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The Colour Supplement
Home » Inspiration » Using darker colours for a South or West facing room

Using darker colours for a South or West facing room

With the help of our expert colour consultant Fiona de Lys – who you may have already spotted sharing her interior styling and colour knowledge on our Instagram reels – we have launched our essential guide on colour pairings and palettes. In this second guide, Fiona discusses dining rooms. Don’t be afraid to use colour from different groups and opposite sides of the colour wheel! Our natural paints all work together beautifully and tonally, Edward has done all the hard work for you so you really can be colour confident!

To see the first Colour Palettes & Pairings guide, click here.

Words by our colour consultant, Fiona de Lys.

Darker colours can work really well for eating spaces, especially for a South or West aspect like this one. They give a sense of intimacy and containment and work exceptionally well in library areas and snug rooms. Here the emphasis is on colour and contrast with pop coming from furnishing and window finishes.

A really dark blue would have also worked in this space, but the mood is lifted by the mid warm blue of ‘Azurite‘ which tonally works really well. Reading onto the ‘Invisible Green‘, and that’s because of a similar aspect in the garden room too.

Remember the whites in the Edward Bulmer Natural Paint range are versatile, so avoid settling on the same one throughout your home if you can, and a great one to complement ‘Azurite’ requires depth and warmth so try ‘Whiting‘. It’s the softest beige you can get and really blends into the warmer floor tones and for that reason, why not try deeper accent colours such as ‘London Brown‘ or ‘Tingry‘ to break up large skirtings or a a wood trim.

Dining rooms and snug areas work particularly well in darker tones, and this is a real blue, which carries quite a lot of yellow in it, so it works really well for a West Facing our South Facing.

  • Azurite

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  • Whiting

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  • London Brown

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  • Tingry

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'Azurite' on the walls, photography by Paul Whitbread @paul_whitbread_photo
'Azurite' on the walls, photography by Paul Whitbread @paul_whitbread_photo
'Azurite' on the walls, 'Silver White' on the woodwork and 'Spanish White' on the ceiling

No matter which room, aspect or lighting, these blogs along with the reels over on our Instagram page @edwardbulmerpaint will be your starting point to building an interior scheme with complete colour confidence. If you already have one of our natural paint colours in your interior but are looking for a woodwork or a ceiling colour to pair it with, or perhaps you would like to paint a wall, woodwork colour and cabinetry all different then this is the guide for you. We shall simply help you ‘get the look’ and you can drop all the samples into your basket with just a click.

BOOK YOUR CONSULTANCY APPOINTMENT HERE

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The Colour Supplement

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How much paint do I need?

We have created this calculator to help you estimate the amount of paint you will need for your project. Please note that this is only an estimate, based on normal surfaces with two coats of paint.

Please check our practical painting advice - if you are painting onto a very absorbent surface, you may need more paint, and for best results, you may need to prime your surfaces.

If you end up with any leftover paint, get inspired with ways to use any excess paint - it's even compostable!

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Estimated
Painted Wall/Ceiling Area

Our natural matt emulsion is perfect for interior walls and ceilings.

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This estimate is based on the dimensions of your room, minus the space taken by average doors and windows.

For this area, we suggest would be adequate.

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Woodwork Area

Our water based eggshell or gloss is ideal for woodwork or metalwork.

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This estimate is based on skirting and the doors/windows you tell us about. 1 litre should cover 2-3 doors or 20m of skirting.

For this area, we suggest would be adequate.

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