Colour Class with Miriam Ragen - Berry

Identity is really what it says on the tin, it's about expressing your identity particularly the side of us that is brave, empowered and non–conforming. Think hues of rich red, energetic orange and electric blue paired back with bright pastel peach and lavender, layered with the depth of more traditional dark green and purple. Sounds like a lot right? And it is.

I would be lying if I said this was a colour palette that came naturally to me. Honestly, previously I would have thought it’s not a palette that I would have in my home. I would be more likely to style the Berry locker as a hero piece set against a white wall styled with soft pastel colours and ash timber to create a more paired back and calm look. But in the spirit of Identity and pushing the boundaries a bit, I’ve put together a colour palette that is fun, bold and individual. It leans more on the pastel side of ‘Identity’ which is probably where most people would be comfortable when using a lot of colour but throws in some stronger tones to give it vibrancy.

The key to this palette is a balance of bright colours paired back with darker shades and pale tints. There is also a good range of warm and cool colours in this palette so I thought I'd explain what this means as it can be confusing when you read things like ‘warm blue’ and ‘cool pink’. Growing up if you were taught the colour wheel in art class or as most of us were in primary school you may have been told that one half of the colour wheel is warm and the other half is cool. This is true when talking about primary colours (yellow, red, blue) but doesn’t explain secondary (orange, green, purple) and tertiary colour’s (further shades and tints). Warm or cool can exist in the branches of all hues and a good example of this is when you see a whole range of pinks that sometimes you are drawn to one and not the other. That may be because one is cool and the other is warm which in layman’s terms happens because the ingredients that make up the cooler pink might have a little blue (cool) added in and the warmer pink has more red (warm) added in. The real magic happens though when you style the two together and they make each other look richer and stronger.

The ‘Identity’ colour palette really is a great one to have some fun with when the main objective is to create a space filled with confidence and energy. Give yourself the freedom to break the rules with home wares from different cultures and era’s with a futuristic edge. I’ve really enjoyed styling the sumptuous Berry. Taking the locker as the staring point I added a little light timber, soft furnishings and fringed textiles to this look for texture. I hope you enjoy it too!