When I went dark, at least 7 years ago now there were a lot of gasps and intakes of breath. From decorators (they were the worst actually) to friends. Not anymore it seems everyone is getting into it from Brooklyn to Melbourne from London to Paris. So I thought it would be a good idea to write a list of tips that I’ve discovered along the way through trial and through error.
Go matte. Unless your walls are freshly skimmed going shinny will show up each and every imperfection and drive you crazy. Also matte paint looks and feels super luxurious, itâs almost like having velvety walls. The more expensive brands are the best way to go. I’m not just saying this because I’m launching a paint range. I’m saying it because I’ve spent an extraordinary amount of time researching and working with the lab. The more expensive paints are made mostly from natural pigments from rocks and minerals, earth and clay resulting in a more complex pigmentation than you don’t get with cheaper paints. Something that I found supremely interesting whilst researching my paint range was why the spectrometers used by many of us (paint copying machines) always fail to copy exactly the more expensive brands. The reason: higher costing paints use multiple pigments to achieve their complex shades, cheaper big brand tins use always two, sometimes but very occasionally three. So the machines can’t match correctly resulting in a colour that is similar but has zero depth and therefore looks flat!
Paint out the trim and the ceilings. It doesn’t matter if your ceilings are tall or short when you blur the lines between the walls and the ceilings they automatically feel taller, grander and more sophisticated. Infinity almost you can’t tell where the walls stop and the ceilings begin they blur and blend into each other beautifully. People never ever believe me until they do it. Not sure why we paint ceilings white, maybe because for decades we automatically like sheep follow, follow convention and never question, strange hey. It is the biggest game changer on the planet I promise!
Add colour through accessories. You donât have to over do it, bright green foliage say, a shiny gold vase, a shot of colour in your cushions it will enhance your space further. The biggest tip is when deciding upon colours avoid the wishy washy pastel sort. Pastels are best (trying to think where) nowhere! Avoid them if you can. In the smallest of doses they are fine like vases say but if you overdo it you won’t get that sophisticated look they don’t partner well with these glam, dark super intriguing hues.
Don’t neglect the lighting. If you go dark you will find that you get lots more shadows and corners blurring into darkness than ever before. This is a good thing we don’t want to eliminate shadows as they add depth and mystery but we also don’t want spaces to feel gloomy so make sure you have lots of table lights dotted around the room. Table lights from experience give the most atmospheric glow and there are tons on the market from the high street to the flea to the super expensive.
That is me done. Happy Thursday think I might stroll down the road for an early morning swim in the lido.