Colour combinations

Homes & Gardens spoke to leading designers to get their view on the colours that go with...

- ARABELLA YOUENS

Green

Botanical tones work with most shades to create rooms that are harmonious and easy to live with

GREEN is in general a calming and relaxing colour. Being the colour that represents nature, it’s one that makes us feel good and positive. ‘The poet and philosopher Goethe used to describe a green as a useful colour, a good colour to have around,’ explains Francesca Wezel, founder of Francesca’s Paints. ‘Dark green is often used in traditional gentlemen’s clubs and libraries goes well with wood and is a colour that stimulates concentration and deep thinking. Light green is a perfect tone for bedrooms, as it is calming and relaxing and helps us to sleep well.’ When it comes to choosing colour combinations, Francesca adds, look to nature for inspiration. ‘Green looks marvellous with pink, red, orange and brown. I also love green and blue together.’

The source of the adage of never mixing blue and green has murky roots. Scratch beneath the surface and its origins are hard to fathom. One of the most likely theories, given that so much idiom in the English language derives from maritime vernacular and superstitions, is that sailors were warned not to paint the hulls of their boats green lest they become invisible when capsized. But it’s tenuous.