Drenching your rooms in colour is the best way to evoke a mood, and create an atmospheric effect in your home. You can dip into a colour because you or someone in your family loves it. Alternatively, you can pick up the colour of your favourite piece in a room (it could be a sofa, the curtains or even a painting) and use that to inform the colour choice of the entire room. Designer-curator-stylist Namrata Datt swears by the practice of colour-drenching and has been using it to great advantage for the last five years. Here, she gives us some handy tips on how to go about it:
What is colour drenching?
Colour drenching is when you paint everything in a room, from the walls and woodwork to the ceiling, in the same colour. I sometimes paint the fans too, and go a tone up or down between the ceiling, walls and wainscoting.
How does colour-drenching change the look of a room or house?
It removes all the stark lines in a room, blurs the boundaries between the walls and the ceiling and makes the room look seamless. It visually creates an expansive space, and makes it look cohesive and stylish. I especially recommend it for rooms with low ceilings.
Can you give us examples of rooms where you’ve used it to enhance the look of the space?
Check out these pictures of rooms I’ve colour drenched. I’ve even matched the slipcover fabrics in some rooms with the tones of the walls and ceiling.
Should we paint air-conditioners the same colour as the walls?
Yes indeed. Air-conditioners can be an eyesore especially since most of us don’t even remove the stickers that the manufacturers paste on them to tom-tom their features. Painting them in the same hue as the wall they sit on is the best way to disguise them.
The same goes for wainscoting and skirting boards. By painting them the same colour as the wall, you allow them to seamlessly blend into the floor, even if the flooring is not the same colour.
What are the best colours to use in a bedroom?
Bedrooms bloom with a lavish use of pale to mid pastels. The hues soothe our eyes and nerves. Another advantage is that many bedding companies create sheets and pillow cases, and even duvets, in these colours. By using those together in a room that’s drenched in the same shade, you achieve a perfect tone-on-tone look that’s great for bedrooms.
What are the best colours for living spaces?
Living rooms look best in tones of greige, which is a mix of grey and beige. A bar can be more dramatic, and be done up in blues and reds. A study can be experimental in brown or shades of green.
Should you colour drench bathrooms and kitchens too?
Kitchens are tricky, as large durable items such as refrigerators, freezers and ovens can visually disrupt the seamless look. But you can certainly colour drench bathrooms, particularly powder rooms.