Creating Colour Stories for your home
mairi helena harris green thistle wallpaper moodboard
mairi helena green thistle lampshades
mairi helena green thistle lampshades
Decorating with colour can be hugely rewarding. I think mostly because it can be so refreshing and uplifting to add colour into your home, as well as the fact that it's so exciting and so open to individual influences.Colour, as we all know, can so easily affect our mood. We want to feel at ease in our homes, unwind and chill out and simply enjoy living in the space that we have created for our own....I do think we're all becoming more colour conscious and inquisitive in how we can explore and experiment with colour in our homes, which is of course great to see! And so I thought I would share with you a few thoughts I had on colour and some ideas on how to bring together different combinations to together to create different schemes for colourful interiors. I like to call them 'colour stories'.Harmonising with pinks and greensHarmonising colours are low energy, relaxing, liveable colours that are polite and tasteful.Consider pink and green for example, a well recognised combination, two colours that are made for each other in my opinion. The mood board above focuses on the predominant colour of green (playing with various green hues) along with complimentary pinks and a touch of warm yellow ochre. Often it's useful to consider one main colour (approx 60%), mix with a secondary (approx 30%) and then add a highlight colour (approx 10%). Off course there are no rules.....but sometimes this can be a useful consideration to start from.Above: Special Edition Mairi Helena Harris Green Thistle 20cm Lampshade, please enquire for details as these are limited stock!Above: Mairi Helena Harris Green Thistle Lampshade 30cm
mairi helena harris green thistle wallpaper
Above: Mairi Helena Harris Green Thistle Wallpaper
This colour palette is all about being warm and welcoming.
Pastels and Mixed Materials
mairi helena mood board pink thistle wallpaper
Above: Mood board featuring Mairi Helena Fine Art Pink Thistle Wallpaper
Pastels are also a beautiful choice for creating a relaxing room interior. When considering quiet, subtle colours, it's great to mix with a variety of textures to help add detail and interest to the room. Consider introducing different materials such as metals, stone, ceramics and natural woods.
Opposites attract
mairi helena summer thistle wallpaper
Above: Mood board colour ideas featuring Mairi Helena Summer Thistle Wallpaper
Strong greens and reds create quite a different look to our previous colour story on greens and pinks. Red is a strong, confident colour and when mixed with a vibrant green it can really help to add drama and intensity. How about mixing it up even further and introducing a touch of marine blue?!
Warm Greys and Naturals
mairi helena grey tailor thistle wallpaper
Above: Mood board colour ideas featuring Mairi Helena Grey Tailor Thistle Wallpaper
I love mixing greys with warm tans and subtle heather purples. It was the slate greys found in Scotland's stoney landscapes along with the earthy heather heads that gave me inspiration for my Mairi Helena Grey Tailor Thistle design, featured below as wallpaper.
mairi helena grey tailor thistle wallpaper
A touch of the primary colours
mairi helena cobalt blue thistle wallpaper moodboard
Vibrant yellows together with sky blues..there's something very sun kissed about this combination which immediately makes us think of warm climates and carefree holidays. It's as equally bold and daring as it is satisfying.
mairi helena cobalt blue thistle lampshade
Above: Mairi Helena Cobalt Blue Thistle 20cm Lampshade Special Edition - please enquire for details, also available as 30cm, 45 and 70cm - see the Mairi Helena Shop!
Colour and Metallics
mairi helena bronze flush thistle wallpaper moodboard
And lastly, we finish with blue greys and browns together with the rich golds and brasses from coppers and metallics. I love seeing my Mairi Helena Bronze Flush Thistle Wallpaper being styled alongside copper pendants, flashes of ochres as well as the grains of natural woods.
mairi helena bronze flush thistle wallpaper
Above: Mairi Helena Bronze Flush Thistle Wallpaper
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So, I hope this has provided you with some ideas on how to introduce colour into your home. Whether it's in the form of pieces of art, wall paint colours, statement wallpaper, vintage flowers, lampshades, velvet cushions, or even simply crafty bits made from buttons and patterned tapes, I hope that this post has provided you with an idea for a starting point in which to consider alternative novel ways to introduce a colourful detail into your living space!
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The full Mairi Helena collection of colourful lampshades, cushions, fabrics by the metre and wallpapers can be explored here.
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MAIRI HELENA HAS BEEN SHORTLISTED FOR AN iON BREAKTHROUGH AWARD!
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If you're a regular reader of the Mairi Helena blog or reading for the first time (welcome!) and have enjoyed this post then I would be absolutely delighted if you would like to share the love by VOTING FOR ME in the 'Design' Category of the i-ON Magazine Awards! I'm thrilled to have made the short list in this wonderful new awards scheme which draws attention to emerging businesses based in the Edinburgh and Glasgow region. The prize includes an opportunity to be featured and supported by i-ON, with the overall winner receiving a wonderful support package from the magazine which would be of huge benefit to any emerging label!!! Thank you for your wonderful support, it is hugely appreciated!