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Five tips for using rich colour in your home

By Bunnings magazine / Winter 2022

A lounge room with a chair, pot plants, lamp and table in it.
Adding rich colour to walls and furnishings creates a home that’s warm and playful. Consider these top colour tips.

Make it pop

As winter settles in, why not liven up your indoor spaces with some rich colour? There’s nothing like deep, saturated colour for transforming a room into a place that zings with personality, so get your sample pots ready and fire up your imagination. Here are five of our favourite ways to use rich colour around the home.

1. Try a contrasting striped design on your walls

Use contrasting – even clashing – colours for instant impact, or opt for a softer effect by using varying tones of the same hue. In this room (see images, below), we made use of varying tones to create a striking feature wall. For the background, we chose PPG Paints Palewood and used Allamanda for the stripes. The lower wall was painted with Dulux Tapawera.

Here's how to create this look:

  • First, paint the cleaned wall in the lightest colour, leaving it to dry thoroughly.
  • Use a spirit level and pencil to mark out straight, evenly spaced stripes. Mark curves with an adjustable compass, joining the ends.
  • Position painter’s tape to mask just outside the pencil lines, ripping it into small pieces to create smooth curves.
  • Remove pencil marks with an eraser, then paint with a brush slightly wider than the gaps, applying two coats and leaving to dry after each coat. Remove the tape as soon as you’ve finished to avoid tearing dried paint.
 Bedroom with a bed, table and pot plants in it.

2. Paint the inside of a display cabinet or shelf unit

For a delightful surprise, try a pretty shade of paint inside a shelf unit. Paint the edges in a darker colour to draw attention to what lies inside.

To make this colourful unit (see image, below), we constructed a flat pack Kaboodle Kitchen wall cabinet, centred the shelf supports and filled in the spare holes. Then we applied a primer suitable for laminate, painted it and attached painted bun feet for a unique touch.

Love the colours we used? Here’s the colour rundown: PPG Paints Earth Angel (for the pink interior), Dulux Ōhiwa (for the pale green exterior) and Hidden Depths (for the dark green edges), and Rust-Oleum Red Currant (for the red feet).

A lounge room with a cushion, pot plant, shelving unit and a painting on the wall.

3. Add some colour to bathroom walls

To make neutral bathroom fixtures and finishes pop, brush bold colour onto the walls. Choose décor that's in the same or similar hue to the wall – this will help tie the space together.

A small pop of contrasting colour is also a great idea. (Refer to a complementary colour chart to see what works well with your hue.) We used the colour Finnegan by Dulux on the bathroom walls (see image, below).

A bathroom with a bath, dog, pot plants and a table next to bath. 

4. Style with a coloured framed mirror

If you’re still dipping your toe into using bold colour in your home, try including a statement piece instead of something bigger (like a feature wall). 

This custom arch framed mirror, for example (see image, above) is a perfect D.I.Y. décor example. We made this arch frame by cutting MDF panels to shape, then painted then in PPG Paints water-based low sheen enamel in Earth Angel. We then secured a mirror between the panels and attached the finished piece in place with a safety furniture anchor.

Safety tip: A leaning mirror can look fabulous, but secure it with fixtures appropriate for your wall type to prevent toppling.

5. Wrap the walls in a single bold colour

Try a more subtle statement wall colour if you're after a more refined and elegant look. Consider rich reds with a shade with brown undertones for a warm and cocooning look and feel. This look pairs perfectly with timber floorboards. The brown notes in the wall colour can help the floors sink into the background. 

To finish off a dramatic room, style with simple and sculptural furnishings which will look extra-striking against the wall colour.

Need a little extra help in choosing the right wall colour?

Watch our useful instructional video for a guide through interior colour selection.

Some products are not available at all Bunnings stores, but may be ordered.

 

Photo Credit: Belinda Merrie

Health & Safety

Please make sure you use all equipment appropriately and safely when following the advice in these D.I.Y. videos. You need to be familiar with how to use equipment safely and follow the instructions that came with the equipment. If you are unsure, you may feel it is safest to consult an expert, such as the manufacturer or an expert Bunnings Team Member.

Grave health hazards are linked to asbestos, which may be in homes built up to 1990. Health hazards may result from exposure to lead-based paints in older materials and copper chromium arsenic (CCA) treated timber. For information on the dangers of asbestos, lead-based paint and CCA treated timber and tips for dealing with these materials contact your local council's Environmental Health Officer. You can also use a simple test kit from Bunnings to indicate the presence of lead-based paint.