Colour Consultancy for Edwardian Home
One of the south-facing bedrooms, which is decorated in pale aqua to create feelings of calm. In contrast, the dressing room is painted in a dark teal to add a touch of glamour.
About the project
This was a colour consultancy project for a residential property in Edinburgh built around 1905. The ground-floor apartment had an extension added in the 1920s and 1960s consecutively, which consisted of two bedrooms and a bathroom. The client desired for colour to be used to create personality and warmth, and to resonate with the period of the building.
which paint colours were fashionable in the early twentieth century?
From the 1890s to the 1930s, interior design and the use of colour was an eclectic mix of historic styles.
Colour choice had no consistent theme but was rather based on knowledge, more or less accurate, of the colour of the period being imitated.
Color in Interior Design by John Pile
Duresco was a water paint company that traded successfully for 70 to 80 years in the twentieth century. They marketed themselves as the ‘king of water paints’ and promised to ‘bring dignity, freshness and beauty’ to customer’s homes. Below is a Duresco colour card from around 1901 and is a useful reference to understand which paint colours were available at the beginning of the twentieth century. This colour card indicates the colours that customers were painting onto their walls.
Some of the paint colours I chose for the project resemble Duresco’s Sea Green, Bronze Green, Golden Yellow, Brick Red, Shell Pink, Rose Pink and Peacock Blue.
Duresco colour card from around 1901. The image is sourced from ‘The Anatomy of Colour’ by Patrick Baty. It is a marvellous book about the history of heritage paints and pigments.
Chosen colour palette for the project
Why were these colours chosen?
The sitting room faces south and has a beautiful bay window, in-built cabinet and fireplace all made from Canadian pine. To complement the wood, a sage green was used in the light sunny room to create a tranquil living space for relaxing in. It also overlooks the front garden that has an abundance of greenery, and a row of evergreen rhododendron bushes. These flower every Spring and the red and pink petals are a complement to the surrounding greenery. To create a flow between the sitting room and the garden outside, green was used as a connector.
Clockwise below from left to right: sage green sitting room; bay window in sitting room looking out to front garden; rhododendron bushes in bloom.
The two rooms facing north felt cold. To create a feeling of comfort and warmth, sunny yellow was used for the study and rich terracotta was used in the bedroom. The two south-facing bedrooms were naturally light, and physically warmed by the sun. A soft blush pink was used in one room, and pale turquoise in another to create soothing and serene spaces for sleeping in. The hallway was painted in a traditional off-white with undertones of green to balance the red carpet. The off-white is a classic neutral that creates a soft, warm feel and supports the colourful rooms leading off it.
Clockwise below from top left: blue bathroom; view of blue bathroom and blush bedroom from hall; blush bedroom; terracotta bedroom; off-white hallway; yellow study; sage sitting room; pink-beige dining room; olive green scullery.
