A Collage of Cool & Warm

There is a particular quality of light on a cold morning, the way it lands on timber floors through a frosted window, the way it turns everything it touches into something worth looking at. Still. Considered. Quietly cinematic.

I took a trip to New Zealand late last year and we woke up to snow covered mountains, small boats creating waves in the lake and the fresh cool scent of winter coming.

I was never one to use a large amount of blue in my palettes but blue has always drawn me but I challenged myself to create this board that translates this cold morning feeling into furniture, material and form.

It's not a cosy palette in the obvious sense. However, the tension in the cool grey ceramic tiles, using icy blue accent colours with the deep warmth of brunette timber and Coffee Velvet, I rather think adds tension and contrast I gravitate towards.

The Tension is the Point

There is something about a room is a confident colour tone. Most palettes find harmony by leaning one direction, all warm or all cool, all soft or all structured. This one refuses to choose, and that refusal is where all the interest lives.

On one side: cool grey stone, the silver-blue of a winter sky, the icy world in that photograph above the sideboard. On the other: the deep Mindi brunette of the sideboard, lamp and side table, a rich, roasted timber tone that drinks in the light rather than reflecting it. The vintage wheat-gold rug, worn in the way only something well-loved can be. The chocolate velvet of the armchair, dense and tactile.

Neither side wins. That's the whole point.

Going Deeper & Building the Full Colour Story

I get a lot of question about what wood colour matches an existing wood in the house. Personally, I think having multiple wood shades and textures can work really well together. The collage above is a great reference on how our Mindi Natural finish and Brunette finish can be put together in the same room, without creating an odd clash.

By adding in wheat cream rugs with textures, helps tie in the light Mindi Natural finish against the icy blues. Add in a throw or pillow to add more similar colours into the space. It softens the ceramic underfoot and bridges the cool and warm halves of the palette with the ease of something that has always been there.

With grey tiles, adding in teal blue walls and a large soft powder blue couch are great places to add more cool tones into this room. This gives the room a consistent base and layering the cool tones with each other. 

In a room full of blue tones and grey tiles, adding dark furniture anchors the room back. The dark Brunette wood against the cool is the warmth engine of the entire board. Deep, dusky, with a gravity that suits this moodier palette perfectly. 

What this collage ultimately proposes is a room built on confidence of bold colours. It is daring in spirit but mature in execution. That kind of room that invites you to snuggle in an armchair or sofa and watch the rain pour outside.