Creating Depth, Warmth, and Impact in Your Home

If you’ve ever walked into a room that instantly felt enveloping, dramatic, and rich with atmosphere, chances are you’ve experienced the magic of colour drenching. This bold design approach is not a new thing but it certainly is a show stopper when done correctly. I love it for its ability to turn ordinary rooms into cocoon like spaces that feel warm and finished.

What is Colour Drenching?

Colour drenching is the technique of painting walls, ceilings, trims, doors and even fittings in the same colour. The result is a room that feels enveloped, cohesive, and intentionally designed. By removing visual contrast, your eye flows across the space uninterrupted, allowing features like artwork, furniture, or metallic fixtures to really stand out.

How to Do Colour Drenching Right

For the most impact and warmth, here’s the recommended approach for colour drenching:

1. Choose Your Colour Strategically

My personal favourites are deep blues and dark green tones—think inky navy, forest green, or rich petrol blue. These shades create intimacy and mood. When paired with warm timber tones, textured textiles, or antique brass finishes, the effect is beyond wow.

These darker shades also serve as the perfect backdrop for metallic elements, taps, light fittings, handles, which instantly pop.

2. Commit to the Full Drench

This is where many go wrong, they stop at the walls. For true impact, you need to commit. That means painting:

• The ceiling (yes, most definately the ceiling!)

• Light fitting surrounds

• Air conditioning grilles

• Skirting boards and architraves

• Even window frames and doors

This approach softens the architecture of the room and avoids sudden breaks in colour. When everything is one tone, it gels together beautifully and allows textures and materials to shine.

Do not forget: Paint light switch plates, air vents, and even ceiling light fittings in the same colour to let them recede and not distract from the overall effect.

3. Think About the Flow of Your Home

While it’s tempting to go all in on a single room, it’s essential that your drenched space feels cohesive with the rest of your home. Think about the other spaces, what can you see from adjoining rooms? Does the colour story continue throughout the house, even if the intensity shifts?

If your home has mostly neutral or soft shades, a sudden dark green room can feel disconnected. Use accessories, art, or soft furnishings elsewhere in the home to subtly echo the drenched room’s palette.

Why I Love It

I believe that homes should feel personal, warm, and layered. Colour drenching gives you a chance to express boldness, but with a considered and refined edge. Done right, it’s not trendy, it’s timeless and most definitely Magazine Worthy.

If you’re ready to drench your space but feel overwhelmed by the colour choices or application details, I’d love to help with a tailored mood board or virtual consult.

Cohesion

Cohesion, why it matters (and how to get it right)

One of the best ways to describe it is when you walk into a beautifully designed home and it just flows…. That effortless feeling you get when moving from room to room? That’s not an accident, it’s cohesion.

I believe cohesion is one of the most important (yet often overlooked) elements of good design. It’s the invisible thread that ties a home together, creating calm, clarity, and comfort.

What is Cohesion in Interior Design?

In simple terms, cohesion is consistency. It means having a common theme throughout your home, whether that’s through colour, materials, finishes, or style.

Cohesion doesn’t mean everything must match perfectly, but it does mean each space should feel like it belongs. There should be a sense of rhythm and continuity from one room to the next.

Mismatched Rooms

Have you ever walked through a house where each room has a completely different style? One bedroom is boho, the next is modern. The main bathroom is all grey tiles, and the ensuite has warm timber and brass. The kitchen has white cabinetry, and the laundry is black and wood. You start to feel like you’re touring five different homes, not one cohesive space.

This lack of connection creates visual noise. It often makes a space feel smaller, rather than spacious and considered.

How to Create a Cohesive Home

Here are some of the ways to bring harmony and flow to a home:

1. Repeat Key Materials

If you’ve chosen a beautiful tile for your bathroom, consider using it again in the laundry or kitchen splashback. The same goes for cabinetry profiles and finishes. Repeating these elements helps tie different spaces together visually and gives your home a sense of intention.

2. Use a Unified Colour Palette

This doesn’t mean every room needs to be painted the same, but your colours should relate to each other. Choose a core palette, say 3 or 4 colours and carry those tones throughout the home in paint, textiles, or décor.

3. Consistent Fixtures and Fittings

Keep the same metal finishes (like taps, door hardware, and lighting) consistent wherever possible. Mixing chrome, brass, black, and brushed nickel across different rooms rarely works. Choosing one or two finishes and repeating them throughout the home ensures everything feels connected.

4. Carry Window Treatments Through

Curtains and blinds are often an afterthought, but they have a big impact. Window Treatments, now that’s a whole blog on its own, using similar or complementary fabric and styles throughout the home helps maintain flow. Don’t be afraid to go custom, it’s worth it for the cohesion.

and finally…

In a cohesive home, your eye isn’t distracted by sudden changes or clashing styles. Instead, you’re gently guided through the space, with each room building on the last. It’s not about being boring, it’s about being intentional, about the design making sense.

If you’re renovating or building, think beyond the individual room. Start with your overall vision and let that guide every design choice you make.

Need help pulling it all together? We’d love to create a mood board or design concept that brings cohesion and beauty to every corner of your home.

Wallpaper is ‘the art’