A Royal Welcome For The Colour Purple

Whether you live in an urban crash pad or a country manor, you too can turn your home into a palace, and Strive for Design are going to help you do just that by using rich and regal purple. Purple is traditionally the colour of royalty due to its association with the precious stone amethyst, and it's used in the Queen’s crown through to carpeting in Buckingham Palace, so get accenting and painting with purple for a home fit for a queen.

Due to its diversity and versatility, the colour purple is actually a very important shade in interior design. It's both a masculine and feminine colour, so it appeals to many of us and it's available in so many shades from a light lilac to a deep purple, meaning that it can be easily paired with vibrant colours and light neutrals or, for a real statement, used on its own as an entire room scheme, where it's best suited to larger rooms. No matter what the backdrop, accenting with purple will add elegance and chic to any room.

As well as being associated with royalty, the colour purple is said to offer soothing and calming properties and is also an important colour in spirituality. Some people believe that it can even be used to treat migraines, neurosis, depression and addiction, so, all-in-all, it's no wonder that purple is making its way into more and more of our homes.

You can work purple into any room in your home, you just need to make sure you choose the right shades and get the proportions correct or you could end up overwhelming the space.

Although perfectly suited to bathrooms and bedrooms, a bright, delicate violet will also work in the other rooms in your home and even your office, as it inspires creativity.

Plum purple, with its red undertone, lends itself well to the living room or kitchen. Marry it with white and gold finishes for a touch of modern elegance.

However, today we are championing Royal Purple in honour of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee and the best space for this colour is... anywhere you like. Just be sure to combine it with bright colours when using Royal Purple on the walls and make sure you have a good source of lighting to avoid the room looking closed in. For more information on home lighting read our Light Up Your Life Without Breaking The Bank blog post.

In fact, the Queen’s Crown is the perfect basis from which to plan your scheme. Extract the colours from the crown and adapt them to suit your room.

How about a living room with a Royal Purple feature wall, white cabinetry and emerald and turquoise seating? Accent with ruby, platinum and crystals and the effect will be colourful yet calming; regal yet modern. The platinum and white, coupled with the Royal Purple, give a cold hue which offers a fresh twist to your interiors and would work particularly well in a kitchen or bathroom, where more light is needed.

However, if you want to come home to a warmer, cosier space, take inspiration from St Edward’s Crown instead. This crown seems more traditional than that our of Queen, as it uses a Plum Purple canvas, yellow gold and cream. The ambience provided by this scheme would be well suited to a living room, bedroom or dining space, where relaxation and calm are the main focus.

The type of fabric you opt for will also have a big effect on the feel of the scheme. A heavy velour or velvet is sure to scream opulence, whereas a soft chiffon will stir feelings of spirituality and romance, so make sure the fabric chosen suits the space in which it's to be used. If you aren’t looking to do a whole room fit out, you can easily add a palatial touch and even completely transform the look of a room by painting or papering a purple feature wall and/or accessorising with purple instead.

A simple way to introduce purple into a room is with a rug. The marketplace is awash with purple rugs right now, so finding one in the right shade, texture and size for your space should be a doddle. Add a pop of purple perfection by including scatter cushions and throws in complementary shades and choose some stunning wall art to sneak a bit of purple into your existing scheme. Hang it in bedrooms, living rooms and even dining rooms for creativity, beauty, wisdom, spirituality and imagination.

Although we can’t sing the colour purple’s praises enough, you do need to be mindful when designing with it. Use the wrong shade or over-use the right one and it could make your home look more like a bag of Skittles than Buckingham Palace, so for more advice on introducing purple into your home contact the Strive For Design team on 01223 622 688 or by email.

Leigh Hall from Strive for Design is an interior designer in Cambridge, so if you're planning to refresh your home, please contact us.