Colours can come and go but of late, we've been seeing beautiful shades of sky blue popping up all over the pages of House & Garden, sometimes decking out entire walls, sometimes used as an accent on furniture or woodwork. These colours seem to work well if they have a green undertone, and some even hover on the border between blue and green, and though pale, are deeply pigmented. They work wonderfully when combined with cheerful shades of pink and red, and also with yellow accents.
The full blue look
Sky blue is a wonderfully forgiving colour to paint an entire room. Walls, woodwork and doors look beautiful when entirely done out in this hue. The main bedroom in a seaside house decorated by Russell Loughlan is painted in ‘Oval Room Blue’, with tonal woodwork (shutters, panelling, skirting and architrave) in ‘Sloe Blue’. The green door is ‘Raw Tomatillo’. The painting is by Arthur Neal. As an ensemble, the effect is at once soothing and uplifting. In a London house by Rachel Chudley (above right), the warm tones of the new walnut parquet flooring set off the bespoke pale blue paint on the walls, which was developed by Rachel with New York colour consultant Donald Kaufman and now forms part of the Rachel Chudley Colour Studio range; it is enlivened by the wall trim, ‘Greek Key Border’ in grey from Adelphi Paper Hangings.
Sky blue kitchens
Blue kitchens often tend to come in darker shades, but a more cheerful shade can be just the ticket, especially when combined with a pop of red, as Beata Heuman has done here in this London apartment. The jaunty red stripes on the kitchen island, and the deep crimson of the blind, make a perfect foil to cabinets in ‘Oval Room Blue’ from Farrow & Ball. The kitchen overall was inspired by a trip Beata made to Swan House in Atlanta. On the right, Pale blue and brown are a highly covetable colour combination in Lucy Williams' London house. The bespoke kitchen was made by Browson Design and is painted in Paper and Paints Sky Blue with Beata Heuman hardware. The large brass handles were found by Lucy at Ardingly Market, whilst the brown marble countertops were sourced from Lapicida. Over head, Fritz Fryer pendants hang and plaster lights by Alexandra Robinson line the back wall.
Sky blue woodwork
If the full paint scheme isn't for you, painting your doors and trim in this colour, perhaps to bring out the shade in a patterned wallpaper or contrast with anaother paint colour, can be a delightful addition to a scheme. In the hallway of a writer's flat in Edinburgh, Susan Deliss has used Edward Bulmer’s ‘Verdigris’ paint on the woodwork to complement ‘Lioness & Palms’ wallpaper in the midday colourway, an Arts and Crafts design by CFA Voysey available from CommonRoom. Carlos Garcia has painted a chimneypiece in Fenwick & Tilbrook's ‘Caspian’ and a Pooky lamp complement Carlos's ‘Hibiscus’ saffron wallpaper and fabric in this Arts & Crafts flat in south London. Here, it provides a pleasing trim to the highly patterned wallpaper.
Blue and green, far from never being seen together, are practically constant companions in today's interiors schemes. Nicola Harding is a particular fan, and has used ‘Sakura’ wallpaper in sky by Galbraith & Paul in this children's bedroom in a house in London (above right) together with woodwork in a greeny sky blue. The same sort of colour scheme applies in Eildon Hall in the Scottish borders (above right), where panelling around the windows in ‘Van Courtland Blue’ contrasts with walls in ‘Paper Doll’, both from Benjamin Moore.
