10 Beautiful Rooms

grey walls and accents of old gold, image by dimore studio Milan

Just when I have fully convinced myself that I really don’t like yellow and wouldn’t use it in my house, I see an image like this by the Milan-based Dimore Studio and I am undone. It’s true I would no more paint a yellow wall than buy a matching three piece suite, but I am, I am reminded, always a fan of gold velvet.

dark walls and a gold cushion by dimore studio

Look how it shines out of this image which almost looks like a 15th century oil painting. Now, admittedly, we can’t all afford a metallic shiny kitchen island (oh I wish) but the dark walls, vintage wooden storage with a splash of green and gold is within our reach in the form of pots of paint, ebay and remnant sales.

blue grey walls and washed out by Dimore Studio

Yes these walls are dark and that’s a bold and scary step for many of us, but see how the designers have used other colours to bring in the light. I feel on pretty safe ground when I say that the dark neutrals are about to have their day.

dark walls and pink chairs for Dimore Studio, image by Andrea Ferrari

It’s not that we’re done with grey – far from it – but grey has now become the obvious choice of neutral. Pale grey is the colour you go to when you want to create a blank canvas. It’s a tricky one to get right for sure (someone wrote a book about getting it right I believe, do look out for it….) but when you do everything looks great against it.

dark blue walls by dimore studio, photo by Andrea Ferrari

Now that we have moved away from magnolia and those creamy whites, it’s time to find the next new thing. For a while I thought it was going to be navy blue and, while it’s being seen on walls and in paint charts, I didn’t see that much at the Design Shows last week.

black kitchen cupboards by dimore studio

The stand out colour there was green – in all shades from forest to olive and emerald. Of course, like grey, green is one of those colours that means different things to different people. At a book signing last week, we had a fairly intense discussion about a particular sofa and what we called its particular colour.

image by silvia rivoltella for dimore studio

But, actually it doesn’t matter what you call it as long as you love it. I am about to paint my bathroom in in a very dark shade of green. The point, actually, is not that it’s green but that it’s a dark neutral. That is the new direction. Those dark greens, blues and, even browns (yes they too will have their day) look fantastic with pale colours against them. They make them stand out and look amazing. It’s like supercharging your furniture.

caffe burlot in paris, image by andrea ferrari

Make sure you have enough light – both natural and artificial and it’s a fantastic way to make your home feel dramatic and interesting and also welcoming and cocooning. And you can always keep the ceiling white and the floors pale if you’re nervous  – either white painted floorboards or pale rugs. White wine for you and milk for the kids. Red wine and ribena in the kitchen.

it’s not all over for grey, the grand hotel et de milan by studio dimore, image by Beppe Brancato

I think we’ll all be doing this in a year or two. And in the meantime let’s add to the inspiration with these 10 Beautiful Rooms. This last one is the Hermes Maison showroom in Milan, because if we can’t afford the bags we can at least take inspiration from the look.

hermes maison showroom in milan by studio dimore

What do you think? Dark neutrals anyone? And don’t forget the plants – that is the other big, big – did I say big – story in interiors for 2017.

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