Navy and pink

[WhatsWrongWithMyUsername]

I could do with some inspiration help please.

Decorating my office, which is also the spare room. I usually have a Zoom/Teams background on so it doesn’t need to look professional. I just want it to be a nice environment to sit in all day, that makes me happy.

South facing, 2nd floor, smallish room. One wall has a sloping ceiling. It gets very very bright. White furniture, mostly IKEA (good old Kallax).

I was thinking about navy, as when we bought this house it had a navy wall in the living room. I loved it but it didn’t work in that room.

So I figured dark blue plus pink things in the room to tone it down a bit. Found lots of good colour combinations. Got some paint samples including pink, and now I’m wondering about pink walls and dark blue bedding and lampshade instead.

Our main bedroom is very pink (inherited, and with a fabulous wallpaper on one wall), so I think it could be more pink than one house can stand.

I don’t know what a dark blue room feels like when it’s done though - cosy or oppressive?

As it's south facing this could work very well in theory. Small rooms embracing the cosines with a dark colour can look fabulous, and it's been a big trend in recent years, and is great for creating a cocooning atmosphere in a bedroom.

However I would really hesitate to go dark in a home office, where you need to be alert and able to focus. Have you considered a lighter blue? We have Farrow & Ball Oval Room Blue in our south-facing office/ spare room and it's lovely, a mid-tone so gorgeous under artificial light when we have guests, but calming for daytime work. Would look great with pink too, we have olive green, rust and yellow accents in ours which is also a combination I love.

If you'd rather not F&B try a grey/green-tinted blue like Dulux Denim Druft, Stonewashed Blue, Sea Urchin or Jewelled Creek (though those last two might be a little too much on the green side).

That’s a good point that the colour shouldn’t be so cosy that I dose off…

I looked up colours that are good for working/ thinking, and apparently red is good for attention to detail and memory, and blue is good for creative thinking (but presumably not dark blue!).

Not sure I really want a red room …

Red would be terrible for a guest bedroom!

Reporting back (as I think more people should do!) I went with F&B Sloe Blue.

It was a pain to use, but it’s an absolutely beautiful colour, so worth the effort.

I’m not going to dilute it with pink accessories, but I do have a blue/yellow/orange painting going up, so I might add an ochre throw to the bed.

That sounds lovely!