Fall in love with colour

Brand ambassador @awholenewbuild shares her tips for using colour in your home, trend predictions for 2022, and how her bold and beautiful style is an expression of love.

Mel Hamblett has transformed her four-bedroom Leicester into a joyful explosion of colour, texture and pattern, providing inspiration for 21.1k followers on her Instagram page, @awholenewbuild.

@awholenewbuild

Hi Mel! Your love for colour really makes your new build home stand out. How can people look to introduce more colour into their home?

It can be really scary to add colour for the first time. Especially if you’ve just moved into a new build with beautifully clean white walls!

My advice to people is to always start with small changes, to get your eye used to seeing colour in a room. Things like bright bedding, a colourful throw or mismatched cushions can add interest without needing to pick up the paint brush. Plus, colour can look fabulous against white - so you might find that adding colour through accessories is enough in certain rooms.

If you’re looking to take the next step, colourful furniture like an armchair or a footstool can add a pop of personality; and non-permanent changes like adding sticky-back vinyl to a table top or splashback is an option if you’re ready to introduce a pattern.

If you’re sure you want to paint the walls, don’t feel restricted by painting a whole room, or even a whole feature wall. Colour blocking has been really popular over the last year and can prove to be really effective, just by adding an arch, stripe or circle to highlight and zone a space.

@awholenewbuild

Do you believe colour affects your moods and is this something you consider when designing a room?

Absolutely - it’s proven that colour affects your mood and the colours you’re drawn to can say a lot about you. I’m currently reading Hello Rainbow by Momtaz Begum-Hossain which is all about finding joy through colour and the principles of colour therapy. It’s absolutely fascinating!

I definitely find I'm drawn to colours I love when designing a room. There’s a lot of teal and pink throughout our home which, coincidently are colours I wear a lot, too. Your wardrobe is a really good place to start when planning a colour palette.

It’s been a tough couple of years, but home decoration is certainly going strong! What’s your best advice for those looking to spruce up the home for 2022?

Trend predictions say that 2022 is the year for colour, so it’s a great time to start injecting fun and personality into your home. It’s likely we’ll start to see colourful accessories crop up in more mainstream shops and supermarkets, so I think it’ll become even easier to achieve an on-trend look on a budget.

Remember colour doesn’t have to mean drenching every wall in bright neon! Bright colours can feel intimidating, so consider palettes like warm rustic oranges; rich forest greens and jewel toned blues to add a pop of classy colour.

@awholenewbuild

The Pantone colour for 2022 is Very Peri – carefree, confident and a daring curiosity. What are thoughts on the colour and how might our customers incorporate it in terms of interior design?

I absolutely love Very Peri! Bold colours and ice-cream toned pastels seem to be having a real moment in the colourful interiors world just now. Dulux’s Colour of the Year was Bright Skies - a bright pastel blue; and Lust Home is even releasing a wallpaper matched to Very Peri.

I think this colour can be incorporated into homes in a number of ways. It would make some fantastic statement curtains, or perhaps as a colour pop on a bedroom wall, instead of a headboard. It’s perfect for upcycled furniture in a children’s bedroom, too - really helping to encourage those confident and curious characteristics we’d love for our kids.

Finally, as we’re in the month of love, would you agree that the bright colours you use show your joy and love for your home?

Absolutely! As first time buyers who had rented before, decorating was completely alien to us when we moved into our new build. It’s taken a lot of time living here to discover how best to use the space, and a lot of colour mistakes to find out what we love and what we really don’t like!

I know there are still things I’d like to update and improve in the years to come, but our home is finally a reflection of our family - it’s fun, sometimes a bit silly, but completely full of love.

@awholenewbuild

Keep your eyes peeled for the second part of our interview with @awholenewbuild, where she shares the inspiration behind her colourful home, the process of decorating it, and why she went for a Persimmon new build.

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