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Using Colour and Light

Colour and Light

Colour is crucial. It makes us happy – when we get it right! Using colour and light is a big part if that

Thirty years of experience in putting colour schemes together teaches you that while you can combine them in striking contrast or subtle harmony, they only work when the tonality is right. All of our colours are from the same tonal family because we use the same range of pigments that have been used by artists and craftsmen for literally thousands of years. This makes them easy to combine with the other elements of your interior design schemes.

There are several tried and tested interior design styles to consider:

Coloured walls and white woodwork

This is the age old combination and it works well, one colour for the walls and a complementary white for the woodwork, cornice and ceiling. This style is steeped in history and might be considered traditional but it is smart, crisp and brings extra lightness into a scheme. At the same time the contrast makes the main colour look more intense. It is particularly useful if you have architectural details. If you look at our colours in our paint shop we give you the complementary white and the tonal range for each colour.

Our range is specifically designed so there are a number of complementary whites to go with each colour or indeed to work together.

One Colour Throughout

This is a more modern style, creating a sleek, contemporary look. Walls are painted in emulsion and the woodwork in the same colour in eggshell. The density of colour of the eggshell is always stronger, so although they are the same colour there is often a difference in depth to the discerning eye and this is a very attractive combination. It creates a monochromatic scheme which can help exaggerate the size of a room and gives a sense of calm. This focus on colour as a clean backdrop to furnishings and fabrics.

Complementary Shades

Our colours work in families and across colour groups. We have carefully created a range of each colour that can work together to create a uniform style which is calm and comfortable. It is very effective to use a number of shades of the same colour. Neutrals work extremely well together, picking out details which create layers and therefore more interest in the room.

Lighter Walls and Darker Woodwork

Combining light and dark together enhances both colours through the use of contrast. If you use dark colours on doors, woodwork or signature walls it brings a confident touch to a room. The darker colours exaggerate the serentity of the pale colours and their juxtaposition of the gentle white tones heightens the drama of our naturally pigmented colours.

How to Make a Room seem Bigger, Taller and Lighter

Generally lighter colours make a room look bigger, especially if there is a decent amount of natural light. Keeping the ceiling the lightest element will also help.

To make a room seem taller, especially one with irregular shaped ceilings we would recommend that you uses the same colour throughout, so the walls appear not to end. You can further exaggerate this with a pale colour picking out the woodwork, especially if there are beams, but do opt for a subtle variation of the wall colour.

If your room has no natural light then you do not necessarily have to paint it a light colour. To create an atmosphere in a cloakroom or downstairs snug try a deep colour to create an atmosphere rather than just trying to give the illusion of light.

Whites and neutrals with the depth created by natural pigments will help to magnify whatever light a room has. You don’t need to go too bright as our neutral palette, using gentle earth pigments, will help enhance any natural light and will bring a softness to the whites even when the sun is not shining. The use of contrasting colours can also create the impression of light. Use light painted features or furniture against a coloured backdrop to give interest, reflection and contrast.

Consider your house as a whole, how you move from one room to another, from neutral into colour and beyond. The joy of our range is that you would fill your house with all our colours and they would live in harmony with each other as they do in nature.

Light

When we use colour it responds to light to give the effect we see.

We need it to look great in strong light and low light – daylight and lamplight. The way paint is made is key to this. We use only natural pigments not chemical colourants and plant oils rather than acrylics, precisely because they give a surface that looks alive. This gives walls a soft but vibrant finish which is a delight to the eye and a great backdrop for your fabrics and furnishings.

  • Advice on Natural Paint
    • FAQs
    • Choosing Paint Colours
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      • How to choose which white?
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      • The Science of Colour
    • Choosing Eco Paint Finishes
      • Emulsion Paint
      • Emulsion for Lime Plaster
      • Eggshell for Interior Woodwork and Metal
      • Gloss for Interior Woodwork and Metal
      • Radiator Paint
      • Eggshell for Exterior Woodwork and Metal
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    • Practical Painting Advice
      • Painting Interior Walls and Ceilings
      • Painting Interior Woodwork and Metal
      • Painting Exterior Woodwork and Metal
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      • Natural Emulsion Safety Data Sheet
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Follow us @edwardbulmerpaint

⁠ 'Brick' at 50% shade at @our_1537_thatch⁠ looking incredible in this space, creating the perfect backdrop with artwork. ⁠ ⁠ 'I went with my gut on the walls and so pleased that I did. It’s darker than one would normally do in a cottage such as ours but, it brings warmth and coziness to the dining room and if there’s one room you can do this it’s a dining room. The gorgeous team @edwardbulmerpaint helped with a bespoke shade. They’re always such a delight to speak to.' ⁠ Thank you @our_1537_thatch 🙏make sure you are following their renovation journey, a charming thatched cottage in the countryside. ⁠ ⁠ Don't forget, we can colour match for you! From a snippet of fabric or a sample of paint, we can create a complete tonal palette to complement your colour choice. We can also give you expert advice on the correct historic colour if you have a period building to decorate. Darling dahlias from the garden straight to the beautiful table at the glorious home of @carlosgarciainteriors Carlos has an inimitable style which we cannot get enough of; it is so full of colour and pattern and has a unique richness. You will be saving all his posts and design work for inspiration!! ‘Olympian Green’ our zesty green on the walls here. Thank you @carlosgarciainteriors 🙏🎨💚 Our 'Ethereal Blue' on the walls looking through to 'Lilac Pink' and 'Cerullian Blue' on the woodwork, recently posted by @houseandgardenuk, beautifully designed by @oliviaemeryinteriors - it's too good not to re-share! 💙⁠ ⁠ 'Eildon Hall, a 19th-century house belonging to the Buccleuch family, has long been cherished for its relaxed conviviality. Now, current custodians Walter and Elizabeth Dalkeith, with designer @oliviaemeryinteriors, have retained its charmingly domestic feel, but with a considered contemporary twist. In the living room, an Ikea side table and a ‘Scallop Rug’, a collaboration between @salvesengraham and @jennifermanners and tone with walls in ‘Ethereal Blue’ from @edwardbulmerpaint.⁠'⁠ 📸by @paul_massey⁠ ⁠ ⁠Our blues are soft but have great depth due to the natural pigments used. Often blues are thought or as cold but with the right recipe and combination of pigments this colour serves as the perfect harmonious hue. We can't get enough of the spectrum of blues throughout the house 💙🎨⁠ Embracing colour can revive your home and help you breathe new life into interiors. Smaller or darker spaces can be transformed with a lick of beautiful paint. Of course it helps if you are a natural colour consultant yourself, @byemmadiaz , and are using natural paint created by @edward_bulmer 🎩🎨🌳 Emma has added warmth and light to the cottage, even on a dreary July day here, but wait until you see the full reveal on the upstairs landing today over @byemmadiaz Emma chose ‘Red Ochre’ which you can see here on the stairs and upstairs it has been brilliantly used to frame each room and let the beautiful botanical @tessnewallstudio paper ‘sing’. ‘Warm Stone’ lifting and lighting up this space with a soft and warm glow on the walls. An absolute triumph transformation @byemmadiaz 🎨❤️💕🙌🙏 Our paint shade 'Cinnamon' in a beautifully restored Georgian home with a lovely, soft feel. Create rooms full of warmth whether in period homes or if creating a more modern, rustic aesthetic with this calming colour.⁠ A colour used in period homes since Stuart times and now made modern in our low VOC, eco paint so it looks beautiful and is not costing us the earth🌍️💚@richmond_reno_project Brown interiors are the epitome of elegance; incredible with blues, pinks and lighter muted neutrals oozing sophistication and style. “Browns in all their hues are often overlooked but can give a warm background that envelopes the room and flatters other decorative elements. The recent turn to weighty colours will carry on apace, I’m sure. These work so long as they are tonally considered - this is our specialty and why we only use genuine natural pigment. I see more earth pigment based warmth gathering favour and would even suggest that more people will find how useful brown is as a wall paint in support of clever colour in artwork and furnishings whether the room is large or small.” @edward_bulmer ‘London Brown’ our richest brown with pieces and thanks to @lorfordsantiq and @englishoutdoors and 📸 @paul_whitbread_photo

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Paint Quantity Calculator

To use this simple tool please add together the total wall lengths, so the parameter of the room which is the width measurement, then just one height measurement. This amount is based on coverage in 2 coats.

As a rough guide, 1 L of eggshell will cover 2-3 doors (both sides) and 1 L of eggshell will cover 20 metres of skirting board in min. 2 coats.

x requires (for 2 coats)

Please complete width and height

Please note we don't take doors, windows or alcoves into consideration.
The paint calculator is only suitable for calculating wall paint requirements.