Colours affect us all. If you think how a beautiful landscape or an impressionist painting can give you a feeling of peace and tranquility, likewise, sitting in a room painted in your favourite colours can evoke a similar sense of well-being.

From a decorating point of view, it costs the same to paint a room in a safe, nondescript colour as it is to use the perfect colour. But whereas one colour scheme will do nothing for you when you are in it, the other can provide a permanent feelgood factor, making the overall decorating costs worth every penny. (Ingrid explains the power of colour better than I do! )

In my experience as a professional interior decorator, colour is the elephant in the room that most clients talk around, and not about!

Initial on-site discussions tend to centre on which parts of a room are going to be painted; which wall is best for a feature wallpaper; how long is the job going to take… but so often, when it comes to the crunch question, “What colours do you have in mind for your lounge or kitchen units…?” there is either a deathly hush, a desperate shrug of the shoulders, or a garbled, “Oh, just something neutral, creamy magnolia.” That’s when I know I need Ingrid on the case!

I think it is fair to say that anyone with an eye for colour can apply themselves to learn the colour wheel theory by rote and come up with pleasing paint colour schemes. (That would be me, included!)

However, the genuine masters of colour with the talent to mix, match and put together any colour in any medium for any occasion are rare. In my experience, the colourists par excellence are to be found working with stained glass and fabric design. They see blue, yellow or grey tinges in green paint, and spot red or purple hints in yellow fabric from a mile off. They don’t need to refer to analagous and monochrome colour swatches from Dulux to check if they are on the right track with their colour combinations.

Ingrid of Lilou Interiors is one such talent. She is also the brains behind Lilou, hand-woven textiles and natural-dyed yarns. On a daily basis she dyes merino and silk yarn using natural dyes and coordinates 10 or more different coloured yarns in her woven fabrics.

Finding paint and wallpaper colours to complement your furniture and curtains is absolutely no problem! And with a wealth of experience advising on interior decorating, hands-on renovation, and a background in high end estate agency in USA, Ingrid can be entrusted with any interior design brief.