Create a rich and dramatic look for your home

Create a rich and dramatic look for your home

 
Red is a strong colour - use the wrong shade and the result can be hard to live with. A softer option, such as this rich raspberry red, creates a wonderfully warm, comforting space. Rich colours can be teamed with pale neutrals to keep the room feeling airy. For instance, paint a feature wall in red and keep the others in a soft stone colour for a stunning living room scheme. In a bedroom, paper all the walls in a simple red paper, adding pale bedlinen.

 
Good for: Dramatic bedrooms, formal dining rooms, elegant living rooms.

 
Left Envy wallpaper, £30 a roll; bed upholstered in Oriana 8511, £44 a metre; curtains made up in Oriana 8500, £44 a metre; all the Ziva collection, Harlequin

Define a space with colour

Choose toning shades to define a space

More homes are now open plan, with rooms flowing into each other. The easy option is to paint them all cream, but this means that different zones can lose their identity. Try using varying tones of a similar colour in each area. They\'ll then feel like individual rooms when you want them to, but visually will work side by side.

Good for: Open-plan living and dining rooms, dual-function home offices.

Left Wall in foreground painted in Blue Reflection, £16.99 for 2.5 litres; far wall painted in Teal Tension, £16.99 for 2.5 litres; woodwork painted in Pure Brilliant White satinwood, £11.99 for 1 litre; all Dulux

Create space with colour

Judy Smith, Crown Colour consultant, explains how colour appears to change a room\'s dimensions

Deep colours on walls make a room appear smaller, but they\'re the best way to create a dramatic scheme.

Paint a ceiling white to give a feeling of height. An alternative is to paint it in a lighter shade of the wall colour so it tones better and is less of a stark contrast.

To make a small space seem larger, use light-reflecting tones. White and watery pastels work well.

Rich and dramatic scheme: cosy living room

Fabrics from left: Ampanuri 201, £39 a metre, Sanderson. Stanford in Caramel, £39, a metre, Jane Churchill. Paint from left: Burnt Verdigris and Carragheen, both £22.50, Fired Earth

Rich and dramatic scheme: modern berdroom

Fabrics from left: Clematis, £14, a metre, John Lewis. Majestic Twilight, £50 a metre, Globatex. Paint from left: New York, £19.99, Crown. Pearl Ashes, £22.50 for 2.5 litres, Fired Earth

Rich and dramatic scheme: sumptuous dining room

Fabric: Shima Cushcush, £24.90 a metre, Malabar. Wallpaper: Cappella, £31 a roll, Harlequin. Paint from left: Crimson and Raw Umber, both £26 for 2.5 litres, Zoffany