Creating Your Colour Box

A COLOURBOX is an excellent constraint when it comes to a project. In a world where ideas and products are endlessly at our fingertips, this theory refines your starting point and directs your choices from materials to furniture. To create a space that is directly inspired by you. 

I have developed this tried & tested theory over the past 15 years and encourage you to follow the next steps... 

 

 2. Lay out all the shoebox items onto a clean table once the collection is complete. You will notice you have chosen things that have similarities - it might be a colour or hue that you’re drawn to, a repeat pattern that you’ve bought in different forms or even just a patina. Move and play around with the objects - edit out things that feel like they don’t quite fit. In doing this you will discover things that don’t need to be part of the design scheme (just yet.)

 

 3. Edit your objects down to 10 things and colour-match them to paint chips. Not all of the paint chips have to be of the same finish, in fact, it’s best if they’re not. They may consist of a variety of metallic, satin or textured finishes - as some of these colours will translate into more than just paints. A marble finish, a woven object, a texture, an upholstered finish etc. I like to stick them down to a page and lay the colours out in a cohesive colour-matched order to visualise them best. 

 

 4. It is important that once you’ve made your palette, the objects return to where you found them. Now you can take your palette out and about with you. Write a list of things you need or desire and record the nooks and crannies of your house in a notebook, alongside your palette. This takes the pressure out of manically looking for objects on specific days and leaves you open to suggestions. Years of shopping wisdom have taught me that your perfect piece does eventually turn up, sometimes in the most unexpected of places.

  

Example; Atelier

 

I’ll be using one of my paint ranges; Atelier, as an example of this process. Inspired by Paris in the 1920s, I gathered objects that I imagined could be of that time. Scallop shells, artist ink, an old bakelite, belt buckles, milliner flowers, beads, wax seals and ribbons amongst other things. All of these objects produced very warm tones and I could see how my storytelling was being revealed.  I imagine this period in time as quite decorative - objects found at the bottom of handbags, beaded flapper dresses and lavish parties…  

 

The rooms in a home should be forever changing and evolve to suit your family, lifestyle and current aesthetical tangents. My advice is it will not be finished overnight, as it takes some thought and curiosity to find all the right pieces and finishes to create your space.

& Objects you can include 

Of all the dimensions available to look at in the world, colour is one of the most captivating. In my role as a designer, a 10-colour palette has evolved as the best starting point for designing a space. These 10-colour-palettes that I have turned into paints with the help of Murobond, have all been inspired by my travels and the stories & tales I discovered and imagined along the way. 

 

 

If you’d like to explore more about my paint ranges read the blog here.

 

Shop textures, colours & Imagery to start your next colour adventure...