Steering away from painting your walls a different colour in favour of neutrals seems easy - but what looks a calming khaki to you can appear the colour of sludge to others. Spatial Concept director Gary Lai says coloured paint can be inspirational.
'Colour can dramatically alter the mood of a room,' Lai says. 'A couple of years ago, people went for very minimal white. Now they are more sophisticated and willing to work with colour.'
Lai says he has painted a client's study a bold, punchy red. 'The client wanted something lively, so that when she works in the room the red gives off lots of energy.
'Colour is very personal, but generally blue is calming, green references nature and red is energetic,' Lai says.
For those who have never used colour before, Lai suggests white contrasted with dark brown or black, which keeps things neutral, and then bringing in other colours such as burgundy or apple green.
He also recommends lighter tones to make a room look bigger while darker colours provide depth and perspective.
