Decorating & Design
Color Drenching: Inside Bold Rooms That Master This 2024 Paint Trend
Published on May 28, 2024
Color drenching — one of our 2024 design trends — is a paint style that involves wrapping a space in one solid hue. This can include walls, doors, baseboards, window trim and even ceilings. Top designers like Cynthia Ferguson, Colette van den Thillart and Monica Fried continue to embrace this monochromatic look to create dramatic, sophisticated and cocooning interiors. According to Monica, enveloping a room in one color can even expand a space. “It’s a misconception that dark colors make a room feel smaller,” she says. If you’re considering color drenching in your own home, get inspired by these saturated rooms below.
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To create a moody vibe in this den, designer Tiffany Leigh used Benjamin Moore‘s Raccoon Fur (2126-20) on the walls, panelling and even the built-in desk and bookcase.
Color drenching is one of designer Colette van den Thillart’s signature moves, as seen in this fresh foyer that’s been saturated with hot pink.
In another project, Colette, who refered to the dining room as an “electric box,” painted the walls and ceiling in a bright chartreuse hue. “I like to think I’m good at imagining contemporary ways of using space that people don’t naturally think of,” she says.
In the front room of this Rosedale home, Colette painted the walls, ceiling beams and doors a soft pink. Flamingo wallpaper by de Gournay on one wall complements the look.
The homeowners’ eight-year-old son chose the hand-painted rainbow and green color scheme for his bedroom.
In this family room dubbed the “Bistro Room,” designer Monica Fried wrapped the walls and ceiling in a cozy dark blue. “This Connecticut home’s traditional, symmetrical architecture lent itself to different colors because the rooms were clearly defined,” she says. “This wasn’t something you would do in a modern, open-plan home, where you’d want it to be more neutral and have more flow from space to space.”
The intimate, olive-toned library follows suit. “We painted the millwork, walls and ceiling in the same hue,” says Monica.
Leave it to designer Natalie Tredgett to go bold with color. In her daughter’s bedroom, purple drapes and bed linens are joyful elements against a backdrop of vibrant pink. . “I would define my style as artistic-led and colorful, but it’s also purposeful,” says the designer.
The walls and ceiling of this screen-in porch designed by maximalist Cynthia Ferguson were painted in Benjamin Moore’s Arborcoat Premium Exterior stain, custom-matched to Farrow & Ball’s Railings, an immersive blue-black. “Using the same color on the walls, ceiling and bar cabinet created a streamlined backdrop for the soft brown and blond tones we added in the space,” says Cynthia.
In her own home, Cynthia painted the entire vestibule bright red to set the tone for the rest of the interiors. “I added moldings to create a defined area that we liberally refer to as the foyer,” says Cynthia. Visitors are met with uplifting color from the moment they walk through the front door.
To disguise the varying ceiling heights in this kitchen, designer Jack Creasy painted the entire Bloomsbury kitchen — including the ceiling and vent hood — in forest green.
Designer Gillian Segal liberally used soot, charcoal and steely blue walls in her clients’ Vancouver home. “Everyone loves white walls, but it’s important to use deep or cool color pairings with warmer wood tones so that the look feels fresh,” says Gillian. “People worry that deep hues make rooms feel small and dark, but when a room has ample light, I use darker shades to expand and contract spaces to lend more depth and a feeling of intimacy,” she says.
“I’ve been tagged the Queen of Color,” says designer Anne Hepfer. She wrapped her clients’ principal bedroom in a midnight blue patterned wallpaper with a navy ceiling — it’s like sleeping under a night sky.
“Painting everything black creates a sense of mystery,” says Scott Yetman of the cozy study he fashioned from a former bedroom in his gorgeous chateau.