Blue is on trend. It has always been a popular colour for decorating interiors but it’s now gone darker as we get bolder with our designs. Finding the right blue though can be tricky. If you go too light it loses the impact and becomes light and fresh, go too dark and it becomes cold and gloomy, and too green or grey makes it difficult to match with the rest of the room.
I am currently designing a bedroom for my aunty and uncle and they told me they had seen navy blue paint used on a programme and they really liked it, this gave me a starting point but left me with a lot of choices to make. The first decision I had to make was what blue to use, and following that, how much of the room was going to be blue. I knew the room was going to be the master bedroom with space for a dressing area and en suite with a grown up, relaxing feel. I want the room to feel rich and luxurious but go nowhere near being tacky and just full of gold or silver. These factors meant I was looking for a dark blue, with a slight green undertone, and a touch of grey so it isn’t too bright.
I usually start out looking at the more expensive paint brands because they have colours that are deeper and richer with varying undertones and lots of choices too choose from. This isn’t to say that cheaper brands don’t have these colours, there are just less of them, and once I find the colour I want I could get it mixed in a DIY shop with the cheaper paint, and it will still be good quality. I started looking through my paint sample charts and found Farrow&Ball, Little Greene and Abigail Ahern had the types of blue I wanted.
Firstly Farrow&Ball. I picked 3 blues to compare and each was very different with some pulling more green and some more grey. Stiffkey Blue, Hague Blue and De Nimes Blue are the ones I chose.
Stiffkey Blue is the first image, and it’s almost perfect. It’s quite dark, has a slight green undertone and isn’t too vibrant. However, when used on just one wall and with lighter colours surrounding, I am worried it will be slightly too light and cool. The second is Hague blue, which is nearly green. It has a lot of depth to it and depending on the light in the room it changes shade, which is something I love about paint colour like this. It sometimes pulls more blue but I would prefer it to look less green overall. Finally, De Nimes, this is a new colour for Farrow and Ball, and I love it, just not for this room. It has a really good amount of grey so it is very calming but it is too light, it would be great for a kitchen, open plan dining/living space, with the same use of mixed metals and materials for that high end feel but it is fresh and airy rather than super cosy.
Little Greene had some good choices of blue paint and again I found 3 colours which were close to what I wanted. However, all three of the blue’s from Little Greene didn’t have quite enough green and grey in them for I want. They are all quite vibrant and Dock Blue is even slightly purple which when mixed with grey or white is quite cold. These blues work well with white because they are more of a true blue and I’m not confident they will go with the warmer grey I want and create a cozy, relaxing space.
I have never used Abigail Ahern paints but I had a sample card of colours in my collection and it had really dark and deep colours which I thought might be what I was looking for. There isn’t a huge selection of paint colours but they are all really rich colours and different to any I had seen before. Thunder and Rivington Blue are the two blues and they were pretty much what I was looking for, my worry is that they are too dark but they could work as I am only considering painting one, possibly two walls in blue.
Although I found multiple blues I liked, I couldn’t find the right mix that I wanted so as I put together a visual on photoshop I edited the colour Stiffkey Blue to be the right colour I wanted. The colour I got was dramatic when used on a whole wall behind the bed and because I added more green to the blue it could be used with a warm grey so it didn’t feel too cold. This created a cosy feel that was welcoming and soothing. If the blue was slightly brighter and lighter, it would be more stimulating which is not what I wanted in this bedroom. If it had been anymore green, I would have struggled to find the right grey to match as the neutral colour in the room and it would have been more beige/gold in colour and when mixed with gold and brass furniture and accessories , may have looked tacky. The gold and brass features make the room more luxe and add texture and warmth which is needed with a blue, but if the blue has too much grey in it, it is harder to match with gold as the rest of the walls would be in a cooler grey and would look better with silver. A grey blue with more of a purple undertone results in a colder room and if it’s too dull a colour, it can lose its sophisticated relaxed vibe.
Once I had the blue I wanted and had created a visual with the blue covering a whole wall behind the bed, I wanted to show the client a different option though when adding colour so came up with a design where the main furniture in the room was blue rather than the wall. A blue can be quite full on and bold, especially if it is something the client isn’t used to. I also wanted to demonstrate the use of a cooler blue and how it affects the rest of the room. I used a cool grey on the walls and more of a navy blue for the large headboard and it lacked a sense of calmness. I struggled to find the right grey that was warm enough to match the wood floor and gold elements but was also not too warm so it would match the colours of the blue fabrics in the room. I warmed up the space with pink accents and larger plants but it still didn’t have the cozy vibe like the other design did.
The client and I both preferred the painted blue wall visual as it had depth, warmth and created a a peaceful space for sleep. A lot of thought goes into picking the perfect colour for a room and sometimes it can never be found but I wanted to show that when you put blues together and compare them side by side you can see how different they really are. In some cases, even if the colour isn’t quite right it doesn’t affect a space too much, but quite often if a room is put together where a certain style is trying to be achieved the wrong colour can throw the role thing off. Take time to consider the options and if you need to, get your own colour mixed as in the long run it will be worth it and the space will turn out how you wanted.
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