In my opinion, blue is among the trickiest of shades to paint a room. It is only too easy to choose the wrong one and end up with a room that feels more akin to a hospital waiting area than it does a cosy bedroom, but when done right, it can bring a bedroom to life. In order to achieve the latter, there are a few decorating rules to follow: some pertain to the actual shade of blue that you choose, others to how you dress the rest of the room. We have canvassed the interior designers in the know to find out the best way to do a blue bedroom that doesn't feel cold.
‘The key is to choose a blue that has a dash of yellow or red in it - or one that is slightly “muddied” - while avoiding anything too clear, icy or reminiscent of a bathroom blue. You want something with a bit of complexity and warmth,’ says colour consultant Harriet Slaughter, who recommends ‘Celestial Blue’ by Little Greene: ‘it is a surprisingly cosy blue and one of my perennial favourites for bedrooms, for both young and old’. Other favourites of Harriet’s are Atelier Ellis’ ‘Stilling’ and ‘Chambray’ which, she says, ‘have that trademark softened quality that makes them much more liveable’.
There are other shades that been proven by designers to achieve the ‘warm’ look that Harriet mentions. ‘Shades of blue which are soft and muted, not too saturated and are imbued with warmth by a touch of green pigment tend to feel restful, and I would describe the effect as fresh rather than cool,’ says interior designer Jessica Buckley. ‘I’d advise steering away from grey-blue tones or those which lean into the lavender end of the spectrum – even those purporting to be sky blue can feel either too clean or too cool.’ Among Jessica's go-to shades is ‘Blue Grey’ from Farrow & Ball – a misleadingly named colour that is warmed up by green pigment.
You may choose to opt for wallpaper instead of paint. Jessica suggests using a textured wallpaper (or fabric walling), which ‘can help to make blue bedrooms feel warmer and cosier simply by introducing a little texture.’ ‘Using a patterned wallpaper with a blue background is a brilliant, slightly more subtle way to bring blue into the bedroom, and it takes the pressure of the blue as you can rely on the the other colours in the print to add warmth and interest,’ she adds.
According to both Harriet and interior designer Sarah Walter Boyd, creating a warm atmosphere in the space is as much about what you fill it with as it is about how you paint the walls. ‘Blue is a colour that benefits from some balance. Warm wood floors or natural sisal or seagrass pair beautifully with blue walls and help create a more inviting feel,’ says Harriet, whose own house is a lesson in layered decoration. For her son's bedroom, which is is painted in ‘Celestial Blue’ by Little Greene, a 1920s textile hangs above the cot, made, according to a dealer at Ardingly, from fragments of textiles found in ancient Egyptian tombs. Harriet used a heavyweight linen from The Cloth Shop for the blind and commissioned a quilt from Georgia Dorey which features his favourite animals. The effect is cocooning and comfortable thanks to this smorgasbord of textures.
For Sarah, the setting of the bedroom should inform its decoration: ‘While a soft blue bedroom with flowing white muslin bed draperies and white plantation shutters would be ideal for hot climates, the use of heavy weaves and layered materials can add immediate warmth in places where the weather is less tropical,’ she says. ‘For my London bedroom – I used a soft powder blue on the walls and paired this with a chunky woven fabric from Larsen (Maroua in Tobacco) on the headboard. The tobacco colour adds warmth through its earthy tones, and the texture of the fabric adds to the cocooning feel. This rusty terracotta tone, along with browns and parchments have been used across the rest of the room. The teak of the vintage Remploy side tables and Borge Mogensen sideboard pick up on this, the Indian bedspread, then with a linen toned wool sateen used for heavy curtains – add visual weight and warmth through texture again. A shot of hot orange is seen in the painting by Gillian Leaver.’
If used correctly – and accompanied by the correct assembly of furniture and textiles, blue can, in fact, be a brilliantly warm colour. ‘I don’t buy into the tale that blue is a cold colour and see it more for its calm quality,’ summarises Sarah. ‘I think it’s about how you use it.’
