Planning your dream home? Don’t overlook the importance of selection of paints as they are the building blocks of defining the personality of your interior styles. From Balinese to the eclectic, the Dulux colour experts from AkzoNobel provide you with a recommended guide of colour palettes you can pick to bring you one step closer to your desired house style.

1. Balinese

If living out your Eat, Pray, Love fantasy isn’t an option, however, redecorating your home in a Balinese style is the next best thing. Regardless of where you reside, there are ways to incorporate the island’s rejuvenating energy and laid-back surf culture as part of your interior scheme. Bringing the essence of Bali into your home requires a blend of influences from nature and culture. 

The use of ‘earthly’ colours is therefore very important in Balinese culture. The most commonly used colours in Balinese design include black, brown, blue grey, white, yellow, and green. The shades and hues that they use are all from naturally occurring elements, such as leaves, wood, clay, and various metals. Teal, for instance, is an ideal mix in the Bali colour palette, as it symbolises the natural colour of the ocean.

The style can be achieved by incorporating natural materials into furniture. Opt for a solid teak coffee table or a one-of-a-kind driftwood side table. These versatile pieces can feel classic or modern, depending on how you choose to style them.

2. Eclectic

Go bold or go home. Creating an eclectic interior involves a mix of contrasting colours, clashing patterns and unexpected details.

For instance, to create a feature wall with an eclectic touch, combine three or four of these hues to create a colour block effect. Here, Dulux demonstrates an example of how you can mix and match different shades of pink, orange, grey and green to transform a blank wall into an eclectic focal point.

For extra spice, consider throwing in a surprising accent hue – table legs, lights, dining chairs and inside bookcases.

Another way to breathe eclecticism into your interior is to select paints that have textural effects to add a unique and interesting touch to your bare walls such as Dulux Ambiance Special Effects paint.

Use a multitude of fabrics, patterns, and art items to bring in the eclectic flavour to your interior style. Home accents like rugs, paintings, objects d'art, and throw pillows are convenient ways to bring personality and interesting textures into a space as demonstrated below.

3. Industrial

The industrial interior deisgn draws its inspiration from the manufacturing age. Its beauty comes from a rawness found in architectural angles and the use of materials such as concrete, steel and galvanised finishes. These elements, when combined with subtle and more tonal colour palettes, can create the illusion of depth and elevate the industrial style. For paint colours, opt for luxurious greys, concrete effects, inky blues and a hint of warmth with copper.

4. Coastal

Coastal is about injecting a hint of a carefree holiday atmosphere with the inspirational style that can be found by the sea. Opt for nature-inspired hues that are taken from classic seaside scenes such as calming blues, crisp whites and warm sand beiges.

Add some nautical-themed decor accessories to complete the coastal look. Think anchors, model ships, seashells or patterned fabrics with stripes in blue and white.

5. Contemporary

Contemporary style is great for minimalists looking to steer clear of fussy prints and to create a simple yet thoroughly realised harmony between varying elements while focusing on the architectural elements of a room.

A popular go-to colour palettes when considering contemporary interior design would be neutrals along with grey, black, and white. These are signatures of the design style and are often used to define and ground a room.

A neutral colour setting could also serve as a great starting point to bring in hints of colour and act as a foundation for expressive artworks and objects with more personality. By selecting the right neutrals for a contemporary living room, you can bring in smaller pops of riotous color that you can easily switch around depending on your mood.