Blues

Blue is reliable and inoffensive and a quiet constant in the trend predications year after year.

It’s the pale colour of calm for everyone from Feng shui consultants to colour therapists and is the tame, well mannered member of the colour spectrum who never steps out of line.

It’s the blue of the Legion of Mary at one end and navy school uniforms on the other that consorts with safe white and buff, only letting its hair down to hang out with naughty red when the nautical look comes to town.

So the thrilling arrival of blue’s exotic, confident cousins for autumn/winter brings glamour and depth with indigo, sapphire, peacock and the intensity of a midnight sky, all elbowing their way onto the colour palette with a vigour that might tempt us to run off for a rude dive into the sparkling blue of the Mediterranean.

These colours require confidence and a brazen streak to carry them off in your interiors. But their versatility makes them irresistible to anyone who craves a combination of colour, sophistication and luxury. These are the shades that will stand up robustly alongside rusty browns, designer greys and industrial yellows, and at their extreme will bleed into green on one end of the spectrum and purple on the other.

At their most glamorous they’ll pair up with gold or silver and — if I may dare to mention Christmas in September — make for a lush and on-trend alternative festive season look. They’re also sophisticated and versatile, and can be used sparingly on feature walls as the backdrop to show off a prized furniture piece.

Surprisingly they have a warmth not always associated with blue that stems from their depth, so there’s no using the excuse of a cold and damp Irish climate as a reason not to have a go. They lend themselves beautifully to north facing rooms whose chilly aspect and greyer light are notoriously hard to counteract, and where pale blues and flat navy only serve to emphasise the chilliness. These exotics work with the light, especially the sapphires and indigos that are almost purple in their intensity and which create drama but intimacy too.

Rooms with eastern light can also benefit where light tends to have a bluish white tone. It’s the same fresh light we get where the morning sun floods into a room and pulls us out of our groggy slumber, and whose colder elements can be foiled by the aquas and peacocks at the greenish end of the exotic blue spectrum.

A word of caution, however: these deeper colours will tend to make your space seem smaller so do consider how you furnish and accessorise accordingly so you won’t have that hemmed in feeling. Simply-constructed modern furniture rather than chunky or ornate works best in this exotic blue setting. In fact the vogue for mid-century modern, that is 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s is the perfect accompaniment with its streamlined and uncluttered appearance.

Of course there’s also the option of leaving the paint brushes and potential for mess in the shed and introducing a gorgeous chair upholstered in plush indigo velvet, littered with silvery grey cushions. And you know what that also means? An excuse to go shopping.

* Next week we’re preparing the kitchen for the great Christmas bake off.