We could all add more colour to our lives if we think about it. The world can be a pretty drab and dreary place, but there’s no reason why your home should be like that too. Just a few pops of colour here and there can have a surprisingly big effect on the overall feeling within your home. So, elevate your home from dull to vibrant with these simple colour tips!
START AS YOU MEAN: GO WITH YOUR FRONT DOOR
First impressions count, and for your house, it’s the entrance. A fresh lick of paint on the front door in a colourful hue – maybe a bright orange, sunny azure or bold navy blue – will draw the eyes of both passers by and family alike, leaving a lasting impression on anyone who enters your home. Renters though, beware! Always check what you can and can’t do with your landlord.
CHANGE UP YOUR FURNITURE
Another easy way to add colour to your home is to purchase some bright-hued furniture. It’s simple, right? Whether this be the chairs and sofas you have, or the bookcases and shelving, a little touch of colour can go a long way.
That’s not to say you should necessarily just slapdash go and add colour every which way, as this will make for an incoherent-seeming room with a colour scheme that potentially clashes with itself. A dark, emerald-coloured armchair, for instance – such as this one – provides not only class, but style and an air of exclusivity, too. There’s a world of difference, after all, between tasteful colour and cheap kitsch.
WHY NOT THROW SOME CUSHIONS IN?
Many modern homes feature a very neutral decor; cream or white walls, along with similar colour carpets and fixtures and furnishings. Fortunately, though, this lack of colour can actually work in your favour, because even a small pop of colour can make a world of difference. A couple of bold, accent cushions – either patterned or simply block coloured – will draw the eye and provide a stark contrast with the room’s otherwise minimal appearance.
OPT FOR SHAPES
A plain laminated, tiled or wooden floor can be infinitely improved by the addition of a colourful, boldly-patterned rug. This can provide that singular, accented focus you’ve been looking for, especially if the rest of the room in question is relatively plain. Popular patterns include circles, geometric shapes, as well as abstract and asymmetric shapes, all filled with striking colour combinations.
SPRINKING COLOUR IN THE GARDEN
If you’re an avid gardener, then your outdoor space might already be a hotbed of colour. For most of us, though, when we look outside at the back garden, we’re met with an uninspiring lawn and bare, weedy flower beds. You can transform your garden without getting your fingers dirty by adding some colourful garden furniture (like these folding garden chairs) to help add a colourful focal point to your garden.
COLOUR BY BOOKS
Sometimes, you can make your home more colourful by just using what you’ve got around you. If you’re an avid reader, for instance, then you’ve most likely also got rows and rows of books lining your bookcases. But how are they ordered? Most likely, if they’re ordered at all that is, your books will be arranged by title, author or series. But what if you changed that so they were ordered by colour?
Why not bring a rainbow into your home on even the darkest of days? When you arrange your books by colour, you can create whatever tone you want; a classic rainbow, an ombre, or alternating opposites – one row might have only black and white book spines, another might have only blue and yellow. The options are endless!
GO GREEN - ADD PLANTS
A bit of greenery can really bring your interiors to life. And whether you want to look after living plants or simply buy in some artificial plants, instead, the colour and vibrancy that plants provide is simply unmatched. Why do people like houseplants so much? Well, there’s something undeniably attractive about the idea of living, organic colour that even the most beautiful of furnishings can’t compete with. The benefits of fake plants, of course, is that you get that colour all year around, and don’t have to worry about them dying when you go on holiday!
LIGHT UP IN STATEMENT STYLE
If you’ve ever tried to take a nice photo, then you know that good lighting can make all the difference. The same can be said when it comes to lighting your home. However, it’s just as much about the lightshade as it is the type of light itself. Incorporating a more visually-striking statement lampshade into your room will help draw the eye to exactly the right spot.
WHAT GOES UP...
Removable wallpaper: the perfect option for renters. It’s easy to make a difference to your home’s aesthetic without making permanent changes. And what’s even better is that it’s relatively inexpensive. With so many options out there when it comes to colours and styles, you can implement whatever sort of tone you’re after in a matter of minutes, whether that be fun and tropical, modern and abstract, or anything else.
EDGE INTO BRIGHTNESS
Just like with rugs, furniture or accent cushions, simple block colour curtains can really transform a space. These contrasts work especially well when you’ve got a white room, then the colour pops even more. Coloured blinds provide a similarly engaging effect. Whatever colour scheme you end up choosing, try to be consistent with it to provide that element of a theme, rather than just random choices here, there and everywhere.
