Life and Colour

I grew up knowing that I felt differently in different spaces.

I have spent most of my adult life working to understand the aspects of my experience of space; physically, emotionally and metaphorically.

Life choices and curveballs have landed me in spaces for periods of time (children, covid, ill-health) but it wasn’t until interiors became an actual hindrance in my life that understanding colour, light and design went from something nice to something necessary. And it’s how I see and work with them today.

My husband has a genetic condition. A year hasn’t gone by without a health or surgical intervention, and our lives and home has to adapt each time. Our home is our sanctuary and we’ve had to get clear about what we need, when and where, within budget.

I didn’t know much about cataracts until my husband was diagnosed with it just after we had our first child. We hadn’t anticipated the change in our life after the cataracts surgery but it became apparent to us, quickly, that what things looked like wasn’t the issue. His new lenses now experienced light and colour differently, which effected his sensory experience and that profoundly effected how he felt in a space, and subsequently how we all felt and familied.

Many post-surgery, cataract’s patients experience light differently after surgery; for some it’s short lived and for some its not. The sight that we had take for granted became a source of dysregulation for my husband, particularly when unnatural light was in contrast to dark (at night, in a dark painted room) and the recalibration that some experience in the weeks after, my husband has experienced the years since.

Public spaces can be a feast for the senses and are notoriously tricky for people with sensory difference or change. Some people will walk in to a room of bright colours and feel energised, and some feel scared. Even if we love feeling energised, it can have a negative impact in a bedroom or place we want to relax in.

We all understand the benefits of changes to diet, exercise, stress, sleep, fresh air, spending time with loved ones…but until 6 years ago, I hadn’t seriously considered how much we’d all benefit from understanding colour and light in our home, and how it affected us all differently. When I got clear on it, it wasn’t just my husband who was benefitting from it.

When I met my husband we were decorating our first property together before we hit our one year anniversary and we’ve not stopped since. Between us, we’ve many years experience in property and development and we’re a good team. Our idea of a good date is a DIY project and we’re happiest when things just work and feel as they should, we both struggle to rest in a space if they don’t.

So when we have to make changes to our home and everyday life, we can find it quite fun. It started as something we had to address and has since become second nature, to understand how a space feels; spaces are dynamic, but the backdrop is static and it plays a huge part.

I’d see interiors inspo on social media and understand that I was coming at it with a different lens (literally). I wasn’t trying to recreate looks, I was trying to figure out what worked for the space with the goal of how we wanted to feel in it. This is how every designer works - but this conversation gets lost in the pictures we see in the media and when we talk about ‘the look’.

Our lives are an ever-changing dynamic and our homes are constantly evolving to support it. Deciding interiors can feel like a minefield to get right for the required investment of time and or money. And that’s why I do what I do.

I am continually reminded that trying to replicate something that we see, doesn’t often feel how we thought it would in our own homes and lives. But starting with something we like is the ideal way to hep find the nuance of what it is we’re trying to achieve.

My husband and I love our home but the reality is it has it’s limits. When we found our ‘cosy’, east-to-west facing, 2-up-2-down cottage, I was relieved to find it had normal ceiling heights (my husbands over 6ft). Painting the already cosy sized living room the deep, cocooning shade of Farrow and Ball’s Inchyra Blue nailed it for me. But of course, not long after my husbands cataracts surgery it became apparent that my cocoon was a near nightmare (for him).

Having the ‘main lights’ on was not an option for me; growing up, ‘the main light’ was saved for emergencies and passive aggressive communication, ‘mood lighting’ was my mainstay and a cottages right. So lighting became the next research project.

It might seem obvious to most people that moving house would the best option but for someone who likes a challenge, operation light and airy, but cosy cottage, with a less than light an airy box to play with commenced continues today.

We have had a plan for the last 5 years to increase the light in our own home and to extend it to help. It requires many ducks in a row and I have ached over every inch of the design of the house to understand the best combination that will work for us with the restrictions (conservation, green belt etc). Where we are restricted on light. decoration and design does the rest. We’ve learned more intuitively about the needs of a home. We have literally felt our way through it. It’s how I naturally operate now and what felt like an annoying shift to have to make, I am now aware of how grateful I am for the skill it has given me.

The Black and White of Colour

I wrote previously that I could write a whole blog post on my dislike of pure brilliant white (PBW).

So I decided I would.

I’m all for white and some spaces demand it, but I’ve joined the metaphorical club of never wanting to use it again.

Ever.

To start, this is not a scientific clarification of black and white and the definition of a ‘colour’… I will leave that to google.

What is my dislike for PBW all about? My issue is, there are literally thousands of ‘white’ and ‘black’ paint colours out there. I don’t know them all but I do know that there are likely 10’s of better whites to use than PBW. For any and every project.

The biggest thing it has going for it - and I appreciate it’s an important factor that we can’t ignore - is it’s more reasonable price tag, compared to almost all other paint.

My argument is; I don’t think it does ‘what it says on the tin’ anymore. It quite simply doesn’t look brilliant, to me.

Compared to the many other options out there now, brilliant means something different to me now. Paint is an investment, it’s likely going to be adorning that wall or woodwork for many years (even when you say it’s just going to be for a year or so until you find a colour you like).

It’s clean, easy and goes with everything, you cry. That’s the point of it’s existence - you argue. And in a world of a million paint colours, I understand it feels overwhelming to pick one. Just one, magic, all-fitting colour. It can seem overwhelming. Maybe it feels like not having to make a colour choice by picking PBW, and that’s half of it’s appeal.

I am here to burst that bubble.

Like the famous scene from Devil Wears Prada where the editors assistant; Andi (Anne Hathaway) gets a dressing down from Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) about her indifference to colour choice, you are indeed making decisions, even when you feel you are not.

Opting for the easily reached PBW over anything else is opting for clinical. It’s institutionalising in it’s effect on a space, and whilst *some people may find this comforting or comfortable, I’m wanting more than the feeling of visiting a hospital for my pot of paint.

Black also now has many a shade to choose from. Personally, wearing black makes me look unwell, so charcoal is as close to my skin as black can get and I’d say I have a similar approach to black in my interiors.

But, like white, black packs a punch when used well and it’s many available shades makes basic black look as ill-used as a bright colour in an episode of the Kardashian’s.

For me, black and white are workhorse colours; they’ll always be reliable and they have handy tricks up their sleeve for space minimising or maximising, but they’re not the centre of attention anymore. We’re entering an era of colour and pattern, again, and I enjoy getting lost in floral fabrics and whimsical wallpaper as well as the new colours coming in to paints (I am particularly loving red-based paints, at the moment).

The existence of the Millenial will ensure that French Grey isn’t going anywhere, but the addition of a smidge of yellow or red is not to be feared, they’re creating some amazing hues. No need to give shade anymore.

I love working with colour and there are various ways to work with colour to create harmonious palettes that give a sense of feeling without overwhelming the senses. I think black, white (and grey) have been loyal friends to our interiors for years, and they’ve always got a place, but I am looking to give them more time off now as the myriad of colours, hues and scales become available to enhance our interiors.

50 Shades of Grey…

For much of my adult life, grey has been a major player in the backdrop of my Millenial experience.

I don’t just mean metaphorically. The ‘grey period’ seemed to follow the greyness of the Global Financial Crisis of the late 2000’s, followed swiftly by the ‘Fifty Shades of Gray’ era of the early 2010’s.

Grey was the only colour on everyone’s mind; and everyone wanted to paint their walls in it. Not just people who needed to decorate; everyone wanted to decorate and they wanted to do it in shades of grey.

Before this, I don’t remember there being as much nuance in paint colour choices. I know there seemed to be as much choice then as there is now, but the ‘Changing Rooms’ DIY scene of the early 2000’s was more about brash colours and decorative themes than the finery of the right shade. And this gaping hole in the market seemed to motivate the flip to the shades of grey era.

The arrival of social media seemed to be timed perfectly with the rise in 10% mortgages and people taking up property development as a ‘side hustle’. Farrow & Balls grey scale, chalky matt paints were in the right place at the right time and online ‘interiors inspo’ was born.

Farrow & Ball subsequently became one of the coolest brands not just in decorating but in the country and decorating became cooler, motivating a rise of F&B type colours in company branding / marketing, and two-word, ampersand joining, brand names.

Pattern was out, in fact everything other than black white and grey seemed to be out in interiors and this triad was like the skinny jeans of the interiors world; you couldn’t get rid of them.

When my husband and I bought our first flat together in 2012, grey was very much at the forefront of our decorative minds, and F&B tester pots were a luxury for our new home-owner budget. Grey walls with white trim and black accents were and still are a staple in design and whether you’re a fan of grey, or not, it’ll likely be hanging around for a while (until Ikea has a ‘chuck out your grey, black and white’ campaign).

Which brings me to that famous campaign of the early 200'0’s, that is forever etched in my mind and ears… google ‘chuck out your chintz advert’ and enjoy having the theme tune in your head for the next few days. Ikea’s catchy, skandy marketing was rolled out across Europe with its campaign against the old, in favour of black white and grey monochrome (with some primary colours thrown in). And we flocked to queue outside stores to buy flat-pack, white grey and black heaven. And Ikea’s take over has continued. But cut to 2020’s and we’re seeing chintz back on the market…with every shade nature inspired green.

But grey continues to reinvent itself as its the grey tones of every colour in the spectrum that has brought colour back to the fore from monochrome mania. The muted / greyer tones of colours have been gradually introduced as exciting new grey options, and they’re re taking over. Anthracite grey (blue-grey) windows have replaced the demand of the previously popular mahogany coloured window (thankfully). Light grey and deep blue-grey are the top two colour choices for a new kitchen. Grey-green and grey-blue are the top picks for an accent wall and of course charcoal (grey-black) has left the log burner and made it on to everything else. Grey has dipped it’s finger in to all the pies to stay current and as such it’s bringing colour back.

And I am here for it.

I love colour, and the multitude of tones available now with the help of grey means we don’t have to think about colour as so vivid, all the time. But we also don’t just have to stick to grey. Much like how pure brilliant white can be offensive (I could write a whole blog about my offense to pure brilliant white) so too can any hue in the wrong light, setting or context.

Interior colour is finding it’s middle ground, between the vivid and the muted. Colour is here to help, not hinder and it’s here to love not avoid. The shades (adding black to a colour), tints (adding white to a colour) and tones (adding grey) are working together in new decorative styles. The grey era is over but grey has found it’s way to stay, to tone the nation up.

And it’s worth its weight in Elephants Breath.