Decorate

Scared of using colour? This is how you bring it into your home

Boldness for beginners
Brigid Arnott

It’s time to put colour back into your life and this month’s Home Beautiful shows you exactly how.

When decorating your home, safety usually comes in the form of white, soft greys with possible a touch of pattern or monochrome. But colour can add pure joy to a home’s scheme. This month’s special colour and decorating issue of Home Beautiful shows you how to embrace the joy of colour. Acting Editor Katrina O’Brien shares her five favourite colour and decorating ideas from the issue.

Home Beautiful acting editor Katrina O'Brien

Look to nature

“This month, I take inspiration from one of our most clever homeowners, whose home we profile this month,” says Katrina. “Interior designer Margaret, lives in the beautiful hills surrounding Byron Bay and continually looks to nature for her colour cues: ‘I say [to clients], ‘Look in nature and tell me a colour that doesn’t go with every other colour?’ You don’t look at a flower and say ‘Oh that green doesn’t go with that pink.’ It always looks amazing, so who are we to say that nature’s not right’.”

“Look in nature and tell me a colour that doesn’t go with every other colour?”

Margaret, Homeowner and Interior Designer

Be bold

“A statement wallpaper is now on my wish-list and the Rebel Walls ‘Vinum Raspeys’ wallpaper from Scandinavian Wallpaper & Décor is on my short-list. This would look just stunning in my daughter’s room (just one wall would be fine) or in a powder room.”

Bold colour in upholstery paired with statement wallpaper
Statement wallpaper adds wow to every room

Statement upholstery

“The way to add colour into my lounge room would be to re-upholster a chair in one of the new season nature-inspired fabrics that blend blue and green, which happens to be one of my favourite colour combinations.”

Blue and green for bold colour choices in the living room
Blue and green should be seen: ‘Typoflor’ sugarcane fabric in Forest, $122/m, Materialised (Credit: Chris Warnes)

Start with art

“Deciding on a colour scheme for your home can be tricky. Our style editor Fiona Michelon’s advice?  A beautiful artwork that you love is a good place to start. Using this as a starting point will create a cohesive and stunning space.”

Interior designer Margaret’s beautiful home is featured in the March issue of Home Beautiful, on sale now
Interior designer Margaret’s beautiful home is featured in the March issue of Home Beautiful, on sale now (Credit: Chris Warnes)

“I’m going to heed the advice of our experts and dip into the attic to find pieces that I really love and put them on display. I too am a great believer that the most beautiful homes tell the story of the people who live there.”

Interior designer Margaret’s beautiful home is featured in the March issue of Home Beautiful, on sale now
Interior designer Margaret’s beautiful home is featured in the March issue of Home Beautiful, on sale now (Credit: Chris Warnes)

Grab a copy of our brilliant April issue of Home Beautiful – from supermarkets and select news outlets now or go here to subscribe.

It’s time to put colour back into your life and this month’s Home Beautiful shows you exactly how.

You might also like:

This is why your house doesn’t look like the pages of a magazine

5 tips to add colour to your home

The modern muted colour palette – how to make it work in your home

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