Pale and interesting interiors can create a cosy yet minimal, luxurious yet understated home that looks and feels utterly inviting
Neutrals never go out of fashion. Adding a pale shade of a fashionable colour or two gives your interior a stylish edge. Include an array of delicious textures as well, and you’re really onto a dream combination. The ‘Vanilla Girl’ aesthetic is all the rage. A softly simple yet luxurious look that utilises creamy, neutral shades and textures such as chunky knitted throws, pampas grass and satin bedding. But there’s an almost infinite range of neutral colours. From pure white to earthy tones of grey and beige. And combine with pales such as blush pink, celadon and buttercup, you can vary your look to suit your personality while still keeping that tranquil feeling.
Why neutrals?
A well-planned neutral scheme is good-looking, harmonious and inviting. And it works well in old and new houses, and in small or large spaces. Neutrals are perfect for providing cohesion from room to room, and make a perfect backdrop for plants, works of art or collections. Easy to live with, they provide a calming backdrop to daily life in any room of the house, and can easily be swapped when you feel like a change.
All white now
White is the ultimate neutral, and rooms painted pure, brilliant white appear bigger and brighter, fresh and airy. A clean white wall is great for vibrant paintings, books, rows of cacti or succulents. Pure white may be a little stark in north- or east-facing rooms that don’t get much direct sunlight. Try a shade with an added touch of yellow or pink to warm up the space. In period homes, slightly muddier off whites may be a good choice to complement original features.
Choosing and using neutrals
There’s an enormous range of neutral colours from which to choose, varying in hue from cream to sand, beige to stone and more. Some contain more grey or green pigment, some more yellow, others more pink or brown. Use one everywhere, or use different neutrals in different rooms, but with a visual link. Perhaps a very pale colour in a narrow hallway, with slightly darker tones in a living room and a warm tone in a dining room.
Or opt for one colour ‘family’ (look at the vertical groupings on a paint chart). Use several sibling shades within a room – experts recommend darker tones for woodwork and lighter ones for walls. With features like cornices and dadoes, you may wish to paint lighter tones above and darker ones below. Avoid clashing hues of the same tone (slightly different colours with the same degree of lightness or darkness). Shiny gold or brass accessories can offset the subtle scheme, but a dash of black is often a good finishing touch.
Surface matters
The plainer the colour, the more important its surface becomes. Choose your finishes as carefully as your shades. Ultra-flat, matt, eggshell, satinwood or gloss, bearing in mind that the shinier the finish, the paler the colour will appear, so you may need to compensate by choosing a slightly darker colour. Lighting, too, can make a difference. Look at test paint patches under different lighting conditions, because the appearance of the colour can change quite dramatically.
Attractively tactile
Textures bring a room to life and make a house a home. From the polish of smooth ceramic to the soft squish of cashmere, the nubbly weave of wicker to the homely warmth of felted wool, a variety of textural surfaces add visual appeal and feels comfortable and secure. Natural textures in particular come to the fore – sisal, shell, stone, brick, wicker, timber, leather, linen, wool, to name a few.
Think of layering texture upon texture to create pleasing, subtle contrasts. So there you have it – an enormous variety of colours, tones and textures to explore and enjoy.
Words: Katherine Sorrell
Image: snugsofa.com
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