Spring is going to be awash in colour as experts predict that colour drenching is about to become one of the top design trends of the season. This trend involves painting walls, baseboards, ceilings, and doors in a single shade, and any colour can be used, except white.
In an interview with Vogue, London-based interior designer Stephanie Barba Mendoza said that the colour drenching method is a great way to make accessories and decorative items stand out. “It can make a room feel more peaceful and harmonious, as your eye isn’t jumping from the walls to a contrasting ceiling,” she adds.
Committing to a vibrant colour is the first step to infuse some joy and life into your space. If you’re planning to refresh your home this spring, here are some ways to embrace the colour drenching trend.
Ease Into the Trend with Small Doses of Colour
Painting a whole room in a bright hue may seem a little over-the-top, especially if you prefer neutral colours or a clean and minimalist interior design scheme. However, choosing the right colour can give your space a fresh and modern feel. It can also hide a multitude of flaws, such as bulky or puny mouldings or dated wainscoting. What’s more, it can give your home a feeling of warmth and cheer, which could be comforting on a gray spring day.
To ease into the trend, consider using small doses of a colour in a small room, and see if you can live with it. You don’t have to choose eye-catching colours, such as cherry red or bright orange, if you want to do a colour drenching test drive. Instead, think of muted colours like a moody purple, wine red, or a deep olive green. Lighter, more cheerful hues such as pale melon, blush pink, soft teal, or butter yellow will also work if you want to gradually ease into the trend.
Try painting one wall of your kitchen, home office, powder room, laundry room, or bathroom in any of these colours, then add a few accessories in the same hue. Think of custom picture frames that repeat the colour of your wall, and use that to display prints and artwork in the room. You can also add ceramics, small resin sculptures, or a vase in the same shade to tie all the different design elements together.
Test the Colour Before Going All In
If you love the results of your initial repainting experiment, you’ll probably want to colour drench other parts of your home too, such as your bedroom or living room. For this, you’ll want to fully commit by painting all of your walls, and extend that shade all the way up to the ceiling. Before taking the plunge, test the colour by painting a patch on your wall and ceiling, and observe how it looks at different times of the day. Keep in mind that some moody or deep paint colours can make your living room look perfectly elegant in the daytime but foreboding at night. If that’s not the look you’re going for, you can easily test other colours by painting over the patch.
Choose Contrasting Furniture and Accessories
A room painted in a deep hue will feel gloomy if you decorate it with dark-coloured wood furniture and soft furnishings. If you used dark gray, deep blue, or moody purple paint on your walls and ceiling, think about using lighter items and varying textures to give your room a lift. You can also use metallic accents and accessories to add interest and a feeling of luxury. If you chose a pale colour, add warmth and sophistication with dark wood and leather-topped furniture, plus a few patterned decorative items and a colourful area rug.
Colour drenching is here to stay. Consider these tips to try this joyful interior design trend in your home, and see how a splash of colour can transform your living spaces.
