How & Why You Should Be Decorating With Dark & Earthy Colours

How Would You Describe These Kinds Of Colours?

“I like to think of them as ‘human’ colours. At Atelier Ellis, we intentionally use an umber base with a variety of natural pigments to make our colours, and it creates a much more nuanced and balanced end result. It also means you use a larger variety of pigments to create a ‘dirtier’ hue, which in turn makes them more special.” – Cassandra Ellis, founder of Atelier Ellis 

“The Americans call earth ‘dirt’, and sludge is ultimately wet earth, and from the earth we harvest key pigments that underpin the tones that we tend to associate as sludgy, earthy and dirty – these being red, yellow ochre and black.” – Edward Bulmer, founder of Edward Bulmer Natural Paint 

Why Are They So Popular?

“They’re easier to live with, both visually and emotionally. They look and feel like nature – real living resources rather than manufactured palettes. Colours are often tied to whatever is happening in the world, and when the world is in chaos, we feel a need to balance our own lives with simplicity. It doesn’t have to be white – it just needs to feel real and human.” – Cassandra 

“One reason may be that they can work especially well in smaller, darker rooms. But whatever the size of room or period of the property, every good colour needs a dash of these pigments. Through the ages, people have come to understand this and we’ve actually used these sorts of colours for a very long time – not least because the pigments are cheap and readily available.” – Edward