Having a vision for a room redesign or home renovation often means heading straight to Instagram or Pinterest, maybe a flick through some glossy print magazines. Either way, it’s usually a case of following someone else’s imagination. Instead, take a look around at the colours and shapes that announce themselves specifically to you, and you'll see that they can deliver new inspiration and with it, the confidence to use them. Bringing colours in from the world around you almost always makes a space look original and creative.
There’s a fancy name for it – colour theory – which covers the study of how colours are used together and how they affect emotion and perception. These days, colour theory is taught less at art school, giving way to lessons on digital and mixed media practices. But at its heart, it is simply the way we relate to and combine the colours and shades around us, to satisfy and express a visual response. Wall paint companies have fed into this for years by attaching increasingly emotive names to shades that conjure up an exotic and comforting response. “Elephants Breath’ ‘Shadow White and ‘Skimming Stone’ all by Farrow & Ball describe various and contemporary shades of clay, and are a far cry from the popular but more descriptive Sandy Beige, Harvest Gold and Earthy Brown offered by paint companies of the 1970’s.
If you’re colour sensitive and by now, nodding along, you might also be asking why it can still be so hard to get colours in a room right. And the answer is often that we miss the obvious. Think about how the eye is interrupted as it travels across a freshly painted tonal kitchen by addition of a slab of dark brown wood in the form of a two-metre dining table. This usually happens at the end of the process and can instantly drain the calm mood brought in by nuanced shades of paint and accessories. Chrissie Rucker of the The White Company knew this when she set up the business in 1994 after finding it hard to find good quality white homewares. The company has grown because the concept of keeping a neutral colour palette as the background to a serene and stylish life instantly resonated with a very wide audience. Walk into any White Company store and you will see the products displayed on modern rustic style pale washed tables and benches throughout – allowing the eye to receive entire ranges as a ‘look’ rather than a collection of products. 
Whatever style you have, applying a touch of colour theory works, from a warehouse conversion through to a character cottage, townhouse or flat and the look can be bold as well as neutral; a darkwash dining table with chunky steel legs will create a statement look against a background of open brick, plaster, metal beams and warm wood floors because the colours are all share similar deep, timeworn and moody characteristics. Vintage style doesn’t have to be old or a distressed surface and ‘modern vintage’ is becoming an increasingly popular trend within interior design. Companies like The Modern Rustic offer custom-coloured shades of steel as well as the palewash and darkwash tabletops that can create a really individual look that means something to you. From organic, earthy colours such as Pebble Grey and Pigeon Blue through to bolder olives and yellows, once you have the confidence to bring colour into your space, you’ll instantly feel the joy it brings. You can then gradually work on extending the look by buying accessories and even tricky support acts such as lighting choices become much easier, as the colours guide you.
