I loved our Middle East meets Oxfordshire sitting room but I think interiors should evolve with you. Like a relationship you need to keep it fresh and exciting. Over the last year or so I have worked on and shared quite a few colour block designs and I wanted to introduce colour blocking into our sitting room. I then got a free piano which needed painting and a new (to us but old) sideboard, and I had the perfect excuse to get my husband to rejig all the paintings and paint the lower half of the sitting room. Yup he’s a saint! I picked a Dulux 19YR 14/629 for the red which goes well with the Dulux European White already on the walls and pulls together the rest of the elements in the room.
And here’s the end result. And yes it took a lot of FrogTape! (I really recommend the green FrogTape an essential partner for colour blocking.)
This is the sideboard we bought from a family in our village. 1970s Jentique retro teak high sideboard gorgeousness! I have lusted over one of these for ages and it was a complete fluke that I saw it posted on Facebook market for £25. The family had had it from new and it’s in amazing condition. The original brass feet were in the drawer and there’s a light and wiring in the middle section so you can wire it in to light up when opened!
It didn’t escape the colour block. I removed the glass as it looked a bit too dated and then painted inside to match the line on the wall. It’s a beautiful thing when the lines line up!
I don’t need any excuse to add more plants to a room. I made the hanger on the left (here’s a link to a how to).
The room feels cosier and much bigger which sounds contradictory but it’s true. The beauty of colour blocking – especially done like this – is your eye is drawn to the corners and the edges (as you can see the skirting board is painted to match, taking the colour to the floor for full effect) so you see more of the room. And the red is so warm.
Here is the painted free piano (I’ve a separate how to post here).
All the art work in the room came down, holes were filled and painted and we started from scratch. And we picked different paintings. The black and white pot photo is by my dad Antony Parks. And the landscape was free. I painted the frame black to make it pop even more but I am in love with it which is how you should feel about items in your home.
I rarely show this corner as it’s difficult to photograph but it’s our little Middle Eastern corner.
So what do you think: do you love the colour blocking?
I hope you’re inspired!