how to choose colours for a new build or renovation by Holly Bryan

how to choose colours for a new build or renovation by Holly Bryan - Stillorgan Decor

Interior Designer and Colour Expert Holly Bryan of Dulux Ireland talks to us about colour scheming for a new build or renovation.

“For a new or renovated house there are lots of ways to attack the colour scheme; the most popular two are; 1) go all white then work room by room after you have lived with it for a while or 2) choose a more definite colour scheme from the start.
If you’re veering towards option 2 there is a particularly easy way of doing it. It’s a 5 colour palette, the fab @coracollinscolour developed this ions ago & it’s been hugely successful ever since with clients that we are giving colour advice to.

Because this is all about repetition it will immediately give a flow to the space. Using the same mid tone wall colour all over will make the whole house feel larger. This is a colour placement combination that you will often see in show homes – it can elevate a space and give a luxurious feel while being really simple to achieve (especially in comparison to option 1 or more complicated interior decorating methods).

how to choose colours for a new build or renovation by Holly Bryan - Stillorgan Decor

To summarise; if you’re doing a whole house and want to do fool proof colours this is the method;

Colour 1 – on the trim (doors, architraves, skirting, etc), & possibly the kitchen cabinets. This colour could be swapped to a pure white instead.

Colour 2 – on the main walls throughout unless specified otherwise

Colour 3 – on the feature walls plus possibly a whole sitting room or snug

Colour 4 – for any other feature walls, possibly the kitchen cabinets plus large amounts in the soft furnishings

Colour 5 – used only as a smaller amount in soft furnishings

This picture shows an example of this colour laydown with the size of the chips representing how much they will feature.

The Signature Collection colour card is laid out in trios for colours 1, 2 & 3 above. The feature wall colours at the back of the colour card for colours 4 & 5 above.

It’s like a very grown-up real life version of colour by numbers!

By Holly Eve Bryan

Be sure to follow Holly over on @hollyevebryan for more amazing colour advice and ideas.

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