Bringing her signature sophisticated use of colour to the project, stylist Julia Green transformed this plain white living room recently with a few clever styling tricks and paint shades from the lovely Dulux Wholeself palette – one of the four palettes in the 2019 Dulux Colour Forecast.
“This living room in a heritage apartment building had lovely bones – high ceilings, plenty of natural light and a little nook with bay windows – but it felt cold and one-dimensional. Think bare, white-washed walls and furniture in various shades of grey. It was crying out for personality, layers and colour,” says Julia.
The Dulux Wholeself palette proved the perfect mix of shades on which to hang all of her design decisions on. “With its muted pinks, greens and mauve-greys, there’s something incredibly soothing and gentle about this palette. The colours feel fresh, modern and relaxing – the perfect choice for a living room,” says Julia.
Upcycling
To minimise costs, Julia made sure that her paint colour choices complemented the existing furniture in the room – most notably the more expensive items such as the grey sofa and mid-tone timber coffee tables. “It’s important to work with what you’ve got when making over a room – this can really help keep costs down, particularly when you’re talking big-ticket items such as sofas and flooring,” says Julia.
And for the pieces that just didn’t work, such as side tables and storage, Julia upcycled them with a lick of paint. The stylist freshened up the coffee tables by painting the top of the larger one with Dulux Aquanamel in New Life and the legs of the smaller one in Gold Dust. She also brought the fig-leaf planter to life by repainting it in Dulux Aquanamel in Italian Clay.
Feature paint
“To make a feature of the bay-window nook, we painted the walls a soft apricot shade, Dulux Wash&Wear in Pinkham, and kept the remaining walls in their existing colour, Dulux Wash&Wear in Natural White. Painting the walls in different colours this way is a great trick for creating individual zones in an open-plan room,” says Julia.
Julia then paired the soft apricot wall with an abstract artwork filled with soft shades of duck egg blue and deep pink. “We also picked up these colours in the smaller pieces of furniture and accessories to add depth to the room,” says Julia.
Cosy seating
A must in any living area, cosy seating is key and Julia added to the mix of existing seats by bringing in a pair of curved-arm rattan and velvet armchairs. “They add textural interest to the room and their round shape helps soften the harsh lines of the room’s architecture. We finished off by livening up the plain sofa with a sumptuous throw and a medley of scatter cushions in different shapes and fabrics that pick up on the colours in the main artwork,” says Julia.
Pick a palette
“This makeover is a great example of the power of colour. The brilliant thing about working with a palette like this is that Dulux has done all the hard work for you in choosing the perfect combinations – all you have to do is find a palette you love, and you’ll be able to transform rooms in your own home in no time by working within these tonal confines.”
Imagery courtesy of Dulux Australia
Photography: Armelle Habib | Styling: Julia Green
