Six inspiring ways to update your home using the latest textures and tones.
1. Go for gold
The sumptuous textured fabrics in this bedroom celebrate luxe living, with the burgundy upholstered headboard bringing in a sense of a tailored hotel experience. The quilted mustard bed cover enhances the notion of sophistication and deep comfort, and contrasts beautifully with the autumnal hues used in the rest of the bedroom.
2. Tone on tone
The palette of moody pinks and maroons in this living room has a retro feel but is also timeless. The half-painted, part-panelled walls are an especially clever element, adding layered visual interest and a vintage atmosphere that doesn’t seem contrived. The use of lighter and darker versions of the same shade through walls and furnishings makes for a space that is colourful yet elegantly restrained.
TOP TIP: This cottage renovation avoids using obvious rustic details, opting instead for a sophisticated use of colour that is complemented by the understated natural textures of a coir rug, and the wooden floor and furniture. The vintage polo mallets make a playful talking point.
3. In the pink
The ongoing appeal of millennial pink – the dusty, off-pastel shade that has been popping up in youthful interiors for years – is amply demonstrated in this bathroom, which forms part of a new-build apartment with a stylish retro feel. Cladding the bath in chunky granite and using charcoal-grey slate tiles on the floor of this “wet room” space is both practical and a smart way to ground and offset the soft pink shade on the walls.
4. Modern pastels
When decorating this mid-century modern home, the owners decided to use historically accurate colours that were popular in the 1960s, when the house was built. They researched interiors from the era and chose colours they liked, including the saturated pastels seen here in the living room, which create a look that is both retro and fresh.
TOP TIP: A sheepskin dyed in a bright hue adds a pop of colour to a pale neutral floor, while a contrasting pink modular sofa adds a playful vibe.
5. Hello darkness
This moody en-suite bathroom offers a dark green encasement that creates a soothing, tranquil feel. A brass towel rail and matching cupboard handles are easy updates that add a shot of glamour that is both timeless and current.
TOP TIP: Paint cupboards, walls and ceilings in the same shade to create an elongated sensation of height and space.
6. Enviably green
The decision to paint all the walls and much of the ceiling of this heritage coastal holiday cottage in a single shade of green was one of the only changes its new owners made, after a friend suggested that the green would make the original yellow beechwood floors “look considered”.
Not only did this prediction turn out to be accurate, but the green also varies between hues of fern, olive and pistachio, depending on the light conditions as the day goes by.
