I’m off to Hong Kong early this eve so I’m typing super fast to get everything on my list done. I have to say goodbye to the M’s and G this morning (hate that part) as I’m running to my publishers to look at colour proofs of my new book in the afternoon (exciting), picking up Gem from the station, and then off we zoom. Sounds glam but believe me the only cool part will be supper in Hong Kong tomorrow eve.
We then journey into the depths of China via train where we’ll be inside factories all day, freaking and tweaking the range! Blog posts will continue as normal, but my response time will be a little off-kilter what with time zone differences and some very long days. Although – thinking out loud – I always seem to get bad jet lag and am awake most nights so you never know we might be in sync!
Right. Let’s talk paint. I know we can all be a bit cautious when it comes to experimenting with it, fundamentally risk-averse even, but I think there are certain risks you should take and now! Why? Because it’s turned my house and my store around in the most magical of ways. Strangely enough, without even realising it it’s actually taken my business to even greater success. It’s made us stand out from the crowd and that has led to all sorts of opportunities. Even just for your home, when you push boundaries with your paint colours it’s life changing. Here are some game changing risks you can take:
Paint one room out all in the same colour
I know it sounds scary but once you do this I promise there’s no going back. I’m talking ceilings, skirts, doors, floors if you can. It looks so sophisticated I can’t even tell you!
Go bold or go home
Any flea market find or piece of furniture lying around that needs a facelift, update with a bold intoxicating hue. It will make it look far more expensive than if you opted for chalk paint or a wishy-washy colour.
Mix matte finishes up with gloss
It’s that friction between calm and serene matte paint and high-octane gloss paint that is so intoxicating. A fave trick of mine is to paint the ceiling gloss and then matte out the walls (all in the same hue of course). You can also go down a stripe route – stripes of the same colour look seriously edgy cool if one is matte, one is gloss. You could use gloss to highlight a feature alcove, or a wall. The mix is unexpected and whimsical, and your choices are actually pretty endless.
Use colour in unexpected places
When I was in LA shooting my new book, one of the homeowners had painted the inside of his kitchen cupboards to give a high voltage jolt of colour. Totally unexpected and a fab way of adding a bold dose of colour.
Get creative with finishes
Spray paint, chalkboard paint, metallic paint, glitter effect paints, even paints that emulate a sand texture can totally transform surfaces into dramatic works of art. All just by thinking a bit left-field.
I love!