Life and Colour

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

It was something that my mother always reminded me of and I have spent most of my adult life working to understand the many aspects of my experience of space; physically, emotionally and metaphorically. Spoiler alert, my biggest fear is the concept of ‘outer space’, and as such ‘cosy’ is my jam (Gen Z; jam is Millenial for ‘vibe’).

Life choices and curveballs have landed me in certain spaces for long periods of time and whilst some things (children, covid, ill-health) taught me to hone my understanding of this from an interiors perspective, 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 known as Marfans syndrome. From the outside he’s a normal looking, functioning, taller member of society. Inside, he has quite the juggle and his life is a living case of whack-a-mole. Since the year after we met, a year hasn’t gone by without a health or surgical intervention, and each time our lives, home and relationship have had to change to accommodate it. From his heart to his toes, everything needs attention, at the right time, a bit like we see our homes these days, and for someone that convalesces a lot, our home is a much needed sanctuary - and it’s got it’s own restrictions and challenges. We’ve had to get clear over the years about what we need, where and when and it’s felt at times like we’ve been the only ones in our peer group doing it.

The night I met my husband, it was less than an hour before we started talking about how much we loved doing up properties and subsequently he and I were decorating our first purchased property together before we hit our one year anniversary. He works in property and understands what’s possible, how to do it and lives by doing the right thing, even if it’s the most long-winded. Homes are where my heart is and I’ve loved soft development and interiors from a teenager, seeing my mum do up up properties as a small business. Our idea of a great date is a DIY project; my husband is the man that can do (almost) anything, I am the ideas woman. And out house and life continues to throw stuff at us to learn from…

I didn’t know much about cataracts until my husband was diagnosed with it just after we had our first child. Usually experienced as a milkiness or haziness to one’s vision, it generally requires surgery to correct the lens, which he had on both his eyes at 35. Given the other operations he had had and how busy life had become with a baby, 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, and that profoundly effected how he felt in a space, and subsequently how we all felt and familied wherever we were.

Many post-surgery, cataract’s patients experience “halo’s”, which are a bit like that band of light you see around the sun when you look at it (which you probably haven’t done since you were 6 and they told you not to do it for fear of going blind). The problem is, they see it around every light source; lights, lamps, car headlights, candles… and it rocks their nervous system (not in a good way, and all day)... and it’s particularly bad when the light is in contrast to a darker background (at night, in a dark painted room).

With the advances of science, technology and specialism in every field, there is a common misconception that people don’t have to struggle with physical issues anymore, but the reality is they do.

My mother-in-Laws partner is almost deaf and whilst most people think a hearing aid can fill in the ‘hearing gap’, a hearing aid enhances all noise, including background noise and pitch that normal hearing naturally works with. So, like cataracts patients can struggle with background colour and light, hard of hearing patients can struggle with background noise and and pitch. (I’m yet to find an abundantly, naturally lit restaurant with a carpet and soft furnishings, with no background music on to enjoy a meal out with my husbands family so if anyone knows of one, please do get in touch!)

Our surroundings are stimulating, and not always in a good way - and what is good for one person, isn’t for the next. How we understand our needs is key to get clear on what we surround ourselves with; this accounts for people as well as interiors.

For many people that go through any surgery, there is a transition phase to recalibrate to the new norm. My husband has been through no fewer than 12 general anaesthetic surgeries and is well versed in the recalibration phase, but this was different. Whilst he was delighted to be able to see his daughter now properly, as a much younger than the average cataracts patient with uniquely large lenses (bigger than the size of the new ones they replace it with) his new lenses didn’t adequately cover the old ones (and they don’t make them bigger) and so it’s been 6 years of recalibrating and learning...

We’ve all heard about and are likely dabbling with 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. And when I got clear on it, it wasn’t just my husband who was benefitting from it, it was me and my daughter also. Societally, we are much more aware of our nervous system, and the effects our surroundings have on it, but until it impacts any of us so negatively and so regularly, we don’t always seek to see, understand or work with it.

We had to make changes to our home and everyday life. It started as something we had to address and has since become second nature, to understand how a space feels, for each of us. What I have learned is that the input in to a space changes for many reasons, 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. Whilst it’s exciting to imagine painting your living room sage green like it is to imagine wearing a fancy floral summer outfiit the reality is, there is more information about what looks cool in your living room than what your living room needs to feel how you want it to. Most people can’t change walls as cost effectively or quickly as an outfit; deciding interiors is a longer lasting and more expensive affair and it’s a minefield to get right for the required investment of time and or money.

As such, I am continually reminded that trying to recreate something that I see somewhere else, in my own life or home, doesn’t often feel how I thought it would but that equally doesn’t mean what feels good has to be far from what looks good. It’s an ever-changing dynamic and our homes are always evolving as we incorporate things in to our lives. Sometimes we get to a time in our life where things don’t seem to feel like they fit so well together and when that happens I’m aware of how to bridge the gap now.

The home we had moved in to 5 years previously is a relatively ‘cosy’, east-to-west facing, 2-up-2-down cottage. The first time I viewed it I already loved its’ location and cottagey-ness, so was relieved to find normal ceiling heights inside as my husband’s 6ft 3 stature does not generally find comfort in a cottage. Having a 3.3m square box for a living room with a relatively small, conservation east facing window I decided (on dreary afternoon) to paint the room in the deep, cocooning colour of Farrow and Ball’s Inchyra Blue. I revelled in it’s combination with my already existing mustard yellows on soft furnishings and felt pleased with myself for nailing it with dark vivid colours rather than the age-old idea of small spaces demanding light walls. Of course, not long after this my husbands surgery happened and it became apparent very quickly that my cosy cocoon was a near nightmare for him and our 2-room abode needed a re-think.

The upside was, some of my home decor ideas provided us with an understanding of the the worst case scenario (a dimly-lit and vividly coloured room) and we initially got by with always having the ‘main light’ on in a room. However, for me this brought about my own nervous response; where growing up, ‘the main light’ was saved for emergencies and passive aggressive communication, ‘mood lighting’ was my mainstay (but my husbands nemesis.) Life was a bit bumpy getting used to so much change - outside of the constant change and phases of a growing child - and it seemed like more change than the bigger surgeries he had experienced. On the rare occasion we’d get out for an evening to go for dinner, we’d end up walking straight out of it…we ended up stopping drinking at home and then everywhere and only going out in summer but eventually it forced us to get really specific about the feels and what we needed in any given space and time of day and we found a new normal.

It might seem obvious to most people that moving house would the best option and it has been on the cards for the whole time since we’ve lived here. Long story short, in a decade of looking we are yet to find a plot and location that works (for hospitals, family and work) that we love as much as we do currently (and can afford). So, as someone who likes a challenge, operation light and airy, but cosy cottage, with a less than light an airy box to play with commenced, and continues today.

We have had a plan for about the last 5 years to increase the light in our home and to extend it to help. It has required us to get 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 all the restrictions we have personally and through our conservation and green belt planning restrictions. We can’t change the size of the windows (we live in a strict conservation area) but we have done as many things as we can to bring light in, where it’s needed, and 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.

I have seen and experienced how we work with light and colour and what impact that has on a room and home - and how working with them differently can bring a different feel. And that’s what I will continue to work on.

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 again wanting to use it again.

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

The biggest thing it has going for it - and I appreciate it’s an important factor that we can’t ignore - is that it is nicely priced compared to almost all other paint. My argument is that I don’t think it does ‘what it says on the tin’ anymore. Quite simply it no longer looks brilliant to me, and compared to the many other options out there now brilliant means something different to me. Paint is an investment, for likely a few years of experience, and you don’t bet on the cheapest horse in the Grand National expecting the best return (I like a metaphor).

It’s not even a colour - I hear 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 when you feel you are not. When you opt for the easy reached PBW over anything else, you opt 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 in an era of colour and pattern 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).

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 but I am looking to give them more time off now as the myriad of colours and scales become available to enhance our experience indoors.

I rest my case.

50 Shades of Grey…

Much of my adult life of interiors has had a backdrop of grey.

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 - but 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’ and Farrow & Balls grey scale, chalky matt paints were in the right place at the right time. 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 carpet bombed Europen TV with it’s campaign against the old and in favour of the new; of block colours — mostly black, white and grey. And we flocked to queue outside stores to buy flat-pack, white grey and black heaven.

But that’s all in the past and we don’t all still paint our houses grey, I hear you say. Colour in the 2020’s is alive and kicking and we’re embracing it. Indeed we are, however it’s grey that is the silent saviour in this story because 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. But 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.