paint
There is a huge range of paints available on the market from matte to satin to eco-friendly and prices can vary from £10 to £80 a tin.
If you find a colour you love, but it’s a brand you can’t afford then consider colour matching – this is a great service that’s available at high street providers such as Homebase (Dulux paint) and B&Q (Valspar paint).
Simply find the colour you like, this can be another brand of paint (pick up the little cardboard swatch in the colour you like), a piece of wallpaper, even your favourite flower, take it into the store and let the colour matching team work their magic.
You choose the paint product you need, such as their premium paint, bathroom paint even wood and metal paint. Valspar can match a whopping 2.2 million colours!
They offer samples for just £3 so you can try before you buy AND they keep your bespoke colour on file until you are ready to purchase the paint.
I’ve recently used this service myself for a beautiful Farrow and Ball colour I found called Red Earth which costs £28 for a 0.75l tin. I bought the Valspar colour match version for £16 for a 1l tin and transformed our living room by painting on our chimney breast.
Top tip – make sure the item you would like colour matched is a solid colour, is at least 0.5 cm in diameter and avoid anything which is too shiny.
Wonderful wallpaper
If you don’t want to commit to colour by painting a room then a peel and stick removable wallpaper may be a better option for you – the wallpapers are self-adhesive, repositionable, and fully removable!
A wide range of patterns are available to suit all tastes.
You can cover whole walls with it or use it for smaller spaces such as an understairs cupboard or to revamp the inside of a bookcase.
Check out spoonflower.com or wallpaper-UK where prices start from approximately £20 a roll. Wayfair also offers a wide range including peel and stick borders, perfect to add non-permanent colour to a child’s bedroom.
Top tip – this wallpaper is not recommended for use on textured walls as adhesion can be poor.
Awesome accessories
If you would prefer to keep a room neutral, light, and fresh but would like to inject some colour then consider buying some wonderful accessories.
Add a statement gallery wall.
Choose a mixture of colourful prints and depending on the look you prefer opt for either matching or contrasting frames. You can frame postcards, photos, children’s drawings, use colourful pages of old books or buy affordable prints on places such as Etsy, some are as little as £2 each.
Top tips – I recently framed offcuts of wallpaper samples which I got for £1 and I bought an 8 pack of black frames in Matalan for £16!
To prevent the need for drilling holes into your walls use command strips to hang pictures.
Dress to impress
You’ll be amazed how colourful new cushions, throws and rugs can make a room look. High street shops such as Matalan, Wilkinson, Primark and B&M have some fantastic home décor items at really reasonable prices. They even help you out from a styling perspective by displaying items together which can help you envisage how items will look.
Colour and texture are important in a room, they add depth and interest. Cushions that are tufted, tasselled or macramé instantly add a level of detail. Deep pile, super soft rugs in a primary colour can break up a plain carpet or wooden flooring or choose a bold patterned rug to take pride of place in the room. A beautiful and bright throw hung over the arm of a sofa or loosely curled up in a basket adds colour and cosiness.
Top tip – Check out TK Maxx for reasonably priced throws starting from £16.99. I bought a lovely chenille patterned throw in soft mustard for just £19.99.
Keep walls plain and add colour and drama through curtains or voiles – take it one step further and hang two different colours curtains to make a real statement, you can purchase single curtains from places like Amazon – I recommend sticking to the same colour palette for a pretty, eye-catching look but if you want to go big and bold choose two contrasting colours and match them to cushions for a real wow factor.
Freshen up furniture
Another easy and cost-effective way that you can add colour to a room is by painting furniture. There are lots of good quality, affordable furniture paints available and they can transform items such as tables, bookcases or even mirrors. Keep an eye out on places like Gumtree and Facebook marketplace for bargain furniture buys. I can recommend Wilko furniture and cupboard paint and at £10 for a 750ml tin of paint, it’s great to give an item a new lease of life and a fraction of the cost of replacing it!
I’ve also used Al Fresco Frenchic paint and given our front door a complete makeover, changing it from bright red to grey at the cost of less than £16 – it’s eco-friendly, waterproof, durable, weatherproof and UV resistant.
Top tip – Always sand the item down and clean it with sugar soap prior to painting. Ensure you read the instructions on the paint to allow time for each coat of paint to dry before applying the next.
Has this inspired you to add colour to your home?