PAINT IDEAS
Paint light colours to make more space… The joy of newer buildings is that they tend to be easier to decorate as, unlike period properties, there aren’t usually walls to repair, wonky bits and gaps where there shouldn’t be. However, do make sure the walls have fully dried out first. This can take between nine and 12 months from the original plastering – although the builders will have already painted, you are likely to get tiny cracks in the finish due to shrinkage so don’t waste good paint on redoing the job until the plaster has settled. (For more on this, check out page 15 of the really useful Guide to Your New Home, put together by the NHBC, an independent standard-setter and provider of warranty and insurance for new homes.) The general consensus is that darker colours will make a room feel warm and cosy, but they’ll absorb light rather than reflect it. So, in a small modern home, stick to paler colours that will brighten and lighten key rooms and make them feel bigger. This doesn’t mean you have to be bland. Painter recommends creating contrast by choosing a darker colour for your skirting boards and teaming it with a paler colour for the walls. This will open up the room.
Pick up a panel You can also attach larger panels of trellis all around your space. Here, climbers teamed with rectangular planters add a verdant edge to an urban courtyard. And even where it’s uncovered, the trellis still looks attractive. If you’re worried about mould and rot, choose timber that’s been specially pressure treated so it lasts the distance. Panels come in a range of sizes, so you should be able to find something to suit.
Double up your trellis Trellis is a simple way to cover up ugly or bland fencing, and is great for utilising vertical space in a small area. In this long, skinny garden, full use has been made of every wall by attaching trellis to it. Once established, the climbing plants can wind their way along the surfaces to create a luscious, green walkway. Lengths of trellis can be picked up cheaply in garden and homeware stores, but make sure the wood isn’t too flimsy to support foliage or survive extreme weather changes. To install, fix battens to your walls or fences, then screw on the trellis, and remember that climbing plants need access to the back of the trellis too. Want to make a small garden feel bigger? Here’s how
Go horizontal Traditional fencing has its place, but a more modern alternative can create a big impact, without radically changing much else. Horizontal slats will instantly give your garden a contemporary feel, and lead the eye around it, making the space seem wider but still cosy and contained. Here, cedar wood slats have been nail-gunned into place, with a post behind every metre. You can have panels made bespoke, or for a more affordable option, shop for off-the-peg horizontal slatted fence panels online.
It can be snug It might seem counterintuitive to go for dark colours in a room with little natural light, but pale colours won’t boost light where there isn’t any, so going the other way and emphasising cosiness is often a good solution. Blending painted surfaces rather than picking out highlights will emphasise this effect, as seen here in this basement snug. Don’t forget radiators – if you’re going down this decorating route, be aware that they risk inadvertently becoming features unless you also paint them to match. Find radiators unsightly? See how to hide them
Sims Hilditch SaveEmail It can soften the edges Consider the surfaces adjacent to your matching walls and woodwork too. In this country manor house in the Cotswolds, the brown tones in the paintwork (it’s Fine Mahogany by Neptune) echo the colours in the flagstones, wicker baskets, logs and rugged front door, building a relaxed feel in this elegant but unfussy hallway. So before you get your brush out, look at the surfaces next to and surrounding the woodwork you’re planning to paint. Take a sample of it, if possible, to a DIY shop that offers colour matching and then go a few shades lighter or darker. Want to explore this country home? Take a look around it
Sigmar SaveEmail It can be different If you don’t feel that full-on matching walls and woodwork will create the look you’re after, but you still want to soften the edges where the wood and plaster meet, try this technique. Use two shades from opposite ends of the same colour card – by choosing two tonally connected hues, you create definition but not total separation, lending your backdrop a calmer, less formal style. When creating this effect, go for neutrals, whether it’s off-whites, pastels or sludgy shades, rather than stronger colours.
Sigmar SaveEmail It can mix and match In this generously sized entryway, the majority of the woodwork sticks with convention. But choosing to paint the built-in cupboard doors to blend with the wall means they melt into it, helping this hallway to feel more spacious as the back wall, being almost uniformly dark, appears to recede. It’s a smart trick if you want a room to feel bigger, and could work well on bedroom wardrobes or fitted cupboards too.
Godrich Interiors SaveEmail It can let the details shine The default approach to decorating – white ceilings, window frames and skirting boards, whatever colour your walls – gives a room a crisp and classic frame. It would work perfectly here, with these salvage antique basins, but instead, by swerving the more obvious approach, the room becomes all about the basins, as they don’t have a band of white paint competing with them. If you’ve invested in a large vintage piece, consider tailoring your paintwork to show it off. Considering a darker palette for your wash space? Browse these stylish grey bathrooms for ideas
It can boost a contemporary twist Victorian homes that respect their period details but don’t wallow in the past are endlessly popular on Houzz. And this paint technique works perfectly with that approach, as seen in this bold and colourful living room. Interestingly, one-colour walls and woodwork actually have traditional roots, it’s just that white woodwork has since become the norm. What gives the historic one-colour idea contemporary fizz is the clean finish it gives to a room – fewer lines breaking up a space make for a more streamlined look. Here, there is still plenty of white woodwork. Merging those luscious blue walls (the colour is Peacock by Flamant) with the skirtings draws attention to the elegant ceiling while visually stretching the height of the room – just picture the shortening effect if this space had white at its bottom and top. Inspired by this colourful Victorian home? See more of it
…but go dark in the hall Surprisingly, a flash of colour can work well in a narrow space such as a hallway, though, because the eye is drawn to the colour rather than the size of the space. “You can play with the eye by painting a hall dark and the rooms beyond it lighter,” suggests Painter. “The hall will appear cosy but there will be a greater sense of space beyond.”
Q