Seven inviting colour combinations to try this winter
Some rooms just lend themselves to the chillier months, with enveloping interiors that invite you to hunker down and make yourself comfortable. Sometimes these can be the darker rooms in the house, the snugs and dens that perhaps don't get a lot of natural light anyway, and invite a darker colour scheme; sometimes they can be the rooms that make the most of any light coming in and amplify the weak winter sun. Either way, the colours you choose will have a huge impact on the mood of the space, and combining the right colours can create a particular kind of magic. We've selected seven beautiful colour combinations–some that feel of the moment, others that are timeless classics–to help you on the way to a cosy interior.
Christopher Horwood1/7Rich browns combined with ochres are incredibly cosy for autumn and winter, and a colour with yellow tones will help to reflect as much of the pale winter sunlight that filters in. Patrick O'Donnell has used Farrow & Ball's ‘Cane’ on the walls of his bedroom at home in Worcestershire, pairing it with ‘Cola’ on the woodwork. “I put the sample on the wall at the end of summer, but it came into its own in autumn and winter. In the south-east light in that room, you get these ripe skin apricot tones coming through, and it’s so lovely and cosy and warm.”
Mark Anthony Fox2/7Biscuit tones make for an elegant combination with burgundy, as designer Charlotte Boundy has found in the spare bedroom of her London house. The walls are bedecked in ‘Bengali’ wallpaper from Braquenié, and the woodwork is painted in ‘Lute’ by Edward Bulmer, which picks up the ground colour of the wallpaper nicely. The headboard is upholstered in Rose Uniacke’s ‘Cotton Velvet’ in madder.
Paul Massey3/7This gloriously enveloping bedroom in a country house by Henri Fitzwilliam-Lay is done out in warming tones of olive and brown, colours drawn from Claremont’s ‘Tree of Life’ cotton which has been used for the bed canopy and curtains. On the walls is Phillip Jeffries’ ‘Amalfi Silk Como’ wallcovering in olivastro, and the woodwork is in ‘Copper Beech’ by Paint & Paper Library.
Dean Hearne4/7Pale blue might seem like a rather cool and spring-like colour, but when combined with the warmth of terracotta reds, it can be a delightful scheme for cosier rooms. Tom Cox of HÀM Interiors has deployed it in the sitting room of his 17th-century house in Devon, using Farrow & Ball's ‘Oval Room Blue’ on the walls, Edward Bulmer's ‘Sang de Boeuf’ on the bookshelves and a stripe by Mulberry Home on the sofa.
James McDonald5/7The muted pink-red used on the walls of this Kensington house by Kate Guinness is a surprisingly useful colour. If you've been contemplating painting a dining room in a traditional shade of red, this might be a more versatile option, and when combined with accents of dark green, it really sings. The precise shade here is Paint & Paper Library's ‘Rouge II’.
Boz Gagovski6/7Deep blue is a cocooning shade for a sitting room, but really comes to life when combined with orange, as designer Lucy Mayers has done in her London flat. “This shade, ‘Oxford Blue’, from Papers & Paints is just pure pigment,” notes Lucy. “I wanted this room to feel grown-up, like a member's club, somewhere that I’d want to spend my evenings. But it also has this rather womb-like feeling–it's a room to be held in.” The curtains were made in a plain linen from Volga Linen and then trimmed with a vintage braid when the edges faded in the sunlight.
Christopher Horwood7/7For a deeply moody colour combination, try murky dark greens with navy blue. Cassandra Ellis of paint brand Atelier Ellis has used it in the hallway of her Battersea flat, using Atelier Ellis' “Tirzah” shade on the walls. “I really loved a dark green room with a blue sofa,” says Cassandra, “so I thought, why not make the entrance hall a special place where I'd want to spend time and not just wasted space?”
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