Tag: interiors

Home Tones: Cornflower Blue

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Cornflower blue garden doorcredit

Cornflowers are such a gorgeous colour. They’re a very particular blue – deep, vibrant and penetrating – an almost ‘glow in the dark’ hue. The most sought after and valuable shade of sapphires is the cornflower variety. The artist Johannes Vermeer frequently used the colour in his paintings – just think of the headscarf worn by the  Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Milkmaid‘s skirt. As with many of these intense pigments, cornflower blue is best used as a highlight or feature colour in interior décor. Use it in conjunction with bright white, other shades of blue or – as it’s found in nature – green.

blue bottles holding cornflowerscredit

White kitchen with a cornflower blue feature wallcredit

Sitting room with cornflower blue rug and egg chaircredit

Cornflower blue painted bathroom shelvingcredit

Pair of large corflower blue upholstered sofas in a sitting roomcredit

White bathroom with cornflower blue feature wallcredit

Dining room with tulip chairs with cornflower blue seat padscredit

Home Tones: Post Box Red

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Post box red wall in the home library of Underhill Housecredit

This week’s Home Tone is post box red, otherwise known as Royal Mail Red, ref no. 538 BS381C – what a classic! It’s not just reserved for post boxes though. As you can see from our selection of interiors images, it makes a real impact on walls, ceilings, doors, appliances, textiles and furniture. It would probably feel a bit oppressive if overused, but a very successful highlight or feature colour.

Mondrian-influenced bedroomcredit

Red & white roll top bath in a red-ceilinged bathroomcredit

Grey & white kitchen with red Smeg fridgecredit

Red feature wall on a stairwaycredit

Single bedroom with red bedding and accessoriescredit

Red front doorcredit

Red circular upholstered seats in a child's bedroomcredit

Home Tones: Egg yolk yellow

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Egg yolk yellow & grey kitchen in Bawtry Roadcredit

We’re starting a new blog series today entitled Home Tones. As you may have guessed, we will select a different colour each week and see how it’s used in different interiors (and the odd exterior). This week, we’re featuring egg yolk yellow. From front doors to cookers and light shades to bathroom cabinets, this is a wonderful highlight colour giving a flash of vibrancy to a room scheme. It looks great with various shades of grey, white and natural wood.

'House no 7' in Tiree, Scotlandcredit

Yolk yellow under-sink bathroom storagecredit

Yolk yellow home barcredit

Shaker-style kitchen with egg yolk yellow range cookercredit

Dining table with yellow upholstered Arne Jacobsen 'Series 7' chairscredit

Bed accessorised with an egg yolk yellow throwcredit

Abigail Ahern's patio with yellow vintage fold up chairscredit

Home entertainment rooms: bring a vintage cinema vibe to your home!

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luxe home cinema roomimage credit
Do you love cinema? Are you getting a little tired of watching your favourite movies in a cold and boring sitting room, on a laptop or worse, God forbid, a mobile phone screen? Do you happen to have a spare room or are you living with someone who doesn’t mind you transforming the living room?

If the answer to all of the above is yes, you’re in luck: we’ve come up with ideas for the ultimate home entertainment room. Here are a few tips on how to bring that fun and classic vintage cinema vibe into your home.

Elite home cinema seats from Reclinersdirect

Furniture

It wouldn’t really be a vintage-themed home entertainment room without a set of black or red leather recliner chairs. They’re stylish and retro without having to compromise on comfort.

If your budget is tight, why not transform that set of old sitting room chairs you scored from a charity shop or car boot sale into glorious & unique red velvet cinema chairs?

There are plenty of upholstery tutorials on the web, most of them are easier than you think, and you’ll be able to source all the fabric and materials online or from many DIY shops.

vintage film posters on a wall going up stairs to a home cinemaimage credit

On the walls

As a rule of thumb, it’s best to keep the walls on the dark side so they don’t catch the screen’s light. Black-out curtains at the windows & doors are also something to consider to prevent light from filtering through. To mix it up a little, hang your favourite vintage film posters on the walls: use large black wooden frames for a sleek & chic look.

minimalist red & white home cinema roomimage credit

Hide away that tech: screen & audio system

There are some good options to prevent bulky, often ugly, home cinema equipment from ruining the look & atmosphere of the room. In terms of screens, why not opt for a home cinema projector?

Easily connected to a laptop (unless you choose to go for an old school, auto-load projector of course!), it takes up the minimum of space and can be easily hung from the ceiling, out of the way.

Be aware however, that some parts such as the bulb will need to be replaced from time to time and it’s likely to cost a little bit more than what you pay initially. If you’re buying second-hand, it’s always good to ask the vendor if it’s recently been changed.

As for the audio system, if you’re on a budget, vintage can often be good in terms of sound quality and value for money. You can source quality, second-hand equipment on the web, at auction and from charity shops.

If you’ve already invested in new equipment, it’s going to take a little bit more effort and clever hacking to camouflage depending on your setup. Why not have the audio assembled on a trolley that can quickly be rolled out from inside an easily accessible cupboard prior to a screening?

vintage home cinema with vintage seats, popcorn maker and snack trolleyimage credit

Final touches

Rome wasn’t built in a day and the same pretty much goes for a vintage cinema-themed home entertainment room… but that’s most of the fun!

Depending on your budget and your charity shops and flea market finds, you can keep adding to the room with a few extra touches that will give the room a lot more character: popcorn maker, vintage lighting and furniture, classic movie memorabilia…

Enjoy the show!

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