Choosing Colour

Choosing colour is the single biggest decision you will make when deciding to redecorate your home. In my decorating career I have seen it be both a source of creativity and excitement for clients and also the cause of disagreements, anxiety and stress during a project. I’ve had projects be delayed because of last minute changes of heart and I’ve seen clients totally unsure that they haven’t made a huge mistake right up until the moment the whole room is complete. I’ve also seen customers well up when they realise how much they love what they’ve created.

The thing is, I totally get it. I love colour. I understand how colour makes me feel and I also know that if you get it wrong it can be expensive to put it right, or even worse, it be something you hate but have to live with. As a decorator I have often walked that very perilous tightrope between offering advice or encouragement and being careful not to influence a decision that could go badly wrong. 

For these reasons I always make sure my customers feel as sure as they possibly can be about their colour choices before we begin. Here are some of the strategies I offer my clients to help them make this important decision.

Ask “What am I hoping to feel in this space?

Are you looking for a calming, relaxing space to kick back in during the evenings? Or are you feeling like life in your home has become vanilla and dull and you want some colour to spice things up? Think about things like, when will you spend most of your time in this space? Is it the evenings after work? Or is it your creative office space as you work from home. Think about what time of the day you will be here most and what you’ll be doing. For example a vibrant red living room might not lend itself to relaxing in the evening, or a creamy beige in your creative home office might not inspire you to come up with new ideas.

Know your tolerance for colour.

Everyone has a different sense of how much colour they can tolerate. In my own home we love bold colours. Strong reds, deep dusky pinks and vibrant blues are all around us from our walls, couches, artwork and bedspreads. To some, this much colour would be overwhelming and an assault on the senses, to others we probably aren’t quite adventurous enough. I have some clients who love that fresh and clean feel of off whites, warm neutrals and classy French greys and I know that when they talk about needing to add some colour, it’s more likely to be a bathroom under the stairs, than a bold scheme that greets you in the hallway as you open the front door.

I once read a great book about investing by Howard Marks where he said it’s not really about how much risk to take, but knowing your tolerance for risk. He encouraged people to play dice games such as backgammon to know themselves and their risk tolerance. I believe this to be true about colour also. Think about the clothes you wear, the car you drive and the art work on your walls. This will give you an idea of your tolerance for bold colours.  

The limitations of the space:

Limitations, far from being restrictive, can be enormously creative. The things that are likely to constrain your choices are also the things that can lead to the most creative colour choices. In order of importance I put, light, room size and large items, such as carpet, furniture or wooden beams.

Light is the most important. When I see customers unhappy with the colour of a room, it almost always due to the colour not being in harmony with the light coming in to the room. If your main light source is coming from the East then you will get the cooler morning light, with blue and green undertones, if your windows are West facing then you’ll get more yellow and red (think of the “Golden Hour” for photographers in the early evening). There are various approaches and it is a great subject to delve into but as a simple rule greys and cool blues or greens can feel cold in an east or north facing space and reds and yellows can feel cloying and too much in a south or west facing room. This article by Farrow an Ball is a wonderful explanation of how it works as well as some ways to think about it. https://www.farrow-ball.com/how-to-guide/how-light-affects-colour

Spaces which have no natural light, such as bathrooms under stairs or pantries can offer a great opportunity to go wild, because the only time you will see them is when the light is on. (Be aware that the colour temperature of the bulb you use will affect how this colour is perceived). I have done some beautiful bathrooms in colours such as Sulking Room Pink or Hopper Head black with a checkered tile floor and once a wine cellar with exposed brick work alongside plaster in Farrow and Ball “Railings” which is almost black. 

Secondly, think about how things like carpet, wooden flooring and large oak or dark wooden wardrobes might interact with your colour of choice. One client chose his colour scheme in his hall, stairs and landing largely based on large collectible art works he had hanging which were all red, black and white. One of my favourite rooms was a large pantry with ceiling height mahogany cabinets and an almost wall length photograph art piece of Mohamed Ali’s forearm and fist in black and white. This room was painted in Farrow and Ball De Nimes a rich and dark bluey green. Sometimes the most important thing is not loving colour itself but loving the way it changes the things you love.

Choosing a colour like a green or blue can really make an oak wooden beam stand out. I have a mid century piano which is a lovely golden rosewood in my house, so chose Farrow and Ball Oval Room Blue to make it a feature. If there’s something in your room you want to pop, then look on the colour wheel to find its opposite. 

Less is more: Why I love the Farrow and Ball Colour Card.

When I was younger I worked in a small boutique restaurant, owned by a chef who had worked in some of Londons finest restaurants. His menu was a beautiful printed single page of A4 size card. It had five starters, six mains and handful of desserts. I once asked him why he had so few things on the menu and he said, he’d rather have a few quality items than tons of average options. I usually advise my customers to look at the Farrow and Ball colour card. Although many paint makers offer a plethora beautiful colours, Farrow and Ball have become one of the best paint companies in the world based purely on their colours. I often meet customers who are trying to decide on which of the seven different shades of “Sky Blue” is going to be right. Is it Sky Blue 001 or Sky Blue 002. Who knows? Farrow and Ball’s colours all offer complimentary colour schemes, complimentary whites and their website contains a ton of examples of rooms decorated with said colour, which have been uploaded by customers. 

Get some help:

A great way to help you decide, is to get a colour consultant to help you. Many people are afraid that this might involve an over confident artiste, striding through their house proclaiming that you need this or that “darling” while flicking his or her scarf over their shoulder and leaving you with a multi thousand pound bill. One of my clients is a very experienced and highly qualified interior designer who has worked on projects such as private members clubs in London and I once asked her how much she charged for colour consultancies. She was surprisingly affordable, as well as offering smaller packages to help with colour choices. Often they will help you think about things you might not have considered and can create mood boards and colour schemes. The great thing is these people see colour schemes and trends in real life in very expensive homes and can bring some of that sophistication and vision to your house. After all, if it cost £500 for a colour consultation for a colour scheme you are going to live with for ten years then it seems quite good value. 

I also recommend buying interior design magazines and one of my favourite resources is to use the Farrow and Ball website, see above colour section. 

Are Tester Pots Any Use?

Yes and no. Yes, because you can see what the actual paint will look like in that room and no, because our eyes trick us and change that colour depending on what is next to it. German born Joseph Albers, considered one of the most influential 20th-century art teachers in the United States, taught a theory and wrote a book called “Interaction of Colour” which asserts that “We never see colour as it actually is”. Therefor when you paint a deep green sample on to your currently beige wall, you are not seeing the same green you will see when all the beige is gone. 

Summary:

Take your time and get as much help as you can. Although no-one knows what a colour scheme will look like until it’s on the walls, the more time you spend becoming as certain as you can be is time and money well spent. 

Refreshing Your Rental Property

Redecorating rental properties between tenants is a great opportunity to give your prized asset a make over, while helping it retain, or even increase, its earning potential.

There are a few things to consider to help make this task easier, more cost effective and to ensure you get the most out of your redecoration over the next tenancy.

Do I Need to do a complete redecoration?

Not always. It depends on how long the tenant has been in the property. If it was redecorated recently and the tenant was in for a short time and looked after the property, then sometimes just a touch up or a room or two will bring it back up to tip top shape.

If, however the paintwork is looking old and drab. If the pigment has faded or if there are marks and dings on the walls, then you’ll need to give it a good freshen up. 

Will my decorator be available? What about the lost rental income?

This is one of the big challenges we face as decorators. A client calls us and tells us a tenant is moving out next month and they want to redecorate as quickly as possible to get the house or apartment let again. The problem is that most established decorators are booked at least three months in advance. This is a lot of lost income, especially if you can’t show it to prospective new tenants in its current state. In an ideal world, you would have three months advance knowledge and could book the decorator in. A good strategy is to build a relationship with a decorator before you need them, so that they might be able to juggle some less urgent jobs around or fit you in if rained off from some outside work. Another one is to redecorate the property in the winter months when decorators are more available on a room by room basis, while the current tenant is still in, so that it’s not such a big job when they move out. It’s much easier for us decorators to fit in an urgent job if it’s a few days than planning a three week makeover.

What colour should I use? Is white OK?

Colour is where you can really make an impact on both the price of the job and how much value you add to your house.

It’s a good idea to keep it neutral. You don’t want to put off prospective tenants with bold colour choices and, as you don’t know what colour their furniture or artwork is going to be, it’s safer to find a middle ground.  White can be too cold and make your rental feel like a doctors surgery and magnolia just says “student apartment”. Another option is to choose a soft, off-white or neutral similar to a designer paint like Farrow and Ball or Little Greene. Most decorators can find a close match to these designer colours in a good quality trade paint. We love using Farrow and Ball for our clients own homes but using Estate Emulsion in a rental would be a big expense as well as perhaps not being all that durable. Use the website e-paint.co.uk to find the closest matches to your favourite designer colours in Johnstones and Dulux trade paints.

We recently suggested a colour close to Wimborne White for a rental cottage in Dorset. We used Johnstones Trade Durable Acrylic Matt and used colour drenching (very “On trend” in the interior design world) to paint the ceilings, walls and skirting the same colour. The result was a soft, modern and luxurious look throughout the house. Using the colour drenching idea will save you money on paint (paint gets cheaper in larger quantities) and time (Its easier and quicker for the decorator).

Also, it’s hugely important to choose a colour that works with the light coming into the space. It’s impossible to understate how much this will affect the look and feel of a space to prospective tenants. This article from Farrow and Ball explains the concept perfectly. https://www.farrow-ball.com/how-to-guide/how-light-affects-colour

What paint should I use?

We almost always suggest to our clients who have rentals that they use Johnstones Trade Acrylic Durable Matt or Dulux Trade Diamond Matt for rentals. These two trade paints are extremely tough. They are scrubbable instead of wipeable and being trade paints use high quality pigments which won’t fade quickly. I’ve seen it written in web articles that buying the paint yourself will make the job cheaper. This is false economy. The paint that you buy from B&Q usually has a coverage rate of 10-11 Sq metres compared to 17-18 for trade paints. Retail paints also contain lower quality pigments which tend to fade more quickly. Also, your decorator will get massive discounts for higher quality trade paints and he or she knows how to get a high quality finish with these paints. The main thing to consider is that by far the largest part of the cost of redecorating is the labour. The best way to save money is to ensure that the paintwork lasts and looks good for as long as possible so you don’t need to redecorate so frequently. 

Protecting against mould. 

Mould is big problem for landlords. Often it is caused by a build up of condensation caused by a lack of airflow. Often it’s a case of us neutralising the mould using high strength biocide and then stain blocking and painting. A good way to get ahead of this is to talk to your new tenants about opening windows periodically (15 minutes a day of through - flow can make a massive difference) as well as not putting big wardrobes in corners and cluttering up window sills, where condensation build up is common. There are also specialist additives which we can add to paint which protect against mould. Johnstones Trade Durable Acrylic Matt already contains mould protection. There are also products like Zinsser Permawhite and anti mould paints for small windowless bathrooms which are very good. We sometimes add an anti mould additive to paint created by a specialist industrial mould protection company. 

If mould is a constant problem, then perhaps explore whether it is caused by something more serious, such as rising damp or water ingress through the brickwork or roofing. In this case it is a good idea to get a specialist such as Wessex Damp and Timber in to give you a better idea of what’s going on and how to fix it. It is also worth considering a PIV (Positive Input Ventilation) system such as “Drimaster” to reduce condensation in older properties. These are surprisingly cost effective to install and maintain, and the savings by not needing to call your decorator to stain block and repair mouldy spots would make it easily pay for itself. 

Summary:

Redecorating a rental can be a big expense, but it can also be a big investment. I’ve seen properties left for so long with one long term tenant, that the cost of getting them back to a decent standard is eye watering. Redecoration, if done well, often and efficiently, can keep your property at the top end of it’s market rate, as well as signalling to your tenants that you care about your property.

I was talking to a client last year who had had a lot of work done on her rental properties. I asked her why she was not afraid to spend money on them. She replied that she’d done the math and the interest rate on her money in the bank was very poor. The cost of decorating had gone up in the UK 15-25% between 2019-2024, therefor, if she let her properties age and date over the next few years, then the cost of updating them when it came time to sell them would be far outweigh any gains she might have made keeping that money in the bank.